Samuel Elekan

Early October 1943, a month after the arrival of the transport of 31 August and 7 September 1943 from Westerbork in Auschwitz, with in total resp. 1004 and 987 deportees, among them possibly also Samuel Elekan, a group of 187 Dutch prisoners was formed who were deported to Warschau to clear the area of rubble of the devastated ghetto. Originally there was a group of 264 men, younger than 50 years,…

The next general conclusion, which can be drawn in advance, concerns men who were transferred from Auschwitz to the destroyed ghetto in Warsaw in 1943 to carry out rubble-clearing work.

In this regard, reference can mainly be made to what has already been stated about this category on pages 123-125 of the section Auschwitz VI.

It may further be mentioned that these men, who belonged to several Wes…

Samuel Elekan was the only son of Maurits Elekan and Rebecca Lopes Carança. He was born on 28 September 1901 and followed in his father’s footsteps – he learned the leather trade and ran a leather goods shop.

On 10 Decembe 1930 he married in Onstwedde (province of Groningen) Geertruida Goudsmid, a daughter of Sander Goudsmid and Engeltje Weinberg. Geertruida was born in Ontswedde on 9 May 1895, li…

PREAMBLE

From the so-called “autumn transports” of 31 August and 7 September 1943 Westerbork - Auschwitz, after selection at the time of arrival, the men deemed most suitable for work were transferred to the Warsaw Ghetto for carrying out rubble removal work and a number of women were put to work in Auschwitz-Birkenau.

It is not possible to draw up a complete list of the men selected for forced la…