Biography

About Betje Swaap

Betje Swaap, the second daughter of Meijer Swaap and Branca Jacobs was born on 8 February 1921 and unmarried. She was a dressmaker by profession and lived with her parents at Waterlooplein 79 3rd floor in Amsterdam.

Soon after the deportations started on 15 July 1942, Betje Swaap was called up on 24 July 1942 for the so-called “Arbeitseinsatz”, to which she apparently complied. A note on her registration card from the Jewish Council indicates that she has received a train ticket to Hooghalen (BNH – Biljet Naar Hooghalen). On 31 July she was deported to Auschwitz.

It is not known where Betje Swaap was put to work after arriving in Auschwitz on 2 or 3 August 1942, but the conditions under which "work" had to be done there were inhumane and hard and many lost their lives due to the hardship and/or were gassed in the gas chamber.  

The exact date of Betje's death is unknown. That is why the Dutch authorities determined after the war – partly on the basis of survivors' testimonies and research – that Betje Swaap could no longer be alive after 30 September 1942. The Municipality of Amsterdam was then instructed to draw up a death certificate for Betje Swaap in which it was established that she died on  30 September 1942 in Auschwitz. 

Sources include the Amsterdam City Archives, family registration cards of Meijer Swaap, archive card of Betje Swaap, the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration card of Betje Swaap, the wikipedia website Jodentransporten uit Nederland.nl and the death certificate for Betje Swaap, drawn up in Amsterdam on 22 September 1950, no. 586 from the A-register 51-folio 99v.

 

All rights reserved