All that remains: four pictures of the De Jonge family that lived in Groningen (Netherlands) at Folkingedwarsstraat 5. Parents, two children and a son-in-law and grandchild Eva born in February 1942, all murdered in Auschwitz. After November 1942 no one was left to tell. The four pictures were waiting in a tinplated box, I need to show them.
But first the facts. Seline de Leeuw was niece to my grandfather Arnold de Leeuw (1886-1944), daughter of his uncle Louis. In Groningen she married shoemaker Benjamin de Jonge (click for pictures):
Seline de Leeuw, Stad Almelo 15.05.1885 – Auschwitz 19.10.1942
x Groningen 12.01.1913 Benjamin de Jonge, Winschoten 18.01.1884 – Auschwitz 19.10.1942
1 Elise Nanny de Jonge, Groningen 21.07.1917 – Auschwitz 12.10.1942
x Groningen 27.02.1941 Levie Gomprecht Haalman, Groningen 4.03.1914 – Auschwitz 12.11.1942
Eva Selina Haalman, Groningen 26.02.1942 – Auschwitz 12.10.1942
2 Nico Louis de Jonge, Groningen 17.12.1928 – Auschwitz 19.10.1942
I find it impossible to disengage from the picture. Here they are, Elise and Levie, in their woollen sweaters as if it were yesterday. They look at us as if they know that there is no future. The picture is undated. But Elise and Levie sat in this armchair sometime in the late 1930s, and the pose is unusual for that time when most couples would stand stiff in front of a camera. Here she is sitting on his lap and he holds her hand.
Their ages were 23 and 26 when they married in February 1941, 25 and 28 when they died. Elise died with her seven months old daughter Eva, her parents and brother Nico (13) died one week later and Levie one month later.
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