Marianne Sitters, born on 4 June 1878 in Gorinchem, was a daughter of Salomon Sitters and Elisabeth Hoffman. She married in Leeuwarden on 15 November 1899 the son of Izak Cohen and Margaretha de Jong, Hartog Cohen, who was born there on 11 September 1873. After they were wed, the couple left Leeuwarden for Leiden, where they lived at Wasstraat 29. There, their seven children were born, namely Margaretha on 18 February 1903, followed by Elisabeth on 2 March 1902. On 26 February 1903 came Izak Hartog and Salomon on 8 January 1906. Berend Gustaaf was born on 16 February 1907 and Herman Samuel on 26 June 1913. The last child was Ester Cornelia, who was born 5 December 1916.
Hartog Cohen, who was a religious teacher and cantor, passed away in Leiden on 24 May 1930 and was interred in the Jewish Cemetery there. Marianne Sitters, widowed now, remained living in the Wasstraat; her children got married and left their parental home. On 9 May 1938 Marianne Sitters moved to Amsterdam, where she found housing in the Deurlostraat 54 parterre in the River district of Amsterdam-South. Her still unmarried daughter Ester Cornelia already had moved to Amsterdam in 1937, where she lived at Kastanjeplein 3 in Amsterdam-East but in May 1938 she moved in with her mother.
Ester Cornelia had a “Sperre” – an exemption from deportation, issued by the Jewish Council. Since 1 April 1938 she was the headmaster of the “Schoolvereniging Kennis en Godsvrucht” ((School Society Knowledge and Piety) at the Plantage Muidergracht 5 in Amsterdam. After the Jewish Council was dissolved in September 1943, Esther and her mother might have made plans to go into hiding. At some point however both were arrested in August 1944 and the 14th of that month carried off to Westerbork and locked up in the penal barrack 67.
In the last transport from Westerbork to Auschwitz of 3 September 1944, Ester Cornelia and her mother Marianne were included as penal cases. On arrival in Auschwitz, only Marianne Cohen-Sitters was immediately killed in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Ester Cornelia ended up eventually in one of the many extern satellite camps of Gross Rosen, the concentration camp Libau, where, as a result of tuberculosis, she lost her life on 8 March 1945.
Striking is that also Marianne’s sons Izak Hartog and Herman Samuel with his wife Elsa Kattenburg were arrested and carried off to Westerbork on 8 and 14 August, and ended up too in the penal barrack 67 there. They too were put on transport that 3rd September 1944 with the last transport from Westerbork to Auschwitz. But except Elsa Chen-Kattenburg, who was killed in Auschwitz on 31 October 1944, the others eventually have lost their lives elsewhere: Izak Hartog on 15 March 1945 in Mid Europe and Herman Samuel on 11 February 1945 in concentration camp Ebensee.
Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, archive cards of Marianne Sitters and Ester Cornelia Cohen and the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Marianne Cohen-Sitters and Ester Cornelia Cohen; website wiewaswie.nl; Wikipedia website jodentransporten vanuit Nederland and findings of researches of the other Hartog Cohen family members.