Aäron Rodrigues Parreira was a son of Abraham David Rodrigues Parreira en Jetje Brandon. He was born in Amsterdam on 20 June 1907 and when he started working, he became a warehouse clerk. Thereafter he became a forwarding aid and during the years of persecution of Jews, Aäron was a cleaner with the Joodsche Invalide at the Weesperplein in Amsterdam.
It is plausible that Aäron, just like his brother-in-law Benjamin de la Penha, the husband of his sister Benvenida, got the job as cleaner at the cleaning service of the Joodsche Invalide, via the Jewish Council and the JVvVV, the Jewish Association for Nursing and Care, however this was not mentioned as a "Sperre" on his registration card of the Jewish Council.
On 6 January 1932 Aäron married Betje Aandagt in Amsterdam, a daughter of Mozes Aandagt and Esther Bronkhorst. Betje, dressmaker by profession, was born on 24 March 1904. When they were married, they moved into a house in the Graaf Florisstraat 19, located between Wibautstraat and Weesperzijde in Amsterdam-East. They have lived there till 11 February 1944; then they left for the Plantage Franschelaan 6, where since 1916 at nrs. 6, 8 and 10 one of the two Israelitic hospitals was established: the P.I.Z. the Portuguese Israelitic Hospital.
After major raids were held in June 1943, during which more than 5500 Jews, who had not yet been deported were deported to Westerbork and to the "East" on 20 June, and all exemptions had been cancelled too, Aäron Rodrigues Parreira, possibly as "P.I.Z. employee", obtained a so-called “Ausnahme Bescheinigung”, as a result of which he and his wife Betje and son Abraham were still exempted from deportation.
In 1943 the German occupiers designated the P.I.Z. as a hospital for compulsory sterilization of married couples and men. The staff and patients could only choose between two evils: cooperation or deportation. During the persecution of the Jews, various raids took place in the hospital, during which most patients and staff were still deported. On 13 August 1943, the Jewish hospitals C.I.Z, the N.I.Z and the P.I.Z. were evicted by the Germans. Finally, the building was looted. With this action the Germans wanted to make the whole of Amsterdam “judenfrei”(jew-free).
Aäron Rodrigues Parreira, his wife Betje and son Abraham did not await a “Judenfrei” Amsterdam and went into hiding. However, in August 1944, Aäron and Betje were still arrested and deported to Westerbork, where they were both imprisoned on 8 August 1944 in penal barrack 67 and deported to Auschwitz on 3 September in a transport as “penal cases”. Their 8-year-old son Abraham was not caught and survived the Shoah; in April 1948 Abraham Rodrigues Parreira stayed at the Reitzstraat 13 1st floor in Haarlem.
The transport of 3 September 1944 included 1019 deportees and arrived in Auschwitz on 5 or 6 September 1944. Unclear is whether Aäron and Betje both have been put to work there and where. The conditons in Auschwitz were harsh and inhumane and based on testimonials of survivors after the war, the Dutch Authorities have established then that Betje Rodrigues Parreira- Aandagt no longer could be alive after 31 October 1944. The Municipality of Amsterdam then had to draw up a certificate of death for her, in which was established that she had died in the vicinity of Auschwitz on 31 August 1944.
As World War II drew to a close, the Nazis wanted to cover their tracks. Thousands of prisoners were then evacuated elsewhere on so-called evacuation transports, whether or not by train or on foot (death marches). From the KL Auschwitz complex, Aäron Rodrigues Parreira and many others were evacuated to Mauthausen between 18 and 21 January 1945. It is known that this direct train transport with prisoners from Auschwitz and Monowitz was loaded at the Althammer railway station, located ±250 km from Auschwitz, to which one had to walk to first. Arrival in Mauthausen on 25 January 1945.
It turned out that Aäron Rodrigues Parreira was eventually sent to Ebensee in Austria, a subcamp of Mauthausen. It was in use from 8 November 1943 to 6 May 1945. Under harsh conditions, the forced labourers were deployed to build V-2 rockets in a 250-meter-long factory in the mountain. There Aäron Rodrigues Parreira died on 15 April 1945 of exhaustion and hardship.
Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration cards of Abraham Rodrigues Parreira and Aäron Rodrigues Parreira; archive cards of Aäron Rodrigues Parreira and Betje Aandagt; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Aäron Rodrigues Parreira, Betje Rodrigues Parreira-Aandagt and Abraham Rodrigues Parreira; Dutch Red Cross publication 1952/Auschwitz VI/evacuation transports pages 15 and 16; Certificates of death, made out in Amsterdam, nr. 387 of 27 June 1952 for Betje Aandagt from the A-register 96-fol.67 and deed 284 of 19 April 1950 for Aäron Rodrigues Parreira from the A-register 29-fol. 49; the wikipedia website jodentransporten vanuit nederland.nl and the website oorlogsbronnen.nl/ Ebensee.