Hans Joseph Bendix

The funeral records at the Jewish cemetery in Haarlem reveal that Hans Joseph Bendix was buried there.

"Maenne" Hans Joseph Bendix fled Germany and together with his father, mother and aunt killed himself when the German troops invaded Holland. They were awaiting visas for entry into the USA, where many other fmily members could escape to nearlier. It seems that they were buried in Haarlem a year after their death in Zandvoort. The suriviing family is anxious to learn more about this delay in buria…

Albert Bendix, his wife Bertha Bendix-Löwenberg, their son Hans-Joseph Bendix and their sister-in-law Henriëtte Stern- Löwenberg committed suicide on the 15th of May, 1940. They lived on the Brederostraat 98 in Zandvoort.

De zelfmoord van de familie Bendix-Löwenberg wordt ook genoemd in het boek van Lucas Ligtenberg: Mij krijgen ze niet levend: de zelfmoorden van mei 1940 (Amsterdam 2017) 146, 188.

It is still an extremely sensitive topic: suicide during the Second World War. Historians have not known what to do with it for a long time. What is the place of suicide in war history?

Remarkably little has been written on this subject and there seems to be no list of names or memorial books at all. The Digital Monument (www.joodsmonument.nl) offers a place where relatives, sometimes for the firs…