Hanna Marie Root was a daughter of Mozes Root from Amsterdam and Leentje Frank from Utrecht. Hanna’s parents were married in Paramaribo in 1875 and Hanna was born there on 18 March 1888 ad fourth of the seven children. The family also consisted of Esther, Elisabeth Lea, Abraham Hartog, Alexander Leon, Philip and Marcus Jacques.
Two sisters, Esther and Elisabeth Lea as also her brother Abraham Hartog, were born in Suriname (Dutch Gyana) too. The others were born in Amsterdam after the return in 1891 of their parents in the Netherlands. The youngest brother, Marcus Jacques however died in July 1898, only one month old. The eldest of the seven children, Esther, passed away before the war in 1937 and was interred in the Jewish Cemetery in Diemen. The other siblings have been killed during the Shoah.
Hanna Marie Root married Barend Reiss 30 May 1912 in Amsterdam, a son of Abraham Reiss and Naatje Kirgheim. Barend was born 19 February 1885 in Amsterdam and had jobs as commercial traveller, diamond cleaver and later as office clerk. Hanna and Barend had nine children together: in 1912 Naatje Rebecca was born, followed by Simon in 1913, Lena in 1915, Esther in 1916, Josephine in 1918, who died that same year in the Wilhelmina Gasthuis (hospital) just eight months old. Elisabeth was born in 1920, then Abraham Mozes came in 1921, Kitty in 1924 and again a Josephine in 1927.
The Reiss-Root family lived after the wedding of Hanna and Barend in the Rapenburgerstraat 132 1st floor, moved to Keizerstraat 28 in 1916 and on 14 September 1918 they moved over to the Vogelbuurt in the Northern part of Amsterdam, (a neighbourhood with street names of birds) where they ended up in the Eerste Vogelstraat 12. After one year, they moved again, now to Plaatijzerweg 68 in Amsterdam-North. (in 1948 this street has been renamed to Zamenhofstraat as decided by the municipality of Amsterdam). Their last known address became Tugelaweg 97 parterre in the Transvaal district of Amsterdam-East, where they came living per 9 August 1929.
Just before the outbreak of the Second World War, Barend Reiss passed away on 21 March 1940 in Amsterdam and was interred in the Jewish Cemetery in Diemen. His wife Hanna Marie and all eight children were killed during the Shoah in Auschwitz or Sobibor.
Hanna Marie Reiss-Root, together with her 15-year old and youngest daughter Josephine were carried off to Westerbork on 12 November 1942, where they were accommodated in barrack 36. Only four days later, they were both put on transport to Auschwitz, and on arrival there on 19 November 1942 they were immediately killed.
Sources among others: City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration cards of Mozes Root and Barend Reiss, archive cards of Hanna Marie Root and Barend Reiss; website hetstenenarchief.nl/grave Barend Reiss; the file cabinet of the Jewisch Council, registration cards of Hanna marie Reiss-Root and Josephine Root.