Samuel Bierschen, born in Rotterdam 19 April 1921 as 7th child of Benedictus Bierschenk and Aaltje Boas, was so-called “mixed married”, just as his other married siblings. Probably after 1941 Samuel was married to the Non-Jewish Maria Henneman and from his registration card from the Jewish Council, it appeared that they had a child.
According to specifications of the Peoples Registry of the Municipality of Rotterdam, Samuel Bierschenk lived at home with his parents at Breede Hilledijk 161a in Rotterdam till the mandatory registration of the Jews in the Netherlands, which became mandatory per 10 January 1941. After that date, he lived with wife and child at Veerlaan 14 1st floor, according to his registration cards from the Jewish Council.
Samuel Bierschenk was carried off to Westerbork twice. The first time he arrived there was 7 October 1942 and he stayed there in the barracks 57, 58 and later in 59. Samuel immediately indicated that he was mixed married and an intensive corresepondence with the Jewish Council in Rotterdam developed to get exemption from deportation. These included missing documents from the wife’s grandparents, from which it would appear from which ecclesiastical disposition those grandparens would be, about the three different baptismal certificates he provides, about statements, C.V. all not to be deported.
All of this was checked and investigated in the period of early October till early December which eventually led to Samuel Bierschenk being discharged on 4 December 1942 for his mixed marriage.
However, on 13 February 1943, Samuel Bierschenk has been carried off again to Westerbork. His luggage ended up in barrack 66, a penal barrack, just as barrack 67. That day also Samuel was locked in barrack 66. The next day, an intensive correspondence with the Jewish Council in Rotterdam started again, in which was again requested to send all papers regarding his mixed marriage and child. This correspondence dragged on until 3 June 1943, when it was finally found that “further steps had no purpose”
Because: Samuel Bierschenk, who has been moved with his luggage from barrack 66 to 67, had been already put on transport to Sobibor as “S” (strafgeval – Penal Case) with another 2510 deporteees. On arrival there on 21 May 1943, Samuel was killed immediately in the gas chambers there. From this transport were no other survivors.
Sources among others: City Archive of Rotterdam, family registration card of Benedictus Bierschenk; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Samuel Bierschenk; the death certificate of Samuel Bierschenk, drawn up by order of the District Court of Rotterdam in 1946, folio 90, nr. 1789; website wiewaswie.nl; wikipedialist of Jew transports from the Netherlands and research and additions of the curator Shoah and the Hollandse Schouwburg.