Salomon Prins, born 27 March 1877 in Den Helder and his sister Vrouwtje, who was born there on 3 April 1873, were children of Jacob Nathan Prins and Sophia Speijer. Vrouwtje remained unmarried. Salomon married 29 May 1907 in Den Helder Koosje Salomon Kannewasser (Gittel), a daughter of Salomon Aron Kannewasser and Jansje (Jente) Leon Beek. Salomon and Koosje had two children together, namely Salomon Jacob in 1911 and Sophia in 1913. Both the children survived the Holocaust.
Koosje Kannewasser passed away in Den Helder on 12 April 1935 and she was there interred in the Jewisch Cemetery. Salomon Prins stayed behind with his children but on 30 June 1942 he was forced to move from Den Helder to Amsterdam. There he ended up at Krugerplein 8 2nd floor, where he came living in with the Izak Zurel family. Also his sister Vrouwtje had to move to Amsterdam; she ended up on 30 June 1942 at Reitzstraat 34 3rd floor and a few months later, in November 1942, she too arrived at Krugerplein 8 2nd floor.
Salomon Prins was exempted from deportation by the Jewish Council since 16 September 1942, “because of function”; he was a member of the Ressortal Congress of the Synagogual Ressort N.H. in Amsterdam and a member of the Permanent Commision of the Dutch Israelitic Denomination. However, at the time of his registration with the Jewish Council, his health was not good; those days he was taken ill in a hospital.
Vrouwtje Prins was registered in Westerbork on 15 April 1943 where she had to stay in barrack 62. However ten days later already Vrouwtje passed away there; she was cremated there on 27 April 1943 and the urn with her ashes was placed in the Jewish cemetry in Diemen.
When in the 2nd half of May 1943, all exemptions from deportation were cancelled by the German occupiers and large-scale raids were held in Amsterdam, also Salomon Prins was arrested and taken to Westerbork. He arrived there 20 June 1943 and was deported to Sobibor on 29 June. On arrival there on 2 July 1943, Salomon Prins has been immediately killed.
Sources among others: City Archive of Amsterdam, archive cards of Salomon Prins, Vrouwtje Prins and Sophia Prins; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Salomon Prins and Vrouwtje Prins; website hetstenenarchief.nl/tomb stones of Koosje Salomon Kannewasser and of Vrouwtje Prins and genealogical information of a visitor of the website.