Lewi IsakZangen was a son of Mendel Zangen and Reizel Araten. His mother was widowed already at a young age when his father died in 1904 at the age of 36. After the birth of his eldest sister in Warschau, the Zangen family moved to Rozwadow in the district of Subkarpaten in the South-East of Poland. Before the war, Rozwadow was a thriving stettl. There Lewi Isak was born on 12 June 1894 as the fourth of seven children Zangen. His siblings were Channa Lieba, Simon Mamcia, Emilie Mirl, Israel Jacob, Adele en Samuel Schachna.
Children of Reizel Zangen who have survived the Holocaust were Channa Liebe Zangen, her husband Josef Rosenzweig and her son Hermann Jacob. Their daughter Hanna left for Tel Aviv in 1934 after she married there Ignatz Lichtblau; Also Reizel’s son Simon Mamcia Zangen, his wife Mirel Kanner and both their sons Menda and Oskar have survived the Shoah. All others have been killed in the Shoah.
Lewi Isak Zangen married 12 August 1917 in Poland to Sara Mahler, who was born in Debica on 21 July 1897. Their daughter Hinda was born there already on 19 July 1916. Via Duisburg (Germany) the family arrived in 1920 in the Netherlands where they went to Scheveningen, where more family already lived; during the Census of 1920/1921 they were registered in the Peoples Registry of Den Haag. On 4 October 1929 Lewi Isak and his wife Sara were naturalized and received the Dutch nationality. Their daughter Hinda received that on 18 March 1931.
Per 1 January 1921 Lewi Isak Zangen, his wife Sara Mahler and daughter Hinda lived at Dirk Hoogenraadstraat 128 in Scheveningen. On 13 July 1922 they moved to Haagsestraat 69 where their son Menachem Mendel was born on 31 January 1924. (During his life he was known as Max). Three weeks later, on 19 February 1924 the family and their newly born baby moved to Harstenhoekweg 139 and 15 December 1925 to Arnhemschestraat 80 in Scheveningen. There they resided till mid 1942.
Lewi Isak Zangen was an active member of the Nederlands Isralitische Gemeente (N.I.G.) den Haag. (Dutch Israelitic Congregation). On 31 October 31 1941, as one of the speakers he held a speech at the second “Sijoem on Tenach” in Scheveningen (learning the end of a tractate) on the occasion of Shawoeoth. Lewi Isak worked as an administrator at the N.I.G. at the Havenkade 19 in Scheveningen.
By virtue of his position at the N.I.G., Lewi Isak Zangen and his wife Sara Mahler were exempted from deportation until further notice (“gesperrt bis auf weiteres”), however on 24 October 1942 they were already taken to Westerbork. From notes on the registration card from the file cabinet of the Jewish Council of Lewi Isak Zangen, it appeared that one was in correspondence about their “Sperre” (exemption), but finally still their luggage was delivered on 21 February in barrack 63. Already two days later, on 23 February, Lewi and Sara were put on transport to Auschwitz and on arrival there on 26 February 1943 they were immediately killed.
Their two children, Hinda and Menachem Mendel (Max) hav survived the Holocaust as they managed to escape to Switzerland. Their names were found on the lists of “Jewish arrivals in Switzerland 1938-1945”. Hinda Zangen arrived in Switzerland on 19 October 1942 and her younger brother Max more than two months later, on 1 March 1943. Of Hinda nothing is furhter known; Menachem Mendel (Max) Zangen settled in Israël after the war.
Sources among others: Municipal Archive of Den Haag, family registration cards of Lewi Israel Zangen; the Jewish Weekly of 31 October 1941 page 9 (Het Joodsech Weekblad); the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Lewi Isak Zangen, Sara Zangen-Mahler, Hinda Zangen and Menachem Mendel Zangen; Certificates of death nr.C-2913 for Lewi Isak Zangen, made out in Den Haag on 18 August 1951 and C-2885 for Sara Mahler, made out in Den Haag on 11 August 1951; website Geni.com/Mendel Zangen and the website Holocaust Survivers and Victims Database/Zangen.