A relative remembers: ‘Izaak Bollegraaf, my uncle Ies, was my mother’s youngest brother. She described him as “a sweet boy”. As long as I remember, he was described as “Not returned.” Ies’s mother died in Rotterdam in 1932. The eldest daughter soon ran the household.
When Ies was 16 years old, he became a bell-boy in a large Rotterdam hotel. Then he was a sailor for a while. After that he learned to be a waiter, and moved to Amsterdam. There he received orders to go to Veenhuizen. Ies had enough freedom there that he could see a visiting realtive off at the station after that visit. That was in 1943. The visiting relative suggested that he go with him to Rotterdam, and go into hiding there. “No,” said Ies, “If I do that, they will come and get Sis and the children, and Sis is pregnant, I can’t do that!” My uncle Ies was gassed in Sobibor on 13 March 1943.’
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Biography