Rika Neuman-Nathans, a daughter of Jetje Katz and Herman Nathans, was married in Amsterdam 15 April 1942 Max David Neumann, tailor. Born at Witminnen (Germany), a son of Samuel Neumann and Henriette Cohn. Rika and Max lived at Krammerstraat 20 I, but had to move 2 May 1943 to President Steijnstraat 5 II in Amsterdam-East. They were both fetched out of their home by surprise on Sunday 20 June 1943 during a big and secret kept raid in Amsterdam were 5550 Jews were arrested eventually and that same day deported through the Amsterdam Muiderpoort railway station to Camp Westerbork.
Her husband Max David Neumann was put on transport 10 July 1943 from Westerbork to concentration camp Vught where he stayed till 21 March 1944. That date he was sent back to Westerbork and two days later, 23 March 1944 deported to Auschwitz, and upon arrival there, sent to Monowitz and forced to do hard labor. Remarks on his registration card of the Jewish Council does inform something about his fate: “as muselman sent from Monwitz to Birkenau in summer 1944 where he was killed in the gas camber.” According official documents Max David Neumann was killed in Auschwitz on 31 October 1944.
Rika Nathans was punt on transport to Camp Vught 19 July 1943, one week later than her husband. From there she was deported on Saturday 3 June 1944 with the last Jews in Vught to Auschwitz. (In this transport were also men and women from the Philips-group). As these prisoners were so-called “wertvolle Funkarbeiter”(valuble radio workers), they have been put on transport again to among others the underground factory of Telefunken in Reichenbach near Hannover. They all were liberated eventually by the Swedish Red Cross in 1945, among them also Rika Neumann-Nathans. She was brought to Stockholm and stayed at the addresses Johanneshov 76 and Dellensvagen 24.
Rika Neumann-Nathans has survived the Shoah and was widowed. Presumably she had been remarried. In the Nieuw Israëlitisch Weekblad (N.I.W - Dutch Jewish Weekly) of 4 March 1977 an obituary for Rika Zon-Nathans was placed; Rika passed in Stockholm 22 February 1977. (signed by M. Turksma-Nathans and A. Turksma).
City Archive of Amsterdam, archive card Max David Neumann and Rika Nathans; website www.wiewaswie.nl and the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Rika Neumann-Nathans and Max David Neumann.