Samson Schellevis, baker by trade, was a son of Gompel Schellevis and Elisabeth (Betje) Salomon van Bever. 25 June 1913 he married in Amsterdam Sophia Dikker, a daughter of Jacob Dikker and Dina Lievendag. Sophia had two other siblings but they have died already as young babies. Sophia’s mother passed away in February 1931; her father was killed in the Shoah. Samson’s parents have passed already before 1930 and were interred in the Jewish Cemetery in Diemen.
After the wedding Samson Schellevis and Sophia Dikker lived at Grote Kattenburgergracht 28 2nd floor, moved then to Lepelstraat 74 3rd floor, where they have lived till 31 January 1928. Then they moved to Vrolikstraat 54 3rd floor, after which again seven relocations followed, till they arrived at Ruyschstraat, also in Amsterdam. Their last known address was in Amsterdam Ruyschstraat 92 3rd floor.
Together with Samson Schellevis, Sophia had two children, namely Gerrit in 1914 and only 20 years later, in 1934 Dina Elisabeth was born. Gerrit became a house painter, married Clara Hamme in 1937 and had two children, Jack and Wilhelmina. Also Gerrit’s family was killed in the Shoah.
Samson Schellevis was transferred in 1942 to one of the ±40 labor camps in the North and East of the country. The Jewish Council agreed that Jews out of work up from 10 January 1942 would be sent to the labor camps. Due to the measures taken by the German occupier, who deprived all Jewish people of their jobs, there were already many Jewish unemployed people in The Netherlands at the early times of the war. In total there have been transferred more than 5200 out of work made Jews to the labor camps. The goal was to isolate these Jewish men from their families, in order to keep this group in the grip more easily. Actually, these Jewish labor camps were the waiting room for camp Westerbork. It has appeared from a note at the registration card of Samson Schellevis, that Samson was deported from a labor camp 31 August 1942 via Westerbork to “the East”. It is not known in which labor camp Samson stayed and was forced to hard labor.
The transport of 31 August 1942 left Westerbork for Auschwitz with 560 deportees. In Kozel, located about 80 km. west from Auschwitz, the train stopped and 200 men between 15 and 50 years of age were unloaded there to be employed as force labourer in one of the satellite camps of Auschwitz there in the region. It certainly is thinkable that Samson Schellevis had belonged to that group of 200 men. Not known is where he was sent to and where he has lost his life due to hardship or diseases, after having performed 1 ½ year of forced labor. Officially, his date of death has been established as 31 March 1944, somewhere in Mid Europe.
Sophia Dikker still lived at home at Ruyschstraat 92, untill she and her daughter Dina Elisabeth were deported to Westerbork 23 March 1943. They stayed in barack 60, till they both were put on transport to Sobibor and on arrival there, 2 April 1943, were immediately killed.
Sources: City Archive of Amsterdam, archive card of Samson Schellevis; website Joodse Werkkampen (Jewish Labor camps); list of Jew transports from Holland and the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Samson Schellevis, Sophia Schellevis-Dikker and Dina Schellevis.