Leendert Davids was an unmarried son of Louis Davids and Jetje Moscoviter. He was born on 26 June 1914 in Rotterdam and worked usually as an occasional. He lived at home with his parents at Helmersstraat 22 in Rotterdam, till the moment on 19 October 1937 that he moved into his own living space and left his parental home.
He found a room at the address Kruisstraat 48 but already on 22 October 1937 he moved to Diergaardesingel 78b, where he found again a lodging. Thereafter he left that year still to Helmersstraat 39b and on 19 April 1938 to nr. 17c in that same street.
After the bombardment on Rotterdam of 14 May 1940, Leendert Davids ended up on 18 November 1940 at the address Raamgracht 53 upperhouse in Amsterdam, where also the Rotterdam family of Bernard Bobbe from Helmersstraat 27 lived. On 17 March 1941 the Bobbe family moved to Blasiusstraat 96 1st floor and Leendert went with them too. Eventually on 22 November 1942 he could obtain room for himself at Nieuwe Kerkstraat 104 2nd floor in the city centre of Amsterdam which became his last known address too. In Amsterdam, Leendert worked as factory labourer and tailor.
In the night of 22 to 23 July 1942, Leendert Davids was registered in Westerbork, whether or not voluntarily. On 27 July he was put on transport to Germany for the so-called “Arbeitseinsatz”- the provision of additional work in Germany. That Monday the 27th, 1010 persons werd deported in that transport to Auschwitz, which arrived there ±30 July 1942.
On arrival at the “Rampe”- the unloading dock where the trains arrived – selection followed, and Leendert has been selected to perform “labor”. The situation there was inhumane and it is not known exactly when and under what circumstances, diseases, hardship or mistreatments he lost his life. Therefore the Dutch Ministry of Justice after the war ordered the Municipality of Amsterdam to draw up a certificate of death for Leendert Davids, in which was established that he has died in Auschwitz on 30 September 1942*.
Sources include the City Archive of Rotterdam, family registration cards of Louis Davids and Leendert Davids; the City Archive of Amsterdam, archive card of Leendert Davids; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration card of Leendert davids, the certificate of death for Leendert David made out in Amsterdam on 8 September 1950, nr. 21, register 49 folio 5 and the Wikipedia listing of jodentransporten vanuit Nederland.nl
* The date of death should be read actually as “died no later than 30 September 1942”, based on the date of arrival and experiences of witnesses regarding the circumstances there.