Sara Kokernoot was a daughter of Matthijs Kokernoot and Mietje Gompers. She was born in Amsterdam on 4 December 1901 and worked as shop lady and later as child carer. On 24 May 1928 the married Louis Coerant, diamond cutter, representative and children’s home operator. He was born in Amsterdam on 24 August 1901 and a son from the first marriage of Sientje Philips and Jacob Coerant, who passed away already in 1902. Louis' mother Sientje remarried in 1910 Hartog de Beer from Harlingen, who was born there in 1865 but passed away in Amsterdam in 1918. On 13 June 1929 the son of Sara en Louis was born: Jacob Louis.
As diamond cutter, Louis Coerant left Amsterdam for Cape Town South Africa with his wife and son after the birth of Jacob Louis. However, after ± one year they returned in the Netherlands and were registered in the Peoples Registry of Amsterdam at the address Andreas Bonnstraat 5 2nd floor. On 19 July 1937 the family moved to Amsteldijk 21 parterre.
At the address Amsteldijk 21 parterre, more members of the Kokernoot family resided there, as mother Mietje Kokernoot-Gompers, Sophie Kokernoot, her sister Stella Kokernoot and also now Sara Kokernoot and her husband Louis Coerant and little son Jacob Louis. After Louis Coerant had worked as representative for a paper mill, the children’s home Coerant was founded on Amsteldijk 21 parterre, where Louis was in charge and where his wife Sara and her sisters Sophie and Stella were active as childcare workers.
After Louis Coerant was registered as a Jew too at the Jewish Council, he received a “Sperre” because of his position as “Operator Children’s Home Coerant Amsteldijk 21” – an exemption from deportation – which meant that his wife Sara Kokernoot as childcare worker was also exempt from deportation until further notice. But on 6 April 1943, also Louis, his wife and son were carried off to, and registered in Westerbork where they had to stay in barrack 57.
Already up from 8 April Louis has made efforts to escape deportation with his family by making all kinds of requests, including a request for a statement that he had participated in a first aid course at the Jewish Council departmet at Oosteinde, a statement from the ANDB (the Dutch Diamond Workers Union), which would prove that he worked in the diamond industry from 1926 till 1933 but it all came to nothing.
On 25 May 1943, Louis Courant, his wife Sara Coerant-Kokernoot and their son Jacob Louis Coerant were put on transport from Westerbork to Sobibor where they have been killed immediately in gas chambers there on arrival on 28 May 1943.
Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, archive cards of Louis Coerant, Sara Kokernoot en Jacob Louis Coerant, website Joods Amsterdam/Home Oosteinde and the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Louis Coerant, Sara Coerant-Kokernoot en Jacob Louis Coerant.