David Cohen, born in Doetinchem in 1891, was a religious teacher. He was a son of the rabbinical warden Samuel Cohen and Betje Cohen. He married 6 June 1923 in Winschoten Perlina Hoogstraal, a daughter of Manuel Hoogstraal and Mina de Vries. David and Perlina had no children.
After their marriage, David Cohen and his wife Perlina Hoogstraal stayed in Leek in de province of Groningen, but left for Eibergen 28 January 1924. From there, they moved five years later on 28 February 1928 to Amsterdam where they lived at Nieuwe Kerkstraat 89. On 22 April 1930 they moved again, this time to Dedemsvaart (municipality of Avereest), were they settled at Wethouder Molstraat F 132f, today known as Molstraat 22 in Dedemsvaart.
The Cohen Hoogstraal family was a prominent Jewish couple. Mrs Cohen always wore a hat with a voile which was the height of distinction in the pre-war years. Mr. Cohen was a small petite male with a slightly bent back. He always wore a black bowler hat. Every Friday, in the afternoon, Mrs Aaltje Hoeve-Veldhuis went into the Cohen family's house to extinguish the fire and the lights at the beginning of the Sabbath, according to Jewish custom.
At the beginning of October each year, the Cohen family had a wooden cabin on the west side in the garden to celebrate the Feast of the Tabernacles (Sukkoth.) Mr. and Mrs. Cohen stayed as much as possible in the tabernacle (sukkah) for eight days, at least during meals. And during the celebration of Jewish Passover (Pesach), Mrs. Cohen delivered a number of matzos to the non-Jewish people in her living environment, who, after having been provided with butter and sugar by the local residents, were eaten with taste.
For some years,- from 31 October 1935 to 1 June 1939 – the Cohen family had a guardian in-house, namely Salomon Klein, known as Sally, born in Amsterdam on 13 November 1923 as the son of Abraham Klein and Reintje de Klijn. Sally Klein, a saucy imp from Amsterdam had already quickly foughts with several boys from Dedemsvaart. He called them "peasants". But they formed one block against him and was called to order by them in a harsh manner. Then he was accepted as the best friend by all "peasants". He was also not an easy pupil for the teaching staff. He was regularly sent out of the class to think about his sins in the corridor. To kill the time, he plays with a tennis ball that he always had with him. When it bounced against a door of a room, the teacher concerned seized and confiscated the ball.
On 1 June 1938, Salomon Klein left the Cohen family from Dedemsvaart to Hilversum, where he lived at the address Achterom 143. In 1942, however, Salomon Klein was a resident of Pedagogium Achisomog in Apeldoorn, a special department of the "Apeldoornse Bos". It was a boarding school for mentally retarded and difficult to educate children. On the night of 21 to 22 January 1943 Pedagogium Achisomog was 'emptied' just like the Apeldoornse Bos. Patients and staff were deported in cattle trucks to Auschwitz, where almost everyone was killed immediately, including Salomon Klein. He was killed on 25 January 1943 with all the others in Auschwitz.
David Cohen and Perlina Cohen-Hoogstraal had to leave their home in Dedemsvaart on 2 January 1941 by order of the German occupiers and settle in Ommen at the address Kerkplein 7.
On 9 April 1943 both were deported to concentration camp Vught anf 25 May via Westerbork put on transport to Sobibor. On arrival lthere 28 May 1943 both have been immediately killed.
Website wiewaswie.nl, wedding David Cohen/Perlina Hoogstral; City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration card of David Cohen; website ecal.nu, peoples registry of Eibergen; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of David Cohen and Perlina Cohen-Hoogstraal and of Salomon Klein; Out of the book “De Joodse Gemeenschap van Avereest”, pages 23, 24, 25 47, 48 and 49, by Peter Makaske, published in 1992 by Servo Publishers, Adolph van Ansenlaan 16, 9451 GR Rolde (Drenthe). (ISBN 90-71918-44-0).