Rika Dingsdag was the only daughter of the twelve children of Levie Dingsdag and Mietje Theeboom; she was born as the 10th child on 10 June 1912 in Amsterdam. She was employed as a seamstress and married on 16 June 1937 Zacharias Walvis, a son of Hartog Walvis and Sara Roodveldt. He was born on 10 October 1911 in Amsterdam and was a tailor by trade too. On 15 September 1938 their daughter Sara was born.
Zacharias and Rika lived at Rapenburgerstraat 185 but moved to Waterlooplein 99 2nd floor in Amsterdam on 20 August 1939, from where they were taken away in the night of 11 to 12 Februray 1943 to the concentration camp Vught. As a tailor, Zacharias Walvis was deployed there to the “textile command”. The registration at his camp card shows: ”working with Splitter”, which refers to the foreman- or woman of the furriers. Other notes on his registration card from the Jewish Council file cabinet show that he has sent two letters from Vught on 13 March and on 9 April but unknown is to whom.
On 15 November 1943, with in total 1149 prisoners, Zacharias Walvis was deported in a direct transport from Vught to Auschwitz. On arrival there on 18 November 1943, he was selected as a labourer, to perform forced labor in barbaric conditions. It is unknown where he ended up then, what kind of “work” he had to do, nor the exact date of his death is known.
It is therefore that the Dutch Authorities after the war have established, also based on testimonials of survivors and research, that Zacharias Walvis no longer could be alive after 31 January 1944. The Municipality of Amsterdam then was commissioned to draw up a certificate of death for Zacharias Walvis, in which is stated that he has died in the vicinity of Auschwitz on 31 January 1944.
Presumably, Zacharias Walvis had to experience in Vught, how it was announced on 5 June 1943 that all Jewish children had to leave the camp, among them also his little daughter Sara. It was said that they would go to a special childrens camp nearby. On 6 June, all children aged from zero to three years old, werd deported to Westerbork, together with their parents and the next day, also all children aged from four to fifteen years of age were carried off to Westerbork. From there, the children and their parents were deported to Sobibor, where they were murdered by gassing almost immediately after arrival. 1296 children were deported over that weekend in 1943. (source: Wikipedia/Kamp Vught/kindertransporten).
For both Sara Walvis and Rika Walvis-Dingsdag, who accompanied her 4-year old daughter in that so-called children’s transpoprt, it was officially established after the war that they were murdered after their arrival in Sobibor on 11 June 1943.
Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration card and archive card of Zacharias Walvis, archive card of Rika Dingsdag; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Zacharias Walvis, Rika Walvis-Dingsdag and Sara Walvis; website ITS Arolson/camp cards Vught for Zacharias Walvis and Sara Walvis and the certificate of death for Zacharias Walvis, no. 221 from the A-register 85-folio 38verso, made out in Amsterdam on 31 Augustus 1951.