Bernard Aschheim's parents were from Eastern Europe. He arrived in the Netherlands as a refugee on 6 December 1938 and was taken in at 321 Zeeburgerdijk in Amsterdam. In December 1939 he was given a place to stay at the Kraaijebeek estate on the Hoofdstraat in Driebergen, an assembly point for Palestine Pioneers. On 11 March 1940 he moved to the Hof van Moerkerken youth aliyah home in Mijnsheerenland. After this home was closed on 16 October 1940, he was transferred to the Paviljoen Loosdrechtse Rade youth aliyah home in Loosdrecht. When this house was evacuated, Bernard Aschheim went into hiding. Together with seven other Palestine Pioneers (Siegbert Leo Adler, Robert Jozef Dürheim, Juda Pinkhof, Lilli Kellner, Fabian Schön, Jossel Waldmann and Esra Jurovics), Bernard Aschheim was caught at the Belgian border trying to escape to Switzerland.
F van der Straaten, Om nooit te vergeten. Herinneringen en belevenissen aan/van Palestina-Pioniers in Nederland gedrurende de oorlogsjaren 1939-1945 (Mijnsheerenland s.a.) 68, 78, 211
The mayor of Loosdrecht requested that Bernhard Aschheim, a Loosdrecht resident who had violated regulations by changing his place of residence without the required authorization, be located, detained and brought to trial. This description referred to Jews who had gone into hiding.
Algemeen Politieblad, nr 35, 3 September 1942, 997, notice 1722;
Along with 7 other chidren Bernhard Aschheim was due to be smuggled from Loosdrecht into Switzerland in October 1942. Instead, all 8 were betrayed and given up to the Gestapo in Brussels. They was kept in Mechelen transit camp for 3 days and then sent to Auschwitz. There Bernhard Aschheim was selected to work. He died some time later.
Addition of a visitor of the website
This person is commemorated on a memorial in Loosdrecht. More information on this memorial can be found (in Dutch) on the website of the Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 mei.
More information about Bernhard Aschheim can be found on www.dokin.nl