Eliazer Gompers, born 13 June 1871 in Amsterdam, was a son of Philip Barend Gompers and Heintje Jacob Boas. He married 5 July 1906 in Amsterdam Rebecca Zwaab, who was born there on 8 February 1877 as daughter of Mozes Zwaab and Hanna Gomes de Mesquita. Also their chupah took place that same day in one of the Amsterdam synagugues. Eliazer and Rebecca had two children, Philip in 1907 and Anna in 1909.
On 12 March 1891, when Eliazer was 19 years of age, he was designated to be conscripted for service with the Natinal Militia. His conscription number was 1196 but that happened to be “interchangeable” and due to “body defects” Eliazer was able to exchange his service at the the First Regiment Field Artillery on the 6th of May 1891 with the enlisted Petrus Hendrik Spijker from Amsterdam with conscription number 1856.
Incidentally, his "body defects" have not been turned out from the description of other body characteristics such as, among other things, his height of 1.60 m.; he also had an oval face, an ordinary forehead, blue eyes, an ordinary nose and mouth, a round chin, blond hair and blond eyebrows and no special markings.
Eliazer was born a large family; he was the 6th child in the family of Philip Barend Gompers and Heintje Jacob Boas, where the first-born child - a child of Philip and Heintje - was stillborn in 1857. His other siblings were born after the marriage of his parents on October 9, 1861; those were Mietje in 1864, Barend in 1866, Marcus in 1868, Sara in 1869, Esther in 1873, Hartog in 1874, Levie in 1876, Eva in 1878 and Clara in 1881. From his sibs, the unmarried Barend had already died in 1924 at the age of 58; Marcus and Eva died as babies of only a few months old. But the others like Mietje, Sara, Esther, Hartog, Levie and Clara, with or without their families, were killed during the Shoah.
Eliazer lived at home with his parents and siblings at Eerste Batavierdwarsstraat 9 and 10, at Nieuwe Hoogstraat 22 and at Antoniebreestraat 25. After he was married to Rebecca Zwaab, they moved into a house at Plantage Badlaan 14 2nd floor in Amsterdam on 15 July 1906, where their children Philip and Anna were born. On May 6, 1909, the family moved to Nieuwe Keizersgracht 56 2nd floor in Amsterdam, where they lived until they were summoned to be deported there in 1943.
Eliazer Gompers some times also traded in diamonds, but had been working as a diamond worker already at a young age and remained that way throughout his life. From 5 March 1898 he was a member of branch 2 (brilliant polishers), no. 650 of the ANDB,(Diamond Trade Union) but in 1941 he was forced to end his membership and was obliged to become a member of "Betslalel", a union specially for Israelitic diamond workers. His wife Rebecca Zwaab had become a member of branch 4 (brillant cutters) on August 2, 1898, no. 509, but she already ended her membership on May 15, 1928
Just before they were deported, Eliazer scratched his signature with a diamond in one of the windows of his home at Nieuwe Keizersgracht 56. This window still exist and even in 2020 it is still in good condition.
On 24 March 1943, Eliazer Gompers and Rebecca Zwaab were deported from their home via the Hollandsche Schouwburg to Westerbork. It has been evidenced that on arrival in Westerbork, Liro officials confiscated their last money and/or other valuable items. Eliazer Gompers still had NLG 7.80 with him on arrival in Westerbork, which was taken away from him there. Eliazer and Rebecca stayed in barrack 70 for a few days before being deported to Sobibor on 30 March. Upon arrival there on 2 April 1943, they were both immediately killed.
Sources include the Amsterdam City Archives, Eliazer Gompers archive card, website www.wiewaswie.nl, the Brilleman Collection of Amsterdam Jewish marriages, no. 195, the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Eliazer Gompers and Rebecca Gompers-Zwaab, the ANDB archive , membership cards from Eliazer Gompers and Rebecca Zwaab; Archive of the Dutch Red Cross/transportlist Amsterdam-Westerbork dated 24 March 1943 and the Liroarchives.
This person is commemorated on the monument Schaduwkade in Amsterdam. The names of the 200 jewish inhabitants of the Nieuwe Keizersgracht are placed on the canal wall opposite the houses where they once lived.