Biography

About Leendert Worms, his wife Bloeme Springer and their children Milly and Louis.

Leendert Worms was the eldest of the elven children of Salomon Worms and Mietje Furth. He was born on 18 September 1902 in Amsterdam. Leendert left with his parents for Borgerhout on 20 October 1909, but his parents returned already in Amsterdam on 3 February 1911, where he and his parents could go the the Levie Furth family, the parents of his mother Mietje, who lived in the Valkenburgerstraat 189.

After again several relocations with his parents, to Korte Houtstraat and a few more in the Valkenburgerstraat itself, was Leendert Worms to be married in Amsterdam on 29 December 1927 to Bloeme Springer. She was born on 14 August 1904 in Amsterdam as a daughter of Mozes Springer and his second spouse Sophia Schelvis. After their weddingday, Leendert and Bloeme moved in with her parents, who lived at Nieuwe Prinsengracht 88 3rd floor in Amsterdam.  

Leendert and Bloeme had two children together, namely Milly who was born on 31 May 1929 and on 22 August 1933 Louis. On 22 September 1936 the Worms family moved to Nieuwe Achtergracht 117 3rd stock, which would become also their last known address in the Netherlands.

Since 24 July 1942 Leendert Worms possessed an I.D. from the Jewish Council to work as a cleaner and window washer for the JVvVV (Jewish Society for Nursing and Care) at the “Joodsche Invalide”, the institution for nursing Jewish elderly and disabled people at Weesperplein in Amsterdam. Due to that, the family did not have an official “Sperre” – an official exemption from deportation - which would have been issued by the Jewish Council. It was presumably the reason that Leendert, his wife and children at some point were gone into hiding. However on 1 April 1943 they were arrested and carried off to Westerbork.

Afther their registration in Westerbork, they had to wait in barrack 73 till they should be deported, which took place five days later. On 6 April 1943, they were put on a so-called penal transport to Sobibor, as “Häflinge”- prisoners. This transport contained 2020 deportees in total, who were all immediately gassed in the gas chambers of Sobibor upon arrival on 9 April 1943, including Leendert Worms, his wife Bloeme Worms-Springer and his children Milly and Louis Worms.

Sources include the Felix Archive of Antwerp, dossiers of foreigners from the Municipality of Borgerhout no’s 2796 and 3031 for Salomon Worms and Mietje Furth; the City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration cards of Salomon Worms, Mozes Springer and Leendert Worms, archive cards of Leendert Worms and Bloeme Springer, residence cards Amsterdam of Nieuwe Prinsengracht 88; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of  Leendert Worms, Bloeme Worms-Springer, Milly Worms en Louis Worms; the Wikipedia listing of Jodentransporten vanuit Nederland.nl and the transport list dated 6 April 1943 as shown in the book “Extermiation camp Sobibor”  by Jules Schelvis.

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