Hartog Elte was the son of Philip Elte, editor-in-chief of the Nieuw Israelitisch Weekblad, and Sara Elisabeth Nijburg. In 1921 he changed his first name to Harry. Harry Elte married twice. With his first wife he had one child, who survived the war. His second marriage remained childless. In 1907 Harry Elte went to work as an architect for the Portuguese-Jewish community in Amsterdam. In 1912 he worked as an architect for the Nederlandsch Israelitisch Armbestuur (Dutch Jewish Poor Relief Committee). In 1913, he became a member of De Onafhankelijken (The Independents), an association of visual artists, and in 1915 he became its president. From 1915 to 1920, Harry Elte was associated with the architect Gerard F. Mastenbroek. From 1925 to 1942, he worked as an architect for the main Dutch-Jewish synagogue in Amsterdam. In 1929, he became one of the founders of the Nederlandsch Instituut van Architecten (Dutch Architects Institute). During his time at Westerbork, Elte worked for the camp’s structural engineering service. Elte died of pneumonia in Theresienstadt in April 1944.
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Harry Elte was an architect and designed the synagogue on the Jacob Obrechtstraat in Amsterdam.
M.H. Gans, Memorboek. Platenatlas van het leven der joden in Nederland van de middeleeuwen tot 1940 (6e bijgewerkte druk; Baarn 1988) 737
The house that Harry Elte lived in with his wife Elisabeth Speijer from 1929 to 1942 was built according to plans he drew up himself. It stood at Stadionweg 44 in Amsterdam, and was built in 1928-1929. It is described in Het huis van de Architect, Cuypers Society Yearbook, published by De Sluitsteen, 1999, pp. 80-81.
For additional information on Harry Elte see:
L. van Grieken, P.D. Meijer en A. Ringer, Harry Elte Phzn. (1880-1944). Architect van de joodse gemeenschap tijdens het interbellum (Stichting BONAS Rotterdam 2001); R. Fuks-Mansfeld (red.), Joden in Nederland in de twintigste eeuw. Een biografisch woordenboek (Utrecht 2007) 79-80; J. van Adrichem (et al.), Rebel, mijn hart : kunstenaars 1940-1945 (Zwolle 1995) 130.