Klara van West was the youngest of the three children of Joseph van West and Gracia Rodrigues Pereira. She was born on 1 August 1909 in Amsterdam and worked there as a sales lady. On 4 June 1936 she married the commercial traveller Louis Meuleman in Amsterdam. He was born 3 September 1909 in Den Haag as son of David Meuleman and Mietje Mol. He was a representative for Messrs. Meuleman & Van Voolen, a stockings and socks trade, located in Scheveningen.
The day after their wedding they left for Groningen, where they came living in the Waldeck Pyrmontlaan 7. There, on 5 July 1938 their first born had to be registered in the Civil Registry of Groningen as stillborn. However, on 2 July 1939 again a child was born, a daughter who was named Mieke.
After the birth of Mieke, they returned from Groningen to Den Haag; they lived there in the Scheldestraat 105 in the “Belgian Park” and in the Arnhemschestraat 82 in Scheveningen. Louis was exempted from deportation until further notice by the Jewish Council of Den Haag – he had a “Sperre”. Per 1 August 1942 he was “ward head of the relay service”, which was located in the Brugschestraat 34 . Also his wife Klara and daughter Mieke were exempted from deportation because of the “Sperre” and function of Louis.
But the measures by the German occupiers against the Jewish population of Den Haag, started already in the first year of the war. Their rights were curtailed month after month. A new low was reached in the summer of 1942. Then the occupier decided that all Jews had to leave Den Haag. Subsequently between August 1942 and April 1943, the majority of the Jews of Den Haag were deported to Westerbork and from there to extermination camps. The first roundups in Den Haag took place on 22 August 1942. (source: website Joods Erfgoed Den Haag)
Also Louis Meuleman and his family had to leave Den Haag. They ended up in the Transvaalstraat 34 1st floor in Amsterdam-East and from there they were carried off to concentration camp Vught at some point – presumably in the spring of 1943. Louis stayed there in barrack 4B and his wife and daughter in barrack B42A.
The 3-year old Mieke Meuleman has been deported with the so-called “children transport” from Vught via Westerbork to Sobibor on 8 June 1943. Her mother, Klara van West accompagnied her and on arrival there on 11 June 1943, both were immediately killed in the gas chambers there.
Only one month later, on 3 July 1943, Louis Meuleman was transferred from Vught to Westerbork, where he stayed for some days in barrack 93 till 6 July, till he was put on transport to Sobibor. This transport contained more than 2400 deportees who were all immediately killed in the gas chambers there on arrival at 9 July 1943, including also Louis Meuleman.
Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration card of Joseph van West; website Joods Erfgoed Den Haag; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Louis Meuleman, Klara Meuleman-van West and Mieke Meuleman; certificate of registration of a stillborn child at the Civil Registry of Groningen nr.911 dated 5 July 1938; Certificates of death from Den Haag for Louis Meuleman , nr. A234, for Klara Meuleman-van West nr. A235 and for Mieke Meuleman nr. A236, all made out 30 January 1948 and an addition of a visitor of the website.