Ice-skating in prewar Netherlands

Identifier
irn1004341
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2009.341.2
  • RG-60.4843
Dates
1 Jan 1939 - 31 Dec 1941
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • Silent
Source
EHRI Partner

Creator(s)

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 ice-skates on a large pond (either Winter 1939-1940 or 1940-1941) in Sonsbeek Park. Rachel is with her classmates, while Louis attempts skating for the first time. There are hundreds skating in the BG as the children struggle to skate with blades strapped to their boots. They drink cocoa or hot anis milk delivered on a sled. They resume skating towards the camera, some doing better than others.

Note(s)

  • For more artifacts related to the de Groot family, see USHMM collections with accession numbers 2003.155 and 2009.341

People

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.