Maurits Delden was a son of Jacob Delden and Leentje Ossedrijver. He was born on 17 December 1918 in Amsterdam and was the youngest of the ten children in the family. His parents were married on 19 May 1897 but Leentje Delden-Ossedrijver was already widowed on 17 December 1927 and after the passing of Jacob Delden, he was interred in the Jewish Cemetery in Diemen, only 49 years old.
Since the end of October 1929, Maurits and his family lived in the Ben Viljoenstraat 7 in the Transvaal district of Amsterdam-East. Before that, his parents lived at various house numbers in the Korte Houtstraat. Up from the 2nd half of the 1930-ies, Maurits worked as a shop assistant and on 11 March 1942 he got married to the hairdresser Esther Pront, a daughter of Jacob Pront and Aaltje de Hond.
One month later, on 23 April 1942 Maurits moved into living space in the Valkenburgerstraat 157 1st floor in the old centre of Amsterdam. Esther and her parents lived since early February 1940 in the Camperstraat 66 1st floor, but on 23 April 1942, she joined her husband in the Valkenburgerstraat.
On 27 March 1943, Maurits and Esther were arrested and carried off to Westerbork, where Maurits was accommodated in barrack 68 but Esther in barrack 84, the so-called “old-peoples-barrack”. It appeared that she has been hospitalized in the Wilhelmina Gasthuis, (which the German’s had renamed in Wester Gasthuis). She had an operation there and notes on her registration card show that there has been made an application to doctor Lenshoek, c/o Wester Gasthuis, for information about the result of the operation and her condition. Also should be reported about the neurological outcome of it.
Further notes on Esther Pront’s registration cards show, that a doctor’s certificate was requested on 1 April 1943, which apparently was received in Westerbork on 2 April which was mentioned on Esther’s registration cards by the Contact Department on 3 April. Further notes regarding her luggage indicate that from 1 April until the date of her deportation, she resided in barrack 84a, probably recovering from her operation.
On 18 May 1943, Esther Delden-Pront apparently had recovered enough to withstand deportation to Sobibor. Together with her husband Maurits van Delden, they were deported that 18th of May 1843 and upon arrival there on 21 May 1943, they both were immediately murdered in the gas chambers.
Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration card of Jacob Delden, archive cards of Maurits Delden and Esther Pront; website stenenarchief.nl/grave Jacob Delden; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Maurits Delden and Esther Delden-Pront.