Mozes Blog, a son of Samuel Blog and Roosje van Praag, was born in Amsterdam on 29 May 1901. Hij was employed as a warehouse clerk and on 14 August 1929 he married Eva Italiaander, a daughter of Abraham Italiaander and Grietje Rood. Mozes and Eva had one daughter, Roza, who was born on 15 July 1930 in Amsteram.
The Blog-Italiaander family lived in the Transvaalstraat in Amsterdam-East but per 26 September 1939 they moved to the Nieuwe Uilenburgerstraat 4 3rd floor in the centre of Amsterdam. It is most likely that Mozes had been drafted for militairy service in the Dutch Army and fought in the first days of May 1940. A note on his registration card from the file cabinet of the Jewish Council points to that: MIL.
The significance of MIL goes back to the first exemptions in July 1942.The Jewish Council then proposed a number of categories of Jews for exemption, including former soldiers, including KNIL soldiers. For example, soldiers who fought for the fatherland in the May Days of 1940. In the first instance, this led to an actual exemption, but soon not anymore. (Source: Raymund Schutz).
So in summer 1942, Mozes Blog has been exempted from deportation as a former soldier but was forcedly employed in the Jewish labour camp De Beetse in the North-East of Groningen. In the night of 2 to 3 October 1942 (Yom Kipur) the Germans liquidated all Jewish labour camps and transfered all Jewish forced labourers to Westerbork, including Mozes Blog, who ended up there between 3 and 5 October 1942.
The Germans had told the men that in Westerbork a family reunion would take place and indeed, there have been transports of women and children from their residences to Westerbork. However Mozes Blog’s wife Eva Italiaander and his daughter Roza were not anymore in Westerbork. Already early August 1942 they were called-up to report in Westerbork and on 7 August put on transport to Auschwitz. Upon arrival there on 9 August 1942, both were immediately murdered in the gas chambers.
Mozes Blog stayed in Westerbork, where a great chaos arose, due to the influx of Jewish forced laborers from the liquidated labor camps and the large-scale raids that the Germans had carried out at the beginning of October 1942. On 19 October he too was deported to Auschwitz and upon arrival there after a few days, selected to perform “labor” in the camp.
Not known is where and what kind of “labor” Mozes Blog had to do nor is known the exact date of his death. Known however is that the condtions in the camp were harsh and inhumane. It is therefore that the Dutch Authorities after the war have established, also based on testimonials of survivors and researches, that Mozes Blog no longer could be alive after 28 February 1943. The Municipality of Amsterdam then was commissioned to draw up a death certificate for Mozes Blog, in which was established that he has died in Auschwitz on 28 February 1943.
Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration card of Abraham Italiaander, archive cards of Mozes Blog and Eva Italiaander; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Mozes Blog, Eva Blog-Italiaander and Roza Blog; website kampdebeetse.nl; website joodsewerkkampen/de beetse and the wikipedia website jodentransporten vanuit Nederland.nl.