In 1927, Leonard married the primary school teacher Betsy Koekoek. They had four children, all of whom were given Hebrew names: two daughters Nedivo (1928) and Jiska (1931), and two sons, the twins Menachemja and Pinkas (1934).
In November 1940, Leonard was relieved of his teaching duties and subsequently fired by order of the occupying forces. The Pinkhof family went to Oudesluis, where they were initially able to lodge with the family of the headmaster Jippes. This stay came to an end when German officers were billeted with the Jippes family. The Pinkhofs were obviously Jewish, both in terms of their appearance and their behaviour. Leonard rejected offers to go into hiding, however, since it would mean the children being separated from their parents and would put paid to any chance of getting to Palestine as Zionist Jews. They could not return to Den Helder, since Jews were forbidden to live in coastal regions. The family moved to Amsterdam in September 1941. Leonard had found a temporary job there, at the A.B. Davidsschool in Valckenierstraat, starting on 1 October.
Since Leonard possessed ‘Palestine certificates', which supposedly provided an opportunity of emigration to Palestine through an exchange deal involving German prisoners-of-war, the Pinkhof family did not end up in Westerbork until June 1943. A month later, Leonard and his family were transported to Sobibor.
D. Kila, De Kille aan het Marsdiep (Den Helder 1999)
There is information on Leonard Pinkhof and his family in C. Asscher-Pinkhof, De danseres zonder benen (several editions 1966-2001).
In addition, a Jokos file (number 13801) on this family is at the Amsterdam Municipal Archive. Access is subject to authorization from the Stichting Joods Maatschappelijk Werk.The Jokos file reveals that a claim was lodged for compensation for valuables surrendered to the Lippmann-Rosenthal looting bank (L-claim, number 9311/14768).