Leentje van West was born on 9 March 1877 in Amsterdam as daughter of Hartog van West and Antje Schaap. Since July 1892 she lived with her parents at Plantin en Moretuslei Oost nr. 303 in Borgerhout, but moved in May 1909 – still unmarried – to Van Nottebohmstraat 23 in Antwerp.
Leentje van West married 6 March 1912 in Brussels to Hersch Pfeffer, who was born 1 February 1880 in Solotwina in Poland. On 15 August 1913 their daughter Bertha was born. She was employed in the textile company of De Vries van Buuren in Amsterdam.
In January 1920 the Pfeffer-van West family returned to Amsterdam where she lived at various addresses in the city. Meanwhile, Bertha was engaged to Adolf Levy but due to a fatal accident, she died on 23 April 1933 in Rheden, only 19 years old. Three years later, on 6 March 1936, Hersch and Leentje Pfeffer were registered at the address Plantage Kerklaan 6 1st floor, which became also their last known address in Amsterdam.
Hersch Pfeffer was already put on transport to Auschwitz on 24 July 1942, where he would have been died in the night of 17/18 August 1942, according to list 643 page 21. Nevertheless, his official date of death has been established as in Auschwitz on 19 August 1942.
Leentje Pfeffer-van West was taken 11 November 1942 to Westerbork, together with her mother Antje Schaap and five days later on 16 November both were deported to Auschwitz. There Leentje and her mother were immediately killed on arrival there on 19 November 1942.
Sources among others: City Archive of Amsterdam, archive cards of Leentje van West and Hersch Pfeffer; the Dossier of Foreigners of the City of Antwerp, nr. 75323, image 219-223 and the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Leentje Pfeffer-van West and Hersch Pfeffer.