The eldest child, Leendert Samuël Wennek, (also known as Wennik), married in 1928 the non-Jeswsh Maria Sophia Frederika Dickhout from Amsterdam, a daughter of Federik Hendrik Dickhout and Maria Sophia Frederika ten Bosch, from whom he was divorced by verdict of the District Court of Amsterdam on 8 May 1941 and which has been registered in the Civil Registry (register of Marriages and Divorces) on 26 May 1941.
Since 1930, they lived in Zandvoort at Grote Krocht 22 but after the divorce, Leendert returned to Amsterdam and went living in with his parents at Vechtstraat 125 1st floor and his ex-wife Maria moved to Halmaheirstraat 20 in Amsterdam. Leendert and Maria had no children, as far as could be verified.
On 17 May 1941, Leendert Samuël married again at the age of 39 in Amsterdam the 25-year old Rachel Klijnkramer, a daughter of Emanuel Kleinkramer and Catharina Elsas. In 1942, their son Samuël was born, who survived the Holocaust. On 11 January 1943, the family moved, who lived in with Leendert’s parents, from the 1st to the 2nd floor.
Rachel Wennik Kleinkramer was arrested during the big and secretly prepared raid in Amsterdam – the so-called “Grossaktion”- on 20 June 1943 and deported via Polderweg and Muiderpoort station to Westerbork. Rachel was one of the more than 5000 Jewsh who were arrested during this raid. Her son Samuël and her husband Leendert Samuël had a narrow escape that day. Known is that her little son had gone into hiding and possibly her husband too.
Rachel stayed in Westerbork till 31 August 1943; then she was put on transport to Auschwitz with another 1003 deportees and on arrival there on 3 September, Rachel has been immediately killed in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
At some point, Leendert Samuël Wennik was arrested and taken to Westerbork on 7 September 1943. Also his brother Levie with his wife Mathilda Kattenburg were taken to Westerbork at the same time. Unknown is whether they arrived separately or togehter. But it is sure that on that same day, all three of them were deported to Auschwitz.
It is rather certain that Leendert’s brother Levi and others were deported from Auschwitz to a camp near Warsaw on 8 October 1943 to be exploited as forced labourers to clean the area there of the rubble of the destroyed Warsaw-ghetto. Levie probably lost his life in August 1944 during an evacuation transport between Kutno and Dachau; his wife Mathilda had been deported again from Auschwitz to Bergen Belsen where she succumbed in April 1944 as a result of the harsh and inhuman conditions there.
Also Leendert Samuë Wennik has lost his life that period but it not known where and when exactly where he died and whether he did or did not belong to the group of Dutchmen of the transport of 7 September, who were later sent to Warsaw. Therefore on behalf of the Ministry of Justice of the Netherlands, the City of Amsterdam drew up a death certificate for Leendert Samuël Wennik on 19 July 1951, in which the date and place of his death were established as on 31 March 1944 in the vicinity of Auschwitz.
Sources among others: City Archive of Amsterdam, archive cards of Leendert Samuël Wennik and Rachel Klijnkramer; website wiewaswie.nl/marriages Leendert Samuël Wennek/Wennik; Certificate of death 228, dated 19 July 1951 for Leendert Samuël Wennik, made out in Amsterdam, register A82-fol. 39verso; Wikipedia website Jodentransporten vanuit Nederland; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Leendert Samuël Wennik and Rachel Wennik-Klijnkramer; H. Wielek, “De oorlog die Hitler won” edited 1947, pages 381-382 and an addition of a visitor of the website.