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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 25/12/2025

Peace on Earth may feel distant, but when we take time to care for one another and choose unity over division, we can make the world a little brighter and more peaceful and bring the world closer to harmony. From all of us at the Sobibor Foundation, we wish you Happy Holidays! ✨🎄🕊️🎅🏼🕎🕯️

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 14/12/2025

This hanukkiah, entrusted to neighbours in 1943 before deportation to Sobibor, is the only piece of Chiel, Selma, Erna & Gusta Lubinski that remains. As we light the hanukkiah, may its flames honor their memory and inspire us to uphold the light of hope and unity. Chag urim sameach! Happy Hanukkah!

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 23/10/2025

4/4 Betje Sanders-Blik was imprisoned in Vught concentration camp from March 23, 1943. On June 7, she was taken from Vught to transit camp Westerbork and deported to Sobibor on June 8, where she was murdered immediately upon arrival on June 11, 1943.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 23/10/2025

3/4 Moise Louis Sanders was killed as a soldier in Delft on the first day of WWII in the Netherlands. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Cross. This decoration was awarded to Dutch soldiers, who distinguished themselves by courageous action in the face of the enemy.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 23/10/2025

2/4 Betje married the meat cutter Moise Louis Sanders shortly before the start of the war. He was a conscript soldier when the war began and served with the 1st Section-3rd Company-3rd Battalion-Regiment Grenadiers. He was killed on May 10, 1940.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 23/10/2025

23.10.1915 | Betje Sanders-Blik was born in The Hague, the daughter of Salomon Blik and Vrouwtje de Winter. She lived at Marktweg 16 in the Transvaal district, in The Hague. She was 27 when she was murdered in Sobibor on June 11, 1943.👇🏼1/4

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 21/10/2025

21.10.1935 | Sally Kesnar was a son of Roosje & Sal Kesnar. They had 4 children: Sally (1935) Bobby (1936), Miepje (1938) and Sjef (1942). On May 26, 1943, the family was rounded up and taken to Westerbork. murdered in Sobibor on June 4, 1943. Miepje and Sjef survived the war.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 21/10/2025

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 20/10/2025

2/2 Karl and Adele Blau lived in Vienna and were deported to Kielce in 1941. They were recognised by Franz Stangl in Treblinka and selected for work. Blau was feared because of his collaboration with the SS. He and his wife committed suicide in Sobibor in Nov. 1943. Their three daughters survived.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 20/10/2025

20.10.1943 | 5 wagons left Treblinka to Sobibor via Siedlce, Łuków, Dęblin and Chełm with a few dozen Jews and their Kapo Karl Blau, to dismantle parts of Sobibor. The work took about a month to complete and when this was accomplished the Jewish workers were murdered.👇🏼1/2

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 19/10/2025

19.10.1942 | In Izbica, the Germans, led by SS-Hauptsturmführer Kurt Engels, gathered 5000 Jews on the platform. The transport was split into 2 parts: 2500 were deported to Bełżec, while the other group was sent to Sobibor. Approx. 700 Jews were shot dead on the platform in Izbica.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 18/10/2025

18.10.1943 | In Chelm, a burial was held for eleven German SS personnel killed during the Sobibor uprising four days earlier. Post-war, these graves were cleared and transferred to a German war cemetery.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 14/10/2025

14.10.1943 | Anniversary of the Sobibor Uprising — an act of Jewish resistance that led to the death camp's closure. An Aug. 1944 photo from the demolished site is chilling: it shows the entrance to the "Slauch," the path to the gas chambers. www.sobibor.org/en/unknown-photos-sobibor-from-1944

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 09/10/2025

2/2 Betje's father Alexander Simmeren was a merchant. Het married Betje Koekoek on January 23, 1930, in Groningen. The family lived at Gedempte Zuiderdiep 97 a in the city center of Groningen.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 09/10/2025

09.10.1936 | Betje Simmeren was born in Groningen. Her life, shared with brother Philippus & sister Rebekka, was tragically cut short. On March 12, '43, the family was taken to Westerbork, followed by deportation to Sobibor on March 17. Betje was murdered on March 20, 1943.👇🏼1/2

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 07/10/2025

3/3 In 1943, Hartog was a market vendor selling underwear & lingerie at the Jewish market on Joubertstraat. On June 20, 1943, Hartog's family was sent to Westerbork, followed by deportation to Sobibor on June 29, 1943 and murdered. Hartog's mother survived the war. His father perished in Auschwitz.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 07/10/2025

2/3 Rebecca married market vendor Hartog Koekoek on June 11, 1919. They had three children: Margaretha Koekoek (b. 1919), Sophia Koekoek (b. 1921) and Levie Koekoek (b. 1931). The last address of the family was in Amsterdam at Commelinstraat 30a-II.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 07/10/2025

07.10.1898 | Rebecca Koekoek-Scheffer was a daughter of Sophia Barend and Hartog Scheffer (1873-1903). She had one brother, Izak (1900-1944). Her younger sister Saartje died in 1905. Her mother perished in Auschitz in 1942. Rebecca and her family were murdered in Sobibor.👇🏼1/3

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 06/10/2025

06.10.1925 | Henri Schepp lived in Vught. In 1943 the family went into hiding. Rachel and her daughter Hetty in Limburg and Jonas with his son Henri in Utrecht. Henri and his father were arrested on July 3, 1943, and deported to Sobibor on July 6. His mother and sister survived.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 05/10/2025

05.10.1881 | Otto Isidor Wolf was a Frankfurt goldsmith, a widower, and a loving father. He was deported from Berlin to Sobibor on June 15, 1942. Otto married Nelly Horkheimer. She died of cancer in 1936. His sons' Max (b. 1920) and Robert (b. 1922) survived the Holocaust.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 04/10/2025

3/3 On Febr. 22, 1941, Sara's brother Abraham was rounded up and taken to Camp Schoorl with hundreds of Jewish men and deported to Mauthausen. On Aug. 12, hè was murdered in the gas chamber at Schloss Hartheim. Bizarre fact is that Sara was murdered in Sobibor by the same SS men.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 04/10/2025

2/3 Sara worked at the Hollandia-Kattenburg textile factory in Amsterdam as a raincoat sticker. It seems she managed to escape in the razzia of Nov. 11, 1942. She arrived in Westerbork on June 20, 1943 after the big razzia in Amsterdam-east. She was murdered on July 9, 1943.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 04/10/2025

04.09.1921 | Sara Melkman was a daughter of Herman Melkman & Frederika Querido. She had two brothers, Abraham and Isaäc Ben. Sara was a raincoat sticker and lived at Burmanstraat 14 in Amsterdam. Her father was a market vendor on Waterlooplein, where he sold lingerie. 👇🏼1/3

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 02/10/2025

8/8 After spending three days in Westerbork, Albert went on the 17th transport to the Sobibor death camp on July 6, 1943 and murdered three days later.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 02/10/2025

7/8 On April 16, 1943 Albert was transported to concentration camp Vught. Albert was transferred to the outerkommando Moerdijk on May 29, 1943 and housed in barracks 9. Here he had to dig tank trenches and walls. As of July 3, 1943 he was in Westerbork.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 02/10/2025

6/8 Both Albert and Clara were forced to move to Amsterdam. As of Sept.. 17, 1942, Albert was registered with the civil registry at Blauwe Distelstraat 17. This is in the just-formed Judenviertel IV in Amsterdam-North. In Astendorp he was in the fire and air protection service.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 02/10/2025

5/8 On June 21, 1941 the major Noordewier, wrote a letter to the commissioner of the province: “In compliance with your letter cited above. I have the honor to send you a copy of the list of Jews living in this municipality, which I sent to the Sicherheitspolizei in Utrecht today”.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 02/10/2025

4/8 Because of being stateless, he eventually ended up with his niece Clara de Vries-Rosenbaum in Amerstfoort. She was the widow of Abraham de Vries, with whom she had a jewelry store in Amersfoort. Albert worked as a clerk in the store from 1934.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 02/10/2025

3/8 Albert was unmarried and in 1934 he fled to The Netherlands from his home in Hamburg.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 02/10/2025

2/8 Albert Rosenbaum, was born in Hamburg as a son of Samuel and Minna Rosenbaum. They had six children: Max Meier, Eduard, Albert, Else, Fred Ehrick and Gertrud. Albert and Gertrud were the only siings who did not survive the Holocaust.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 02/10/2025

02.10.1888 | An aluminum plate with the name Rosenbaum was found during archaeological excavations at Sobibor. From the inscribed name, address, date and place of birth, it was found out that it was from Albert. He lost it just before he was murdered on July 9, 1943. 👇🏽 1/8

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 01/10/2025

7/7 Samuel Lerer passed away at home in Marlboro, New Jersey, on March 3, 2016. Born in Żółkiewka, deported to Sobibor in 1942, survivor of the uprising, witness in postwar trials. His life stands as a testament to survival, memory, and justice.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 01/10/2025

6/7 Samuel Lerer testified in multiple trials against former SS guards of Sobibor. He spoke in testimonies about his deportation, life in the camp, and the uprising. In 1977, he gave an audio interview about his experiences: 🎧 Listen here open.spotify.com/episode/6rGG...

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 01/10/2025

5/7 In 1950, Samuel Lerer emigrated to the U.S. aboard the SS General Henry Taylor. He settled in Brooklyn, NY, where he met Gale Simanowicz, born in Minsk. They married on Dec 13, 1952, became U.S. citizens in 1955. Lerer ran a supermarket, later drove a NYC taxi. Gale passed away in 2022

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 01/10/2025

4/7 After the Sobibor uprising on Oct. 14, 1943, Samuel Lerer fled into the forest. His 3 brothers tried to escape too, but were murdered. Lerer hid near Chełm with other survivors, incl. Esther Raab. In 1946, in Berlin, he and Raab recognized Sobibor’s Gasmeister, Ernst Bauer.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 01/10/2025

3/7 In Sobibor, Lerer was forced to care for SS horses, later also chickens and geese. SS officer Frenzel ordered him to fatten the geese—used to make noise and drown out victims’ screams as they were driven to the gas chambers. He often saw Frenzel beating or killing Jews.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 01/10/2025

2/7 Samuel Lerer grew up with his parents, three brothers, and one sister in Żółkiewka, a village in eastern Poland where nearly 65% of the population was Jewish. He and his brothers were selected as Arbeitsjuden in Sobibor; the rest of his family was murdered upon arrival.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 01/10/2025

01.10.1922 | Samuel Lerer, born in Żółkiewka, was among the first Jews deported to Sobibor in May 1942. Selected to care for horses and geese and work as a roofer, he survived over a year in the death camp. He escaped during the October 1943 uprising. Lerer died in 2016.👇🏼1/7

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 29/09/2025

4/4 Peter's father was a shirt maker and had a shop in a stately building at Praterstraße 39 in Vienna before the war. Hans Mühlrad married Martha Feldmar on 31 May 1923. The marriage was annulled and Martha remarried in 1933. She died in 1941. Hans died in London in 1950.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 29/09/2025

3/4 On October 15, 1942 the Germans moved the orphanage from Utrecht to the religious school behind the synagogue on the Jonas Daniël Meijerplein (then Houtmarkt) in Amsterdam. Peter was sent to Westerbork on May 29, 1943, and was deported to Sobibor on June 1, 1949 and murdered.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 29/09/2025

2/4 Peter had planned to go to the U.S. with his father. His journey did not go beyond The Hague. He spent a month in quarantine at Copernicusstraat 159. He stayed in various orphanage homes in The Hague and Amsterdam and from March 1941 in the Jewish orphanage in Utrecht.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 29/09/2025

29.09.1926 | Peter Heinz Mühlrad lived in Vienna on Blumauergasse 5/21, He was on the first child transport of Dec. 11, 1938 from Vienna to the Hague. His parents were divorced. His mother, Martha Feldmar, had remarried and lived in Yugoslavia. His father Hans was in London.👇🏼1/4

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 28/09/2025

7/7 Leni's parents remained in Goch until they were deported to the Riga ghetto on Dec. 10, 1941. They both survived various labour and concentration camps. Walter Valk reopened his clothing store in Goch. He died on July 30, 1962. Erna Valk died on August 10, 1993.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 28/09/2025

6/7 Leni remained in Westerbork for a further three months, until May 18, 1943. At that time she was 9 years old. She was then deported to the Sobibor death camp with her uncle Isaak and her aunt Hertha. Leni and her relatives were murdered upon arrival on May 21, 1943.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 28/09/2025

5/7 On October 5, 1942 Leni was sent to camp Westerbork with Isaak & Hertha. 2 weeks later, she met her uncle Otto and aunt Sophia Stern. She was not able to spend much time with them as they were deported to Auschwitz shortly after. Both were murdered on Nov. 2, 1942.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 28/09/2025

4/7 Leni lived with her uncle Isaak's family, who had emigrated to the Netherlands in 1936. Isaak Valk lived at Molenpad 71 in Leeuwarden with his wife and two children, Josef and Hildegart Susanne. Leni's wish to go to school was finally fulfilled. She quickly learned Dutch.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 28/09/2025

3/7 Leni and her mother were forced to move in with family at Herzogenstraße 36 in Goch after Walter's arrest. In December 1938, Leni was clandestinely transported across the border from Germany to the Netherlands. Her uncle, Isaak Valk, took her into his home in Leeuwarden.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 28/09/2025

2/7 Leni lived at Hindenburgstraße 37 in Goch. Her parents had a shop in mens/boys clothing. She was not allowed to go to kindergarten, because a mother form Goch did not want her daughter to play with Jewish children.

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 28/09/2025

28.09.1933 | Leni Valk was born in the German town of Goch, the first and only child of Walter Valk and Erna Stern. At the age of five, she witnessed Kristallnacht and the deportation of her father to Dachau. she was murdered in Sobibor in 1943. Her parents survived. 👇🏼1/7

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Sobibor Foundation - Stichting Sobibor @sobibor.org · 27/09/2025

4/4 Barend Soesan was born in Borgerhout (BE) and he worked in Antwerp and Amsterdam in the diamond industry. He went to Westerbork a month after his wife and daughter. On Aug. 31, 1943, Barend was deported to Auschwitz and selected for forced labor. He perished in 1944.

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