Benjamin van Gelder, a skin merchant, was a son of the butcher David van Gelder and Eva Leman. He married Saartje Leman in Avereest on 8 August 1899, a daughter of Abraham Mozes Leman and Bettje Karsseboom. The couple had one child: on 20 May 1900 their son David was born. However, one week later, on 28 May 1900, Saartje Leman died in Dedemsvaart (probably in childbirth) and she was interred in the Jewish Cemetery of Dedemsvaart.
Benjamin van Gelder remarried 25 February 1902 in Goor with Johanna Mogendorff, born there on 12 August 1871 as daughter of Abraham Mogendorff and Henriëtte Polak. From this marriage, seven children were born, of whom one child was stillborn in 1905. The other children were Abraham in 1903, Eva in 1904, Israël in 1907, Mozes in 1910, Salomon in 1913 and Bettus in 1915. Of Israël, born in 1907, nothing is further known; Salomon, his wife and son survived the Holocaust but all others were killed in the Shoah.
Since 12 July 1935, Benjamin van Gelder and Johanna Mogendorff lived at Gasthuisstraat 20 in Ommen. Presumably they have tried to go into hiding and have been arrested at some point ¹). They were carried off to Westerbork and ended up in penal barrack 67. Both were then deported with the last transport from Westerbork to Auschwitz on 3 September 1944 as “penal cases” and on arrival there on 6 September 1944 immediately killed.
Sources:The Historical Society of Avereest; website hetstenenarchief.nl/grave Saartje van Gelder-Leman; website wiewaswie.nl/death of Saartje Leman; website wiewaswie.nl/marriage of Benjamin van Gelder & Johanna Mogendorff; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Benjamin van Gelder and Johanna Mogendorff and the wikipedia list of Jew Transports from the Netherlands.
¹): Benjamin van Gelder is mentioned in a CABR document of the Dutch Nationaal Archief. The CABR contains detailed information concerning his arrest, inv. nr CABR 75335 + 64323