List of Child Survivors
Object numberM1999/009:001
TitleList of Child Survivors
DescriptionNewsletter with list of child survivors compiled by Helena Moll. Dated June 1955, the circular is addressed "To those who lived in the Youth Houses ('Huis ten Vijver' - House at the Pond) or 'Jongenshuis' (Boys' House) between 1940 and 1943". Helena worked in the Dutch resistance and helped children hide during the German occupation of the Netherlands. She documented information so that the children could stay in contact with each other after the war.
The bottom of the second page contains a hand-written note to Peter Neumann, thanking him for the money which he sent to her as a gesture of gratitude.
Peter Neumann was born in Vienna on 20 January 1925 to Hilda and Alfred Neumann. He had a brother, Lucian (Lutz). His father was a doctor of law. In 1932 he became unemployed and the family rented out two of the four rooms of their house; his mother cooked and did the laundry. Alfred became a journalist and began writing political articles, which brought him to the Austrian government’s attention. He was arrested and interned in Dachau and then Buchenwald. Desperate to make sure the children were safe, his mother searched for options; she heard about the Quakers who were trying to get children out of Austria. She registered the boys in October/November 1938, and they boarded a train to Holland.
Peter went to a children’s home in Ockenburg with around 100 other Jewish children. Mrs Boon, in charge of the committee that organised the children coming to Holland, assisted his parents with permits to leave and following Alfred’s release from Buchenwald, Alfred and Hilda arrived in Holland in 1939. Peter and his brother moved to a children’s home in the Hague, Huis ten Vijver (House by the Pond) where they stayed with around 150-200 Jewish children. Helena Moll was in charge of this home.
The time in Dachau and Buchenwald had deeply affected Peter’s father. He became suspicious of other people, and after thinking that Mrs Boon was a spy, he was sent to an insane asylum.
After Germany invaded Holland on 10 May 1940, one of the first measures was that all the Jews from Austria and Germany who had escaped to Holland should be moved away from the coast. Peter’s family was moved at this time, and were taken in by Jewish families in the town of Hengelo. First with the Cohen family and then he was moved to live with the Franken family. During this time, Peter’s mother learned that all the Jews in the asylum where his father was, had been deported to Auschwitz and gassed upon arrival.
The bottom of the second page contains a hand-written note to Peter Neumann, thanking him for the money which he sent to her as a gesture of gratitude.
Peter Neumann was born in Vienna on 20 January 1925 to Hilda and Alfred Neumann. He had a brother, Lucian (Lutz). His father was a doctor of law. In 1932 he became unemployed and the family rented out two of the four rooms of their house; his mother cooked and did the laundry. Alfred became a journalist and began writing political articles, which brought him to the Austrian government’s attention. He was arrested and interned in Dachau and then Buchenwald. Desperate to make sure the children were safe, his mother searched for options; she heard about the Quakers who were trying to get children out of Austria. She registered the boys in October/November 1938, and they boarded a train to Holland.
Peter went to a children’s home in Ockenburg with around 100 other Jewish children. Mrs Boon, in charge of the committee that organised the children coming to Holland, assisted his parents with permits to leave and following Alfred’s release from Buchenwald, Alfred and Hilda arrived in Holland in 1939. Peter and his brother moved to a children’s home in the Hague, Huis ten Vijver (House by the Pond) where they stayed with around 150-200 Jewish children. Helena Moll was in charge of this home.
The time in Dachau and Buchenwald had deeply affected Peter’s father. He became suspicious of other people, and after thinking that Mrs Boon was a spy, he was sent to an insane asylum.
After Germany invaded Holland on 10 May 1940, one of the first measures was that all the Jews from Austria and Germany who had escaped to Holland should be moved away from the coast. Peter’s family was moved at this time, and were taken in by Jewish families in the town of Hengelo. First with the Cohen family and then he was moved to live with the Franken family. During this time, Peter’s mother learned that all the Jews in the asylum where his father was, had been deported to Auschwitz and gassed upon arrival.
Production placeHolland
Production date 1955
Object namelists
Materialpaper
Dimensions
- width: 210.00 mm
height: 340.00 mm
Language
- Dutch To those who lived in the Youthhouses “Huis ten Vijver” [House at the Pond] (Scheveningen) or “Jongenshuis” [Boys’ House] (Arnhem) between 1940 and 1943, and to some of their friends:
The sender is Mrs A. H. Moll (who lived in Wassenaar from 1940-1945 and whose current address is Postbus 201, Den Haag, The Netherlands.
June, 1955.
My dear young friends!
Many of you have asked me for the addresses of people with whom you lived during the occupation when you were boys and girls living together in the above-mentioned houses, or with whom you were acquainted in Holland. The following is a list of addresses of Group A. The date before their names is the year that I heard from them or that I received their correct addresses from friends. In the case of the married girls, the surname of the husband, if I knew it, comes first. Also, in the case of many of the boys, I added whether, and to whom, they were married. In some cases, I unfortunately did not know these details. Nearly all the families have one or more children. [Group] B: You will find the names of those whose addresses I do not know, but who, in any case, were still alive at the end of the war, and thus survived the time in hiding, the occupation and the camps. I hope this will give you peace of mind! I don’t know whether those in this Group B stayed alive in Israel or somewhere else. However, perhaps you will find in Group A friends of Group B who can tell you their addresses and what became of them.
Amongst the children who went to their parents in Germany, Austria or America during the occupation, you will find some in Group A and B who arrived alive and, as far as I know, stayed alive. (Certain others, among them the girls Fischer and Treff, were, alas, deported with their parents and perished.) I do not know the fate of the following: Margot Cooper, who returned to her parents in Berlin, but who for a little while sent me reassuring messages; Lisl and Herbert Karl Isay, who set off for their parents in Berlin in 1941, hoping to emigrate to Brazil; P.B. and H.W. Lesser, Ursula Stern and Jetty Sturm, who all went to their parents in 1941, but sent no more messages. (In my opinion, these 7 children went at the request of their parents, back to the country where they were regarded as being “Jewish” and thus in danger of being deported.)
My voluntary task since 1940 is now coming to an end. During the occupation I was unable to do more for you than to create a safer registration, namely as G1; organise hiding places and visits when my help or advice was needed. After the occupation, my assistance could only consist of facilitating contact between repatriated blood relatives, conveying recommendations of study or employment to you and assistance with petitions for “Entschadigung” [compensation] to the German government, amongst others, through official declarations from myself. All these forms of assistance I was able to give amounted to very little in the face of all the afflictions you suffered… I hope that all of you may be granted as much happiness as possible, and that you will also bring happiness to others through your personal love and through freeing the world from feelings of hatred and enmity. Work for universal peace!
I am now 75 years old and as an invalid resistance worker of 1940-1945 receive a wonderful pension from the Dutch government. Apart from pain from rheumatism and heart muscle cramps, I am otherwise in good health. When my end is near, there will be no death notice circulated, and it is my wish that there will be no spoken, written, or printed words devoted to my memory.
With kind regards and best wishes,
June, 1955
P.O.B. 201 Den Haag, The Netherlands. Your A. Helena Moll.
[The following was in the form of a table]
During the occupation, safe through:
h = being or being called half Jewish
o = going into hiding
b = going abroad (fleeing or to parents)
?= previous history unknown Abbreviations:
Group A After the occupation, alive through:
w = freed from Westerbork
r = freed from a camp abroad
hr = although h, still deported but came back alive
or = although went into hiding, still deported but came back alive
br = although went to parents abroad, still deported but came back alive
Translated by Hanna Sanders, November 2009. Saved as Translated letter from Mrs Moll on S:\Curator\Curators, Volunteers & Interns\Bronwyn Gerry 2009\Objects\Written Up work\Peter Neumann
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Peter Neumann