Elise Spiero was born on 16 August 1874 in Heinsberg in Germany as the daughter of Simon Spiero and Mettchen Stern. On 4 November 1894 she married at the age of 20 the 34 year old son of Raphael Spiero and Bertha Frank, the shopkeeper and textiles merchant Levy Spiero and lived in the Weststraße 2 in Wattenscheid (Germany). There they had a large store and they lived above the store. Levy Spiero was als a member of the board of the Jewish Congregation in Wattenscheid, of which the synagogue, which was initiated in 1829, was located at the corner of the Oststraße/Kampstraße.
Levy and Elise Spiero had three children: Paul, Rudolf and Walter, but due to the loss of their children,they were very much traumatized. Paul died due to diphtheria and the other two sons Rudolf and Walter, superb students at the gymnasium, aged 18 and 19 years old, were killed in action during the Great War in 1918. That is why around 1920 the Spiero's responded immediately to the call in an advertisement to admit a Jewish orphan girl of ±14 years old in their home. That was Gertrud (Trude) Roth, who they lovingly have taken into their family.
When the nazi’s confiscated their store and home later, Levy and Elise should move to a dwelling elsewhere and they ended up in the Voedestraße 19 in Wattenscheid. There, due to a heart attack, Levy Spiero passed away on 31 March 1937.
Trude Roth decided in 1933 to flee Germany and came to the Netherlands, where they arrived in Amsterdam. There she got acquainted with Salomon Munnikendam and already in January 1934 they got engaged and in October 1934 they married; their chupah was in the synagogue in Wattenscheid. In September 1938 their first child Ruben was born and a few months later, the Kristallnacht in Germany took place, whereby also the synagogue of Wattenscheid was burned down to the ground. Meantime, Trude, her husband Sal Munnikendam and their newborn son lived at Lomanstraat in Amsterdam, and they decided then to bring the now widowed Elise Spiero-Spiero to Amsterdam and include her in their family.
When Trude’s husband Sal was called for military service during the mobilization in the Netherlands, and they had to move to Weesp, were his regiment was, the defense line “waterlinie” (water line), was forbidden area for Elise Spiero; after all, she was a German Citizen and therefore “dangerous to the state”. And because of that, Trude, Elise and Ruben had to return to Amsterdam, where, via a lodging address in the Valeriusstraat, they finally ended up at the 2nd floor of Haarlemmermeerstraat 90 on 5 June 1940.
After an effort to flee to Switzerland, which has been failed, the Munnikendam family was arrested at an hiding address in the 1st Atjehstraat in Amsterdam-East and ended up in a cell of the House of Detention, before being transferred to the Hollandsche Schouwburg where little Ruben was brought into the nursery across the street. Then Trude succeeded with the help of a friendly G.P. to find a taxi and get home in the Haarlemermeerstraat with her son, where Elise Spiero, completely lonely was waiting for whatever to come. Her (foster)daughter Trude never saw her husband again; he was deported to Auschwitz on 12 December 1942 where he lost his life after some more weeks forced labour.
Early February 1943, Elise Spiero was arrested at home by the Amsterdam police and carried off to the Hollandsche Schouwburg. From there, she was transferred on 11 February to concentration camp Vught but already on 25 February brought back again to Westerbork, where she ended up in barrack 65. That was a former women’s barrack but at that time in use as penal barrack. However, which “crime” Elise would have been committed against the German occupier is not known.
In the end, Elise Spiero-Spiero was deported from Westerbork to Sobibor on 18 May 1943 and on arrival there on 21 May 1943 immediately killed in the gas chambers there.
Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, archive card of Elise Spiero, the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration card of Elise Spiero-Spiero; ITS Bad Arolson, registration cards of Elise Spiero-Spiero from Camp Vught and information from surving family members.