Biography

About Reintje Bloemhof, her husband Salomon Kurk and their children Roosje and Lea Kurk.

Reintje Bloemhof, born 26 April 1897, was a daughter of Salomon Abraham Bloemhof and Roosje Ossendrijver. She married 1 Februray 1922 in Amsterdam Salomon Kurk, a bread delivery boy and a son of Abraham David Kurk and Lea Pachter. The couple had three children: Roosje in 1923, Abraham in 1925 and Lea in 1928. Their son Abraham however died already in childhood on 24 July 1926, just 10 months old. He was interred Monday 26 July in the Jewish Cemetery in Diemen. The other members of the Kurk family are all killed during the Shoah.

After their marriage, Salomon and Reintje lived in the Van Ostadestraat 282 in Amsterdam, moved 15 June 1925 to 3rd Oosterparkstraat 93B, after which they moved even that same year to Vrolikstraat. In 1932 to Veeteeltstraat, in 1937 to Danie Theronstraat and their last removal was on 2 May 1938 to Louise de Colignystraat 21 3rd floor in Amsterdam-West.

In 1942, Salomon Kurk ended up in one of the Jewish Labor camps, who from January 1942 served to force Jews, who had become unemployed as a result of the anti-Jewish measures, to perform forced labor in labor camps in the northern provinces. It is not known when and in which labor camp Salomon Kurk ended up eventually, but it is known that these camps turned out not to be labor camps, but actually small-scale concentration camps and outpost for further deportation of the Jews via Westerbork to "the East" - all about the so-called "work expansion in Germany".

On 31 August 1942, Salomon Kurk was deported from Westerbork to Auschwitz, where on arrival there on 3 September 1942, he has been immediately killed. His wife Reintje Bloemhof and both his daughters Roosje and Lea were only taken on 21 November 1942 from their residence to Westerbork and put on transport to Auschwitz on 30 November. There, on arrival on 3 December 1942, they were immediately killed.

Sources among others: City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration card and archive card of Salomon Kurk; website Joodse Werkkampnen.nl; website Wikipedia/Joodse Werkkampen.nl; website Akevoth/Burialpermints/Abraham Kurk and the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Salomon Kurk, Reintje Kurk-Bloemhof and Roosje and Lea Kurk.

All rights reserved