Louis Willy van Dantzig was the youngest of the three sons of Salomon van Dantzig and Hanna Cune. He was born on 12 February 1924 in Rotterdam and was an office clerk by profession. He lived at home with his mother at Beukelsdijk 128b in Rotterdam and was unmarried. His father however had been already admitted in 1929 to the psychiatric institution “Oud Rosenburg” in Loosduinen
From the brief information on his registration card at the Jewisch Council, it appeared that Louis Willy van Dantzig has been admitted to the Central Israëlitic Psychiatric Hospital Het Apeldoornsche Bosch in Apeldoorn too. His official home address however still was Beukelsdijk 128b in Rotterdam.
It is clear that Louis Willy was not a victim of the raid on the Apeldoornsche Bosch, when the Germans during the night of 21 to 22 January 1943 emptied the psychiatric hospital. It is possible that he was already discharged before that time and lived again at home.
His registration card from the Jewish Council further shows, that Louis Willy has been carried off to concentration camp Vught on 22 April 1943. From there, he was transferred to the “Arbeitslager” (labor camp) “Oud Leusden”; on 18 October 1943 he was sent back from Vught to Westerbork, to be put on transport the next day to Auschwitz. This transport contained in total 1007 deportees and arrived in Auschwitz on 21 October 1943.
Upon arrival there, Louis Willy was selected for “Arbeit”. (labor). However, it is not known where eventually ended up. As well the place as the exact date of his death is unknown. It is therefore that after the war the Dutch Authorities have established, also based on testimonies of survivors and of research, that Louis Willy van Dantzig has died (somewhere) in Poland on 31 March 1944.
Sources include the City Archive of Rotterdam, family registration card of Louis Willy van Dantzig; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration card of Louis Willy van Dantzig; website ITS Arolson/camp card Vught of Louis Willy van Dantzig; website Jodentransporten vanuit Nederland.nl and the certificate of death of Louis Willy van Dantzig, made out in Rotterdam on 2 February 1952, nr. 159.