Biography

About Perla Hirschman, her spouse Luzer Korach and their daughter Jettie Korach.

Perla Hirschman, mostly called Pepi, was born 15 March 1898 in Sanok in Poland as the only daughter of Avraham Yaakov Hirschman and Gittla Sprecher. The Hirschman family also consisted of five more children, i.e. Theodor, Aryeh, Naftali, Fishel and Eliahu. Of her brothers, Theodor was the only one who eventually arrived in the Netherlands, just as she herself. An administrative complication in the Polish Civil Registry caused that her brother was registred with the maiden name of his mother, “Sprecher”,  while his mother was married to a “Hirschmann” and Perla and the others just received the surname of their father: Hirschman.

Perla or Pepi Hirschman arrived from Sanok in Holland on 11 November 1930 and lived from that moment on in with her brother Theodor (also called Tobias or Tuvia), in the Piet Heinstraat 68 in Den Haag. About ten months later, on 13 October 1931, also Eliezer Korach arrived in Den Haag, who was known as  Luzer. He was born in Poland in Dobromil on 4 November 1903.

Most likely, Perla Hirschman was already married to Luzer Korach before she arrived in Den Haag. As It appears from the archives of the Civil Registry of Den Haag, that she had a daughter born on 22 March 1931, of whom the father was Luzer Korach. And it also appeared, that Perla had given birth of a child on 15 February 1935, which had been registered as stillborn.

Perla and Luzer started living together in the Piet Heinstraat 68 in Den Haag, by living in with her brothter Theodor Sprecher, but after 1931, they had to move about seven times, before they could be registered on 6 October 1938 in their own home at Zwetstraat 30, located in the River District South  of Den Haag. This would be also their last known address in Den Haag.

It appeared that Luzer Korach had been hospitalized on 29 September 1942 in the Central Israëlitic Psychiatric Hospital “Het Apeldoornsche Bosch”. It is not known why he was taken in there and for how long. Presumably Luzer was dismissed there already, well before the eviction of Het Apeldoornsche Bosch in January 1943. He returned to his wife Perla and daughter Jettie in Den Haag but pesent documents have shown nothing of going into hiding by the family.

The website Joods Erfgoed Den Haag states the following: “On 13 April 1943, the German occupier announced that no Jews were allowed to live in Den Haag after 23 April 1943. The latter Jews had to go to camp Vught, but were also allowed to volunteer for Westerbork”.

Luzer Korach and his wife Perla Hirschman and their daughter Jettie most likely were carried off from Den Haag to concentration camp Vught somewhere in April 1943. There early June Perla and her daughter Jettie were put on transport with the so-called “children transport”, which arrived in Westerbork 7 June 1943. This children transport went on the next day to Sobibor where on arrival all children and their escorts were killed.

However, Perla and her daughter Jetty were left behind in Westerbork and stayed in barrack 58 till 13 July 1943. Then both were put on transport to Sobibor and on arrival on 16 July 1943, Perla Korach-Hirschman and her daughter Jettie Korach were killed in the gas chambers of Sobibor.

Luzer Korach stayed behind in Vught; he arrived only 17 July 1943 in Westerbork where he ended up in barrack 6, the men's department of the camp-hospital. On 20 July he was put on transport, the last train to Sobibor, were on arrival on 23 July 1943 he too was immediately killed in the gas chambers of Sobibor.

Sources among others: the Municipal Archive of Den Haag, family registration cards of Perla Hirschman and Luzer Korach; certificate of registration of a stillborn child of Perla Hirschman at the Civil Registry of Den Haag, nr. 658 dated 19 February 1935; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Luzer Korach, Perla Hirschman and Jettie Korach; website Joods Erfgoed Den Haag.nl; Certificates of death made out in Den Haag for Luzer Korach nr. C1541 dated 23 June 1950, for Perla Hirschman nr. C1471 dates 16 June 1950 and for Jettie Korach nr. C1474 dated 16 June 1950 and additions of descendants of the Sprecher family.

 

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