Schoontje Schenkkan was a daughter of Levie Schenkkan and Marianne Peper. She married 22 August 1917 in Amsterdam Philip Bont, commercial traveller and draper, a son of Meijer Bont and Elisabeth Roselaar. The couple had two children, namely Elisabeth and Marianne. Elisabeth was born 10 November 1918 but died already a few days later, on 15 November 1918. Marianne, who was born 16 May 1920, was killed in the Shoah, just like her parents.
Philip Bont lived in with the widow Gokkes at Zwanenburgwal 20 2nd floor. After his wedding, he went with his wife Schoontje Schenkkan to Lepelstraat 52 and afterwards to Foliedwarsstraat 18. After having moved some ten times again, the family ended up in February 1938 in the Kuinderstraat 46 1st floor in the Rhine district in Amsterdam-South.
Their daughter Marianne was an apprentice seamstress. On 19 December 1938 she was unsubscribed from Amsterdam to Brederodestraat 54 in Santpoort (municipality of Bloemendaal). There the Provincial Psychiatric Hospital “Meer en Berg” was located. She was employed there till 1 April 1940, when she returned to het parental home in the Kuinderstraat in Amsterdam. At some point, Marianne left Amsterdam again for the “Apeldoornsche Bosch” in Apeldoorn (the Central Israelitic Psychiatric Institute) to be employed again as seamstress. From there she has been carried off in the night of 22/23 January 1943 to Auschwitz, together with all patients and other staff, and on arrival there on 25 January 1943 she was immediately killed.
Schoontje Schenkkan was carried off 7 September 1943 to Westerbork, together with her nephew Isaac Swart and his wift Henderika Piller. (Isaac was a son of Schoontje’s sister Heintje Schenkkan, who was married to Nathan Swart). That same day, they were all put on transport to Auschwitz. There Schoontje Schenkkan has been immediately killed on arrival on 10 September 1942 in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Her nephew and his wife were first still employed as forced laboreres before they lost their lives in Auschwitz.
Schoontje's husband Philip Bont tried for a long time to escape the persecution, which he ultimately failed. On 8 August 1944, he ended up in Westerbork as a penal case and had to stay in the penal barrack 67. On 3 September he was deported as a penal case with the last transport from Westerbork to Auschwitz and on arrival there, Philip Bont was immediately killed on 10 Septemeber 1944.
Sources among others: City Archive of Amsterdam family registration card of Philip Bont, archive cards of Philip Bont, Schoontje Schenkkan en Marianne Bont; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Philip Bont, Schoontje Schekken (wrong – should be Schenkkan) and Mariana (wrong – should be Marianne) Bont and the Wikipedia website of the Jodentransporten vanuit Nederland.