Gerrit Schellevis, housepainter by trade, was a son of Samson Schellevis and Sophia Dikker. 8 September 1937 he married Clara Hamme in Amsterdam, a seamstress and daughter of Philip Hamme and Wilhelmins Kets de Vries. The Schellevis couple had a son Jack in 1938 and in 1940 a daughter Wilhelmina. The complete family of Gerrit Schellevis was killed in the Shoah. Also Gerrit’s parents as well those from his wife Clara were killed in the Shoah.
After their marriage, Gerrit and Clara lived at Iepenplein 2 2nd stock in Amsterdam. There their son Jack was born. When they moved 3 July 1940 to Tweede Oosterparkstraat 68 1st floor, their daughter Wilhelmina was born there two months later. After again one month the family moved to Tweede Oosterparkstraat 43 1st floor, which became also their last known address.
26 August 1942, Gerrit Schellevis and his wife Clara Hamme, as well their children Jack and Wilhelmina were registered in Westerbork. From there, all were put on transport to Auschwitz on 28 August 1942. This transport included 608 deportees – men, women and children – and stopped at Kozel, a depot located ±80 km. west from Auschwitz. There, 170 boys and men between 15 and 50 years old, who were fit to work according the Germans, were forcedly unloaded there in order to be employed as forced laborer in one of the satellite camps of Auschwitz. It is certainly thinkable that Gerrit Schellevis belonged to that group of 170 men, but it is not known in which labor camp he finally has arrived. Eventually, after eight months of hard labor, Gerrit has lost his life in April 1943, presumably due to of hardship or diseases. Officially his date of death has been established as 30 April 1943, somewhere in Mid Europe.
Those, who remained in the train at Kozel, were further deported to Auschwitz. Among them were Clara Schellevis-Hamme and her two children, Jack of 3 years and Wilhelmina of 1 year old. On arrival in Auschwitz, 31 August 1942 they were killed immediately in the gaschambers.
City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration card and archive card of Gerrit Schellevis; List of Jew transports from the Netherlands and the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Gerrit Schellevis, Clara Schellevis-Hamma, Jack and Wilhelmina Schellevis.