Benjamin van Geldere was a son of Saul van Geldere and Sientje Fransman. He was born in Doesburg on 27 August 1900 and stayed long years at home with his parents. Benjamin moved in April 1929 to Amsterdam, where he lived at Camperstraat 35. His parents moved also from Nijmegen - where they have lived for some time - to Amsterdam, where they were registered at Zwanenburgerstraat 21 on 2 January 1931 and on 13 January 1931, Benjamin moved in again with them. He was working as a bread deliverer.
On 12 February 1936 he married Betje Velleman in Amsterdam, a daughter of Levie Velleman and Rebecca Italiaander. She was born on 31 August 1898 in Amsterdam. On 15 April 1936 the couple moved to Reitzstraat 33 ground floor in the Transvaal district of Amsterdam-East, where they runned a candy shop and where Betje acted as shop lady. The couple Van Geldere-Velleman had one daughter, Sientje, who was born on 8 December 1936 in Amsterdam.
As bread deliverer, Benjamin van Geldere had this job at the department bread supply with the Jewish Council on 8 July 1942. Therefore, he and his family were exempted from deportation (for the time being). But on 25 May 1943, when the Germans all exemptions had cancelled, he was arrested with wife and child and carried off to Westerbork, where they ended up in barrack 63. On 1 June they were deported to Sobibor, and upon arrival there immediately murdered in the gas chambers.
Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration cards of Saul van Geldere, Levie Velleman and Benjamin van Geldere; archive cards of Benjamin van Geldere and Betje Velleman; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Benjamin van Geldere, Betje van Geldere-Velleman and Sientje van Geldere.