Unused bookplate with a Star of David rose tree belonging to a Dutch Jewish pharmacist

Betty Rosenbaum was born on August 7, 1941, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Ephraim Izaak Levie (Eil) and Johanna Fredericka Suzanna Zion Rosenbaum. Eil was born on June 7, 1913, in Roden, Netherlands, the only child of Bertha and Izaak Levie Rosenbaum. Johanna was born on February 20, 1914, in Eibergen, Netherlands, where her family owned a textile business. Johanna had five siblings: Julius Jacob, Salomon Isaac, Zadok Joseph, Wilhelmina Esther, and Frieda. Betty had one brother, Izaak Michel Max, born on January 19, 1943, in Amsterdam. Eil was a pharmacist and owner of Rosenbaum Pharmacy in the Amsterdam Jewish quarter. In May 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands. Jews were soon segregated from Dutch society; many were imprisoned and, after summer 1942, many were deported to concentration camps. Around this time, Betty’s maternal grandmother, Betje Zion Gans, was deported to Sobibor extermination camp. Her maternal uncles and aunts went into hiding. A non-Jewish friend of her parents, Jan Willem Hageman, who was the Secretary of the Eibergen municipality, sent his son-in-law to Amsterdam to beg Eil and Johanna to go into hiding. The Jewish Council asked Eil to stay because so many in the medical profession had fled Amsterdam already. He decided to stay to support his community, but sent his wife and children to the eastern Netherlands in March 1943. Johanna and Max went to live with her sister’s fiancée, Minke Cosman Zion, in Neede. Two year old Betty was placed with Jan Willem Hageman, his wife, Berthe, and their 2 children in Eibergen. Jan issued Betty false identity papers in the name Elizabeth Cornelia Andriessen, born on August 17, 1941, to Hendrica Christina Andriessen-Hageman, in Gendt, Belgium. He told others that she was a cousin. Jan and his family belonged to a small religious Protestant Reform movement, and many members were active in the Dutch underground. Jan was shot and killed by the Germans on June 6, 1944. Betty stayed with the Hageman family for the duration of the war. The Netherlands was liberated by Canadian forces in May 1945. Betty remembers the Canadian tanks entering the town. She received chocolate with the neighborhood children and went to the general kitchen to have porridge. Her paternal aunt, Betty Levie, wanted to take her to Palestine, but her mother’s family wanted her to stay in Eibergen. Betty met with the Ezra HaYeled [Children’s Helpers] Committee and the courts decided she should live with her mother’s eldest brother, Julius Jacob Zion, and his wife, Nora Zion de Jong. She continued to encounter her adoptive mother, Berthe Hageman, who lived across the street. She was unable to go to the Christian kindergarten because she was Jewish. Betty now had her third surname, Zion. It was only when she entered first grade that she learned that her real last name was Rosenbaum. Betty found out later that her mother and her brother were betrayed while living in hiding in Neede by a local Dutch Nazi Party member who received money for turning in Jews. Her maternal uncle, Julius, escaped from the house before being arrested as well. They were sent to the punishment barracks at Westerbork transit camp on March 28, 1943, but the Germans could not locate Betty. On March 30, 1943, Johanna, 29 years old, and Max, 10 weeks old, were deported to Sobibor, where they were killed on April 2, 1943. Betty’s father was arrested in Amsterdam for using alcohol. He was sent to Westerbork, and later to Sobibor, where he was killed on April 23, 1943, age 29. Betty’s maternal grandmother, Betje Zion Gans, and her paternal grandparents, Bertha and Izaak Levie Rosenbaum, perished in Sobibor. Betty became active in the Zionist youth movement, Bnei Akiva, and worked at the Israeli Embassy in The Hague. In 1964, she emigrated to Israel, married a man named Kazin, and had 4 children. Berthe and Jan Willem Hageman were recognized posthumously by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations in 2002.

Ephraim Izaak Levie (Eil) Rosenbaum was born on June 7, 1913, in Roden, Netherlands, to Bertha and Izaak Levie Rosenbaum. His father was a merchant and provided loans and rented out parcels of land. His mother was a teacher in Assen. In 1928, the family moved to Groningen where Eil joined the Jewish Youth Federation. He studied in Groningen to become a pharmacist. In May 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands. On August 19, 1940, Eil married Johanna Fredericka Suzanna Zion, born on February 20, 1914, in Eibergen, where her family owned a textile business. Johanna had five siblings: Julius Jacob, Salomon Isaac, Zadok Joseph, Wilhelmina Esther, and Frieda. They had two children, Betty, born on August 7, 1941, and Izaak Michel Max, born on January 19, 1943, both born in Amsterdam. Eil opened Rosenbaum Pharmacy in the Amsterdam Jewish quarter. Deportations of Jews from the Netherlands began in the summer of 1942. Johanna’s widowed mother, Betje Zion Gans, was deported to Sobibor extermination camp. Johanna’s brothers and sisters went into hiding. Eil and Johanna were well connected in Eibergen. A non-Jewish friend, Jan Willem Hageman, who was the Secretary of the Eibergen municipality, sent his son-in-law to Amsterdam to beg Eil and Johanna to go into hiding. Many in the medical profession had fled Amsterdam already, so the Jewish Council asked Eil to stay. He decided to stay to support his community, and is remembered for this statement, “As long as there are Jews in Amsterdam, I have to stay.” Eil did send his wife and children to the eastern Netherlands in March 1943. Johanna and Max went to live with her sister’s fiancée, Minke Cosman Zion, in Neede. Two year old Betty was placed with Jan Willem Hageman, his wife, Berthe, and their 2 children in Eibergen. Johanna, age 29, and ten week old Max were betrayed by a Dutch Nazi and deported and killed in Sobibor on April 2, 1943. Eil was arrested in Amsterdam for using alcohol. He was sent to Vught transit camp, then to Westerbork transit camp, and later to Sobibor, where he was killed on April 23, 1943, age 29. Jan Hageman was shot and killed by the Germans on June 6, 1944. Betty stayed with the Hageman family until liberation by the Canadian Army in May 1945. After a postwar custody dispute, she was sent to live with her maternal uncle and his family.

The bookplate was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2010 by Betty Kazin, the daughter of Ephraim Izaak Levie Rosenbaum.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Betty Kazin

Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.