Maurits Charles van Messel

Maurits Charles van Messel

Bron: NIOD Amsterdam, collectie foto's Erelijst van Gevallenen

29 February 1940 report of stolen items from van Messel's car, which was parked outside his residence at J.W. Brouwerplein 18, Amsterdam

Maurits van Messel's name appears in the Roll of Honor, a government-maintained list of 18,000 individuals who sacrificed their lives for the good of the Netherlands. It is located in the entrance to the House of Representatives of the States General. 

Maurits's listing in the Roll of Honor.

Maurits's index card from the Jewish Council card file in Amsterdam (source: arolsen-archives.org). After the war the information office of the Netherlands Red Cross (NLRC) created a file for Maurits under dossier number 29,567, which contained all the information known at that time about him and his persecution.

On the left side of the card, the typing by a Jewish Council worker noted Maurits's home address, date and location of birth, occupation, marital status and name of his wife. After the war, NLRC workers hand-wrote in the names and birthdates of his two sons, their dossier numbers, and the date of Maurits's death in Vught concentration camp. 

The NLRC dossiers are housed in the National Archives in the Hague. In 2021 the NLRC announced its intention to transfer the Jewish Council Index Card Archive to Amsterdam's Jewish Cultural Quarter, which plans to exhibit the archive at the National Holocaust Museum beginning in late 2022.

Maurits Charles van Messel's persoonskaart. (source: Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief)

Woningkaart for Jan Willem Brouwersplein 18. Volgnummer 4 lists Maurits and his wife, Hedwig R. Marx. (source: Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief)

Opening of the new showroom for Van Messel's Automobiel Bedrijf, Amsterdam, 1929. M. Charles van Messel, seated center (1). Mevrouw Van Messel (2). Onder-directeur W[olf] Kiesman (3). (source: conam.info)

Death certificate for Maurits van Messel. (source: oorlogsbronnen.nl)

M. Charles van Messel sold as well as raced Bugattis in the 1920s. This ad dates from around 1923. (source: conam.info)

At a celebration in Hilversum in honor of the 25th anniversary of the KNAC (Royal Dutch Automobile Club), M. Charles van Messel won the 1,000-meter race in his Bugatti. (source: Panorama Geïllustreerd Weekblad (Leiden), 11 Juli 1923, 1)

M. Charles van Messel was also a distributor for Renault. This ad is from 1926. (source: conam.info)

This ad for Renault and Van Messel's Automobiel Bedrijf was published in 1931. (source: De Telegraaf (Amsterdam), 29 May 1931, 14)

Hedwig Rebecka van Messel-Marx (2); her husband, Maurits Charles van Messel (1);  and two boys, possibly their sons Robert (second from left) and Hans, in 1929. (source: conam.info)