Maurits Schouten was the youngest of the four sons of Nachman Schouten and Margaretha van West. He was born on 17 January 1919 in Amsterdam and he was employed as typographer and later as carver – presumably in a slaughterhouse. Maurits was unmarried.
Maurits lived at home with his parents at Tugelaweg 89 3rd floor in Amsterdam-East, where his mother Margaretha van West had died there on 29 June 1939. Still before his father remarried in the end of August 1940 to Duifje Korper, Maurits left for an own address, viz. Swammerdamstraat 23 3rd floor and on 4 August 1941 he went living in with his uncle Jacob Schouten at Retiefstraat 108 1st floor. There also stayed his brother Barend and sister-in-law Rebecca.
In July 1942, about 4000 Jews were summoned to report for the so-called "provision of additional work in Germany under police surveilance" (Arbeitseinsatz). Sometimes only children received the call, which aroused suspicion among many people, so that they did not respond to the call. The German police responded with raids in Amsterdam South and the City center on 14 July 1942. About 700 people were arrested. The Jewish Council decides to place advertisements in “Het Joodsche Weekblad”(the Jewish Weekly) calling on the 4000 summoned Jews to report in order to rescue the 700 hostages. The ads worked; more people called up came forward and most of the 700 hostages were released. (source: website “the razzia of 14 July 1942 in Amsterdam”). (Dutch only)
It is most likely that Maurits Schouten fell victim to this occurrence; his summary registration card of the Jewish Council shows only his name and date of birth plus the date of his deportation, which was the third transport from Westerbork to Auschwitz: 21 July 1942.
Upon arrival there, about 24 July 1942, Maurits was selected to perform work but his kind of work is not known. Also the exact date of death was unknown after the war. The Dutch Authorities then have established, partly on the basis of research and testimonials of survivors, that Maurits could no longer be alive after 30 September 1942. The Municipality of Amsterdam then was instructed to draw up a certificate of death, in which should be recorded that Maurits Schouten has died in the vicinity of Auschwitz on 30 September 1942.
According to the “Sterbebücher of Auschwitz” – the death records of Auschwitz – Maurits Schouten was murdered there already on 26 August 1942. This date is different from the official date of death as determined by the Dutch Ministry of Justice after the war. For the time being, the website joodsmonument.nl, list only the date of death, as published at the time in the "Nederlandse Staatscourant" (Dutch Government Gazette) by the Ministry of Justice.
Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration card of Nachman Schouten, archive card of Maurits Schouten; Amsterdam residence cards of Swammerdamstraat 23 III and Retiefstraat 108 I/Maurits Schouten; Website oorlogsbronnen/raid 14 July 1942; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration card of Maurits Schouten; website Museum and Memorial Auschwitz-Birkenau/Auschwitz Prisoners/Maurits Schouten and the0 certificate of death no.99 dated 28 October 1960 from the A-register 116-folio 27verso, made out in Amsterdam for Maurits Schouten.