Biography

The fate of Meindert Davids, his wife Alida Hoost and ther baby-son Donald.

Meindert Davids was the twinbrother of Catharina Davids and born on 23 April 1911 in Rotterdam as son of David Davids and Betje Godschalk. He married on 3 July 1940 in Amsterdam Alida Hoost, who was born on 1 December 1917 in Amsterdam as a daughter of Godschalk Hoost and Leentje Beugeltas. The couple had one child, namely Donald, who was born on 30 March 1941 in Amsterdam.

Meindert was a dealer of fancy articles, warehouse clerk, representative  of window articles and presser of clothing. He was not married and lived still with his father in Rotterdam. But after the passing of his father in November 1938, Meindert left Rotterdam for Amsterdam on 23 March 1939 and came living in with his brother Isaac and his wife Ariena in the Waverstraat 64 2nd stock. On 3 July 1940 the then 29-year old Meindert married in Amsterdam the 22-year old Alida Hoost, who was a seamstress by profession.

Before he got married on 3 July 1940 and was to live in with his wife with Poons at Lekstraat 166 in Amsterdam-South, Meindert left his brother Isaac on 19 January 1940 and lived in at two other addresses in the city. Meantime Meinderts wife became pregnant and on 5 March 1941, as she is about to give birth, they returned to Waverstraat 64 again with Isaac and Ariena, where on 30 March 1941 Donald Davids was born.

On 16 February 1943, Meindert, Alida and their newborn son Donald were carried off from Waverstraat to concentration camp Vught. From the registration card of the Jewish Council archive of Meindert Davids, it appeared that he has been transferred on 21 May 1943 from Vught to the Moerdijk Command, a satellite command of Vught, and that he from there on 17 September via Vught has been sent to Westerbork where he had to stay in barrack 62. A few days later, on 21 September Meindert was put on transport to Auschwitz where on arrival there on 24 September 1943 he immediately was murdered in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Since the moment that Meindert arrived in Vught, he never has seen his wife and son again, at least up from May 1943, when he was sent to Moerdijk. With the so-called Childrens transport of 6 June 1943, his little son Donald has been deported from Vught to Westerbork and his mother Alida accompagnied him. On 7/8 June they were put on transport onwards to Sobibor, together with more than 3000 other children and supervisors. On arrival there on 11 June 1943, all deportees, including the 2-year old Donald Davids and his mother Alida Davids-Hoost were immediately killed in the gas chambers there.

Sources including the City Archive of Rotterdam, family registration card of David Davids; the City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration cards of Meindert Davids, Isaac Davids and archive cards of Meindert Davids, Alida Hoost and Isaac Davids; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Meindert Davids, Alida Davids-Hoost and Donald Davids; website ITS Arolson, registration cards of Vught for Alida Davids-Hoost and the Wikipedia website jodentransporten vanuit Nederland.nl.

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