Biography

The fate of Lion Waas and his wife Benvenida Henriques de la Fuente.

Lion Waas, the eldest of the three children of Salomon Waas and Debora Delden, was born on 31 January 1918 in Amsterdam. With his parents and twinbrothers Hijman and Jacob the Waas family left for Antwerp in September 1928, where father Salomon found a job as diamond polisher; they lived in Antwerp and in Deurne. They returned to Amsterdam mid April 1930 where they found room to live in with Mozes Dingsdag and his wife Alida Delden. Mozes was the brother-in-law of Lion’s mother Debora Delden.

Already after one month, the Waas family moved to Ruyschstraat 75 3rd floor and in April 1935 to an upper house at Grensstraat 9. In 1937 another relocation followed to Tilanusstraat 69 3rd stock in Amsterdam-East and in 1941 to house nr. 71 1st floor. Meantime, Lion Waas was employed as a sales representative.

Lion’s brother Hijman was married in Amsterdam to Selien Koperberg on 2 July 1941 and lived since he was married at Grensstraat 16. His brother Jacob was still unmarried, lived at home and was employed as a warehouse clerk.

Also Lion got married: on 1 April 1942 in Amsterdam to Benvenida Henriques de la Fuente, who was born on 21 August 1921 in Amsterdam as a daughter of David Henriques de la Fuente and Esther Barnstein. Per 2 November 1942 they were registered as couple at the address Afrikanerplein 3 2nd floor in the Transvaal district of Amserdam-East.

Lion and Benvenida were “Gesperrt”- provisionally exempted from deportation because of function of Lion; since 10 July 1942 he worked for the Jewish Council at the department of bread supply. But during the secretly prepared large raid of Sunday 20 June 1943, it appeared that all exemptions were cancelled and Lion and Benvenida and many others were yet arrested and carried off to Westerbork. For unknown reasons, Lion ended up there in the penal barrack 67 and his wife in barrack 58.

On 13 July deportation followed from Westerbork to Sobibor in a transport of 1988 deportees and where upon arrival there on 16 July 1943 Lion Waas and his wife Benvenida Waas-Henriques de la Fuente immediately were murdered in the gas chambers.

Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration card of Salomon Waas, archive cards of Lion Waas and Benvenida Henriques de la Fuente; Residence cards of Amsterdam like Afrikanerplein 3 and Tilanusstraat 71; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Lion Waas and Benvenida Waas-Henriques de la Fuente and the Wikipedia website Jodentransporten vanuit Nederland.nl.

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