Ernst Jakob Hesdörffer was the son of Karl Hesdörffer and Johanna Joseph. His father, a well to do merchant, died in Kreuznach in 1934. In March 1939 Ernst Jakob and his brother came to the Netherlands in one of the German 'children's transports'. From there he was brought to the Jewish orphanage in Gouda, where he selebrated his bar mitzva. Later the Katan family in Dordrecht took him in to their home as a foster child.
Ernst Jakob Hesdörffer and his brother planned to take the Holland-America line to the United States. They also tried to get their mother across the border. Permits were obtained on 6 May 1940. A few days later German troops invaded the Netherlands. Ernst Jakob Hesdörffer and his mother were killed in the war; his brother survived.
H. Hesdörffer, Twelve years of Nazi terror (Pittsburgh 2008)
More information about Ernst Jakob Hesdörffer can be found on www.dokin.nl