Helena van Stratum was born in Amsterdam on 1 December 1882 as the third of the four children of Lion van Stratum and Anna Pije. She married Hijman Stodel, a diamond worker by trade, on 24 April 1904 in Amsterdam, who was born in Amsterdam on 19 February 1882 as the son of Joseph Stodel and Elizabeth (Betje) Metz. On 10 June 1906, the couple Stodel-van Stratum had one son: Joseph.
Hijman lived wit…