Treesje Lek

Treesje (Trees) Lek was a daughter of Willem Lek en Eva van Leeuwen.^[1] Her father was a physician (urologist),^[2] her mother was a nurse.^[3]

As Jewish students and teachers were banned from attending regular schools from 1 September 1941, Trees had to go to the Jewish Lyceum in Amsterdam. She was in class 4B2, which also included Margot Frank.^[4] Before that, she went to the Montessori Lyceum, just like her younger sister Stella. Trees and Stella can be seen in a school photo that was taken on 17 May 1941 on the occasion of the Montessori Lyceum's 10-year anniversary.^[5] One of her sisters, Stella, also attended the Jewish Lyceum: she was in class 3B1.^[6] An assessment by her teachers, dated 8 May 1942, shows that Trees' academic performance was declining and that some of her grades were downright unsatisfactory.^[7] Her sister Stella received a slightly more favourable assessment.^[8]

According to her personal card in the population register, Trees worked as a domestic help.^[1] Her card in car index the Jewish Councul states that she worked at the dental department of the General Health Insurance Fund on Beulingen Street.^[9]

It seems that the Lek's family home on Weteringschans was broken into on 2 May 1943.^[10] By then, the family had already been arrested. While her parents were imprisoned in Westerbork, Trees and her sisters Celly and Stella ended up in Camp Vught, where they were put to work at the so-called Philips-Kommando: Trees as a dental assistant, Celly as a nurse and Stella in the medical analysis department.^[11] Also in Westerbork was Bram Asscher, her boyfriend. Letters to his mother reveal that Bram was seriously concerned about Trees, his fiancée, and her sisters. For example, he asked if she would send Trees and her sisters bread and butter. Bram also asked if his mother would send warm clothing to Westerbork because of the cold, not only for himself, but also for Trees' parents, whom he called his in-laws.^[12] Ultimately, all members of the Lek family survived the German camps. After the war ended, the three sisters were taken to Sweden to recuperate.^[11] On 29 June 1945 an advert appeared in Aufbau suggesting that Trees, when she was in Sweden, had got in touch with a Fritz Lek in New York.^[13]

Otto Frank sent her a copy of Het Achterhuis in June 1947, adding a comment that she and Bram Asscher appeared in several entries. On 2 July 1947 she wrote a thank-you note and told Otto that she had been bedridden for a year.^[14]

On 10 April 1951, Trees married structural engineer and real estate agent Wolf de Leon.^[1] Wolf, also known as Wolly, had been in hiding from September 1942 with Henrika (she was called Hans) Weisz, who gave shelter to several people in her home at Amstel 188.^[15] Shortly after the war, Wolly married Hans, but that marriage was not long-lived: it was dissolved after only a year.^[16] Trees was his fourth wife.^[16] According to unconfirmed reports, she had also been married to Bram Asscher.^[17] However, this is not registered on her personal card in the population register.^[1] That they already had something going on at school is suggested by an entry in Anne's diary, where she writes that one evening in the bathroom she and Margot were talking "about Bram and Trees."^[18]

Trees worked as a real estate agent after the war.^[19]

Source personal data.^[20] Addresses: Weteringschans 28hs, Amsterdam; Nicolaas Witsenkade 24hs (Sept. ’45),^[21] 1e Constantijn Huygensstraat (1953), Zandvoort (1957).^[1]