Biography

About Louise Lucienne Cohen, her mother and her legal guardian.

Louise Lucienne Cohen was the only daughter of Isidor Cohen and Betje Nenk. Her parents married, presumably in the year 1925 or 1926 in Rotterdam, but left then afterwards to Paris. There Louise Lucienne was born on 5 November 1926. Returned in Rotterdam, her father passed away at the very young age of 24 years on 21 November 1927. He was interred in the Jewish Cemetery Toepad in Rotterdam.

After the passing of her father, Louise moved with her mother Betje Nenk on 29 May 1928 in Rotterdam from Hooidrift 41b to Schiedamseweg 310b, where they have lived in till 21 December 1931. Then relocations followed to Weenaplein and in the years 1936, 1937 and 1938 again some moves but on 31 May 1938 they ended up at the address Schieweg 254b, where they came living in with the family of Abraham Andries van Wessel. Also Engelina Nenk and Asser Nenk, sister and brother of Betje, moved in that date with their sister Betje and her daughter Louise. After the death of Isidor Cohen, Engelina Nenk had been appointed as the legal guardian of Louise.

Louise Lucienne attended the Jewish School at the Molenwaterweg in Rotterdam in the 1941-1942 school year in the 4th grade of the MULO. The class photo depicting 25 children, of which 13 children did not survive the Shoah, comes from the collection of the late Ina ter Beek-Frenkel, (see photo caption by Richard Bargeboer). The names of the children are on the back of the photo, but the place where they appear in the photo is unknown.

Louise Lucienne Cohen, her mother Betje Cohen-Nenk and her legal guardian Engelina Nenk, werd taken in the end of July 1942 from their address Schieweg 254b in Rotterdam and carried off to Westerbork and deported to Auschwitz on 3 August 1942. On arrival there, they were put to work as forced labourers and at some point lost their lives there, however the exact date of death is unknown. Therefore, after the war the Dutch Ministry of Justice ordered the Municipality of Rotterdam to draw up certificates of death for Louise Lucienne Cohen, for Betje Cohen-Nenk and for Engelina Nenk, in which has been established that they have died in Auschwitz on 30 September 1942.

Sources include the City Archive of Rotterdam, family registration cards of Isidor Cohen, Levie Cohen, Engelina Nenk en Asser Nenk; certificates of death from Rotterdam dated 30 June 1950, nr. 1883 for Betje Cohen-Nenk and nr. 1884 for Engelina Nenk and deed v2-folio 047 nr. 1524 for Louise Lucienne Cohen and the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Louise Lucienne Cohen, Betje Cohen-Nenk and Engelina Nenk.

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