Laying of the cornerstone at the De Rijp condensed milk factory owned by Dutch Jews

Identifier
irn1005067
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2016.79
  • RG-60.1781
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • Silent
Source
EHRI Partner

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Samuel and Margaretha Swaap surreptitiously found hiding places for their grandchildren, Wilhelmina (age 2) and Maarten (age 8 months) in August 1942. The children's parents, Louis de Kadt, 29 (born May 13, 1913), and Sonja Rita de Kadt-Swaap, 22 (born October 8, 1919), were murdered in Auschwitz on August 10, 1942. They were rounded up from their home in Amsterdam, forced to gather in the Hollandsche Schouwburg theater, and deported to the transit camp Westerbork, and later to Auschwitz. Wilhelmina lived outside Amsterdam in hiding with a devout Catholic family called van der Zijden, while Maarten was housed by a Protestant couple nearby. Wilhelmina says, "We weren't far apart. I was able to visit my brother occasionally, but I didn't know he was my brother. I thought he was just a friend." Samuel and Margaretha Swaap were deported from Westerbork to Bergen Belsen on May 19, 1944; Samuel died there in February 1945. Margaretha was freed from the camp but hospitalized for two months as she recovered from deprivation-related illnesses. At 52, she immigrated to New York with the children and reunited with her surviving daughter. Margaretha retrieved the family's possessions, including these films.

Scope and Content

Slow pan of a city on a waterway; tree-lined banks and steepled buildings; extended views of the flatlands across the water from town, including a windmill and people working in the fields; 01:01:17 detailed views of the edifices of various buildings in the town of De Rijp, and of a canal, taken from an upstairs window; 01:02:56 Slow pan of a smokestack and chimney emanating steam; surrounding houses and industrial buildings; the sign on one building reads "De Beemster" at Tuingracht 32; 01:05:09 A man drives a horse-drawn cart carrying metal milk canisters; the interior workings of the milk factory, including pumps, timing belts, and milk canisters being filled; 01:08:03 A white-coated factory worker helps to make, and others label, packages of condensed milk; 01:11:05 Men shovel coal into a wheelbarrow; steam escapes the factory through a side door; bricks and rubble lay in the vacant lot next-door; a close-up of the factory's sign, reading "De Beemster"; 01:13:02 Two men smile at the camera from the other side of a wooden fence; a young boy leans against a cart in the yard adjacent to the factory; 01:13:44 Panning close-up of a tall piece of wooden construction equipment; construction begins on the lot next to the old factory; using the crane to move large logs across the site and hoist them into the air; a pile driver hammers the logs into the ground; men use saws to cut down the piles to a uniform height; 01:18:20 concrete is poured to lay the foundation atop the piles; a bricklayer works to build the factory's new walls; 01:20:08 Sonja de Kadt, the wife of the factory owner, shakes hands and lays the ceremonial cornerstone, and receives a bouquet of flowers; men and women watch the ceremony and talk; construction workers at work; the new concrete floor and the wooden scaffolding.

Note(s)

  • The ground breaking for the factory took place on May 29, 1941. This 8mm film was exposed at 12 frames per second and was projected many times.

Subjects

Places

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.