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Clara van Pels

Clara van Pels was a younger sister of Hermann van Pels.

Person

  • Clara van Pels
  • Born on: Aug. 31, 1900
  • Born in: Gehrde, Duitsland
  • Died on: April 30, 1943
  • Died in: Sobibor

Clara van Pels was one of six children born to Aaron and Lina van Pels. She married the dentist Herbert Leeser[1] on 21 March 1925 in Osnabrück. Her father and her brother Hermann were witnesses.[2]  She lost her Dutch nationality through this marriage. On 25 December 1925, in Elberfeld, she had a daughter, Trude.[3] The marriage ended in divorce in 1933.[2]

She left Osnabrück in 1938 and settled in Bloemendaal. In May 1940 she moved in with her father and her sister Henny in Amsterdam.[4] By profession she was a solicitor,[2] and later a maid and housekeeper.[5]

In 1941, Clara applied to the municipality of Amsterdam for a certificate of good conduct and a declaration of Dutch citizenship. Both documents were needed because of an intended marriage.[6] The issuing of a declaration of Dutch citizenship seems to indicate that she acquired that nationality again after her divorce. On 2 July 1941 she married Günther Neumann in Amsterdam. Witnesses to the marriage were her father Aaron van Pels and the father of her sister-in-law Auguste, Leo Röttgen.[7] What the consequences of marrying a Jewish German were is not certain. Most probably Clara lost her Dutch citizenship again and eventually became stateless.[8]

She died in Sobibor with her husband.[9] Her daughter Trude survived nine concentration camps and later moved to Brazil.[10]

Source personal data.[5] Addresses: Am Domhof 8, Osnabrück; Merellaan 9, Bloemendaal (Sept. 1938); Minervalaan 49-I, Amsterdam (May 1940); Schubertstraat 46hs (Sept. 1941).[5]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Herbert Leeser was a brother of Julius Leeser, husband of Auguste van Pels-Röttgen's sister Else Röttgen. See: Spuren im Vest: Leeser Julius.
  2. a, b, c Niedersächsischen Landesarchiv, afdeling Osnabrück, Standesamt Osnabrück, Rep 492, nr. 698: huwelijksakten 1925, nr. 84.
  3. ^ Stadsarchief Amsterdam (SAA), Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Archiefkaarten: Archiefkaart G. Neumann (1900); SAA, Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Woningkaarten, toegang 5445, inv. nr. 321: Woningkaart Schubertstraat 46 huis geheel.
  4. ^ SAA, Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Woningkaarten (toegangsnummer 5445), inv. nr. 233: Woningkaart Minervalaan 49-I.
  5. a, b, c SAA, Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Archiefkaarten (toegangsnummer 30238): Archiefkaart C. van Pels.
  6. ^ SAA, Secretarie, afdeling Algemene Zaken (toegang 5181), inv. 7645: indicateur van aanvragen van verklaringen van Nederlanderschap en goed gedrag 1941, volgnrs. 3026 en 4976.
  7. ^ SAA, Burgerlijke Stand (toegang 5009), inv. nr. 6675: register van huwelijksakten 1941, deel 20, 8v, nr. 15.
  8. ^ Zie noot 4. De aanduiding “Ned.” is doorgehaald.
  9. ^ SAA, Dienst Bevolkingsregister, Archiefkaarten (toegangsnummer 30238): Archiefkaarten C. van Pels en G. Neumann.
  10. ^ Anne Frank Stichting, Getuigenarchief: Correspondentie met T. Heymann-Leeser, Sao Paolo.