Alex Todtenkopf, born 3 November 1881 in Könitz (south of Jena in Germany), was a son of Baruch (Bernhard) Todtenkopf and Amalia Selo. He married 20 August 1912 in Bromberg (Germany) the 23-year old Flora Segall from Gross Lonsk (District Bromberg, Posen in Poland), a daughter of Bernhard Segall and Ernestine Itsigsohn. The couple had two daughters: Anneliese, in 1913 and Margot Sara, in 1921, both born in Prechlau, which is located in Pommern/West Prussia in Poland.
The members of the Todtkenkopf family arrived separately in The Netherlands and at different dates. Anneliese arrived in Amsterdam in December 1937 but left for Palestine in March 1938, hence, she escaped the Holocaust.
Margot arrived in Amsterdam in February 1939, presumably in Amsterdam and was employed after her training at the J.B.C. (Jewish Center for Vocational Training) as a servant maid in Het Apeldoornse Bos, a Jewish mental hospital in Apeldoorn. She was “exempted from deportation bcause of function” by the Jewish Council. However, on 18 January 1944 she was deported from Westerbork to Theresienstadt, to Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen where she succumbed to hardship on 1 May 1945.
Alex and Flora arrived together from Prechlau in Holland on 10 May 1939, where they were living in at Minervalaan 42, at Alex’ brother-in-law Löbl Schustermann (also known as Leo), who had married his sister Margarethe Todtenkopf in 1912. They resided there already since 5 April 1934. On 3 June 1940 Alex and Flora moved to Rijnstraat 126 3rd floor, where they were living in with among others Julius Rosenbaum and his wife Erna.
On 14 January 1943 Alex and Flora were taken from their home at Rijnstraat and carried off to Westerbork, where they were locked in at barrack 65. On that same date was annotated at the registration cards of Alex Todtenkopf that he was a “front combatant”, that he appeared on the list of front combatants, that he was for 60% war invalid, that application for exchange to Palestine was getting moving and that his daughter was “exempted from deportation”.
On 25 January 1943 a request was submitted because of being “front combatant", where on 7 February had been replied that deportation for Alex and his wife “was suspended until further notice” (zurückgestellt bis auf weiteres).
On 2 August 1943 the department of emigration has applied for Palestine Certificates, where upon a telegram was received through the Red Cross. On 3 August the emigration department has delivered the Red Cross telegram to the daughter because delivering to the parents was not possible anymore. They were already deported to Theresienstadt on 21 April 1943.
Despite all efforts as described, both were already 21 April 1943 put on transport with the first transport to Theresienstadt, which departed from Amsterdam. This transport included 295 deportees, mostly German Jews, for which 195 were collected from Westerbork. Alex Todtenkopf lost his life in Theresienstadt on 11 March 1944. His wife Flora Segall was still put on transport from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz on 28 October 1944 but a few days later, on 31 October 1944 she has lost her life there in Auschwitz.
Sources among others: City Archive of Amsterdam, archive cards of Alex Todtenkopf and Flora Segall, Löbl Schustermann and Margarethe Schustermann-Todtenkopf; family registration card of Anneliese Todtenkopf; residential cards of Minervalaan 42 and Rijnstraat 126; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Alex Todtenkopf, Flora Todtenkopf-Segall and Margot Todtenkopf and the Wikipedia listing of Jew transports from the Netherlands.