De Groot family walks to Sonsbeek Park; Castle Zypendaal
Creator(s)
- Mr. Louis de Groot
- Meijer de Groot (Camera Operator)
Biographical History
Meijer de Groot (1897-1944) and his wife Sophia Swaab de Groot (1900-1944) owned a hardware and electrical appliance store on Rijnstraat in the city of Arnhem, The Netherlands. After being warned of a forthcoming round-up of Jews, the de Groot family left their home in Arnhem to go into hiding in November 1942. Louis (b. 1929) and his sister, Rachel (1927-1944), hid in several dozen places throughout the Netherlands. Rachel eventually joined her parents at their hiding place in Amsterdam, while Louis made it to the home of Dirk and Ann Onderweegs in Lemmer in January 1944. Rachel and her parents were denounced on April 8, 1944, arrested by a Dutch policeman who was a childhood friend of Meijer's, and sent first to Westerbork and then to Auschwitz where they perished. Louis stayed with the Onderweegs until August 1946 when he entered the Jewish Boys Orphanage in Amsterdam. He fought for Israel in 1948, briefly returned to Holland, and emigrated to the United States in 1950, where he married and had two sons.
Scope and Content
The de Groot family walking in Sonsbeek Park. People riding bikes. An older man (Max Turksma, Meijer de Groot's bridge parter) with a cigar on a bicycle greets the cameraman. Cut to a different outing in Arnhem with a view of Castle Zypendaal, the large mansion owned by Baron von Heemstra where Audrey Hepburn and her mother lived during the war, in a field surrounded by trees. Children play with a small dog. More shots of the castle and then of a smaller building on the grounds. Back to the de Groots walking in Sonsbeek Park along paths in the forest, all of them very well dressed. 01:05:41 CU, baby in a carriage. This is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Wolf Nathans, friends of the de Groot family. The family, then Rachel, push the baby carriage through the city (slowed down). 01:05:50 A German soldier is visible walking behind them. Brief shot of a sign affixed to a fence lining the street, reading "Apeldoorn" with an arrow pointing right. Another view of walking on Jansbinnensingel.
Note(s)
See also RG-60.4844 for similar footage of Sonsbeek Park. For more artifacts related to the de Groot family, see USHMM collections with accession numbers 2003.155 and 2009.341
People
- de Groot, Louis.
Subjects
- JEWS
- CITIES
- BABY CARRIAGES
- JEWISH LIFE (PRE-WAR)
- BABIES
- BICYCLES
- STREETS
- PARKS
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY (GERMAN)
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY
- DOGS
- PALACES/CASTLES
- CHILDREN (JEWISH)
- NETHERLANDS
Places
- Arnhem, Netherlands
Genre
- Film
- Amateur.