Rachel Reina Francken, (also known as Chelly), born in Amsterdam 11 January 1922, was a daughter of Abraham Francken from Venlo and Reintje Deen from Hoorn, who resided at Maaststraat 129 2nd stock in Amsterdam since 3 June 1931. Rachel was a educated as a nurse and worked as an apprentice nurse at the Israelitic Psychiatric Hospital “Het Apeldoornsche Bosch” in Apeldoorn, were she entered employment 13 August 1942.
24 September 1942 she married Max Salomon de Winter in Apeldoorn (usually called just Max), who was born in Nijmegen 19 May 1920 and employed as laboratory technician at the oil company Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij. He was a son of Louis de Winter from Zutphen and Mietje Henriette Gomperts from Haarlem. Max de Winter has moved from Nijmegen to Amsterdam in 1916 and 24 April 1942 from Amsterdam to Zutphensestraat 106 in Apeldoorn. According his registration card from the Jewish Council, he was appointed per 15 April 1942 as kitchen aid/cook. At that same day, he was exempted from deportation “because of function” until further notice. (gesperrt bis auf weiteres).
After Het Apeldoornsche Bosch was “emptied” by the Germans, when all staff and patients have been deported 23 January 1943 to Auschwitz, Rachel as well her husband Max were able to escape deportation. They both arrived again in Amsterdam between 20 and 24 January 1943 and moved in with the parents of Rachel, Abraham Francken and Reintje Deen at Maasstraat 129 2nd stock. Max was still “gesperrt” and therefore his wife too.
According his registration card of the Jewish Council, Max was appointed 1 February 1943 to the General Service of the Council. Since 26 March 1943 he was assigned to the so-called “education relay” and per 11 May 1943 he became a servant in the canteen of the P.I.G.O.L. building.
The website “Joods Amsterdam” informs as follows: At Muiderstraat in Amsterdam was an Institute for Portuguese Israelitic Married Old People, founded in 1875, shortened as P.I.G.O.L. This institution was liquidated by the Germans at the end of July 1941 and after the inhabitants were accommodated in other care institutions, the building came in use by “KleRa”, the Clothing Repair and up from September 1941, the M.B.Nijkerkschool was established there. This school provided training courses for shoe making, tailoring and photography. During the occupation the Nijkerkschool had more than one location in the city.
Rachel’s parents were fetched and arrested during the so-called “Big Raid” (Grossaktion) of 20 June 1943 and abducted to Camp Westerbork. During that raid a greater part of the Jews of East and Southern Amsterdam were “made ready to march” (marschfertig). 29 June, her parents were deported to Sobibor and upon arrival there 2 July 1943 immediately killed.
What happened to Rachel and Max afterwards is unclear. However, it is certain that both Max and Rachel were arrested and sent to Camp Westerbork, where they have been locked in at the penal barack 67. 19 May 1944 both were deported to Auschwitz as “penal case”. This transport included 691 deportees, of whom 453 persons were deported to Auschwitz and 238 to Bergen Belsen.
Max Salomon de Winter has survived the horrors of the Shoah, as evidenced by his call in the N.I.W. (Israelitic Weekly) of 5 October 1945, in which he asks about the fate of his wife. It also appeared from this call, that his wife has given birth to a child at the end of 1944 in Birkenau, but that this child has died after a few days. It is most likely that Rachel Francken was put on transport in January 1945 from Auschwitz, westwards, direction Germany and that she has died in transit somewhere at an unknown place. Her date of death has been established officially as 29 January 1945.
Max de Winter returned to Holland in September 1945, where he arrived at first in Deventer, then went to Amsterdam and per 2 February 1948 he moved to Oss where he resided at Spoorlaan 20.
Sources among others: City Archive of Amsterdam, archive cards of Rachel Reina Francken, Max Salomon de Winter and Abraham de Winter; Municipal Archive of Apeldoorn, list of personel of Het Apeldoornsche Bosch; Grossaktion (Big Raid) 20 June 1943 from the book "Ondergang" volume 1 by J.Presser, page 376 and further (1965); website Joods Amsterdam, building pigol: (http://www.joodsamsterdam.nl/gebouw-p-g-o-l/); Archive of the Red Cross, transport list of 19 May 1944, nr 160 and the file cabinet of the Jewisch Council, registration cards of Rachel Reina Francken, Max Salomon de Winter, Abraham de Winter en Henriette Gomperts.