Hartog 'Hatta' Knoop ran a diamond-cutting business in his kitchen at home. When the stock market crashed in 1929, Hartog Knoop lost his modest fortune because he had invested it in German marks.
Hartog Knoop was a rather reserved, warm-hearted man. He had the habit of peeling apples and eating the peel, giving the apples themselves away to children. Since he wanted his two daughters to learn a trade and be able to speak English, French and German, they were both trained as fitters. Hartog Knoop used to eat boiled sweets in bed, a habit his wife detested.
For a small sum of money, Hartog Knoop used to watch over the house of his wealthy sister. The story is told that he wanted to make sure of keeping this job, and decided to pretend one evening that he had scared off a burglar. He ran out of the house wielding a broom, shouting: ‘Stop thief, stop thief!’
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