Henri, the youngest son of Abraham van Broek and Anna Allemans, who was born in 1908, served as a soldier during the first days in May 1940 of the 2nd World War in the Dutch Army, but the war has ended soon.
On his registration card from the Jewish Council the note “MIL” was made, which meant that he has been a soldier. At the time of the beginning of the deportations in July 1942 (date stamp 25 July 1942), it has lead to withdrawals from deportation. The Jewish Council then has proposed a number of categories of Jews for withdrawals for former militaries including KNIL-soldiers. For example, soldiers, who fought for the fatherland during the first days of May 1940, which initially led to actual withdrawals, but soon no longer.
Henri van Broek worked as an office clerk, was unmarried and lived in the Milletstraat 21 in Amsterdam. On 4 October 1942, he was brought into camp Westerbork and on 16 October deported to Auschwitz. On arrival there he was selected as a forced labourer but in the end he lost his lift in Auschwtiz on 30 November 1492.
Sources: City Archive of Rotterdam, family registration card of Abraham van Broek and Anna Allemans; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration card of Henri van Broek and information about the note “MIL” by Raymund Schütz, researcher at the Dutch Red Cross.