Maurits, Barend and Clara Pachter were the children of Betje Polak and Levie Pachter, who were married in Amsterdam on 10 November 1910. Maurits was the first born in 1911, followed by Clara in 1913 and the third child was Barend in 1916. However, Levie Pachter passed away on 21 January 1917 and was interred 22 January 1917 in the Jewish Cemetery in Diemen.
On 6 April 1921, Levie’s widow Betje Polak got married again to Abraham Salomon Kannewwasser, but the marriage ended alrady 2 October 1925 in a divorce. However, on 4 June 1926 both their daughter Jansje Kannewasser was born.
Maurits Pachter was unmarried and worked as warehouse clerk. In December 1940 he moved with the other family from Lepelkruisstraat 15 3rd floor to Nieuwe Herengracht 209 parterre in Amsterdam. Together with his halfsister Jansje Kannewasser, he was registered in Westerbork already in the night of 20 on 21 July 1942 and on 27 July were both deported to Auschwitz. It is not unlikely that both have responded to the call for provision of additional werk in Germany .
On arrival in Germany on 30 July 1942 were both deployed as forced laborers but it is not exactly known on which date Maurits Pachter lost his life there. Therefore, on order of the Ministry of Justice, the municipality of Amsterdam has drawn up a certificate of death for Maurits Pachter after the war in which has been established that Maurits Pachter has died in Auschwitz on 30 September 1942.
His brother Barend Pachter was also working as warehouse clerk and unmarried too. He lived with his mother and other family at Lepelkruisstraat 15 3rd floor and up from 20 December 1940 at Nieuwe Herengracht 209 parterre. At the time of the large-scale raids in Amsterdam of early October 1942, Barend was caught and taken to Westerbork where he ended up somewhere between 3 and 5 October 1942. On 12 October 1942 he was put on transport to Auschwitz, together with another 1700 deportees, but on arrival there on 15 October, not immediately killed in the gaschambers. Barend was deployed as forced laborer and lost his life in Auschwitz eventually on 28 February 1943.
Their halfsister Jansje Kannewasser, who was already working as seamstress, lived at Lepelkruisstraat 15 3rd floor since 1936. As well her father as her mother were residing there. Per 20 December 1940 they moved over to Nieuwe Herengracht 209 parterre, where at that moment also her halfbrothers Barend and Maurits Pachter lived.
Jansje Kannewasser has been registered in Westerbork already in the night of 20 on 21 July 1942 and deported to Auschwitz one week later, on 27 July 1942. Most likely, just as her halfbrother Maurits, she has responed to the call for provision of addtional work in Germany, as on arrival in Auschwitz on 30 July, she too has not been killed in the gaschambers there immediately, but deployed as forced laborer in the camp. The exact date of her death is not known but after the war the Dutch Ministry of Justice ordered the municipality of Amsterdam to draw up a certificate of death for Jansje Kannewasser in which has been established that she has died in Auschwitz on 30 September 1942.
Sources among others: City Archive of Amsterdam, archive cards of Betje Polak, Maurits Pachter, Barend Pachter, Abraham Salomon Kannewassser and Jansje Kannewassser; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Maurits Pachter, Barend Pachter and Jansje Kannewasser and the certificates of death for Jansje Kannewasser, register A49-folio 31v, nr.179 dated 8 Sept 1950, of Maurits Pachter, reg. A50-fol 41, certificate 233 dated 15 Sept 1950, of Barend Pachter reg. A60-fol.41v- deed 240 dated 7-12-1950.