Marcus Fruitmann was a son of Juda Fruitman en Jeanne Blog. He was born on 13 May 1880 in Paris and just like his father, he was a diamond polisher by profession but in later years commission agent. On 4 October 1899 – he was 19 years of age then – he married the 19-year old Klaartje Muller in Amsterdam, who was born on 10 February 1880 as a daughter of Jacob Muller and Marianna Cats. However, Klaartje passed away already at the rather young age of 31 years, on 22 June 1911.
Marcus and Klaartje had two sons: Juda, who was born on 21 December 1899 in Amsterdam in the house Nieuwe Achtergracht 112 and Jacob, who was born on 21 May 1905. The Fruitmann family then lived at Miquelstraat 38 2nd floor in Amsterdam, (the street which has been renamed since 1943 to Weesperpoortstraat). Their second son Jacob however passed away at the age of 10 years on 21 March 1916, when they lived at Nieuwe Tolstraat 30 1st floor.
In June 1918 their son Juda was medical examined for the National Militia but was declared unfit for it. He had completed the 3-year commercial school and was an apprentice accountant. On 5 October he left for Weltevreden, the suburb of Batavia in the Dutch East Indies.
After the passing of his wife Klaartje, Marcus Fruitmann stayed behind with two young children of 11 and 6 yea4rs old. He then remarried on 22 February 1912 the 34-year old diamond cutter Susanna Stokvis, who was born on 31 August 1877 in Amsterdam as a daughter of Abram Stokvis and Klara Dusseldorp. No more children were born from that 2nd wedlock.
On 30 March 1925 Marcus and Susanna left for Borgerhout and Antwerp, where they stayed in the Kroonstraat 187 and the Loosstraat 49. In June 1927 they left Belgium for Johannesburg in South Africa and they wrote a letter to the City of Antwerp, that their stay might be longer than originally intended, in order to have no problems at their return. On 27 September they returned to Antwerp where they came to live at Van Maerlantstraat 63. Marcus was a diamond polisher and was employed at various Antwerp diamond factories, earning there between Bfrs. 400 and 500 per week.
On 3 January 1941 Marcus and Susanna left Antwerp for Amsterdam, where they stayed for a few days at Vrolikstraat 144 2nd stock with his brother Jacob Fruitmann and his wife Flora Brandon. Already on 6 January they left from there and moved into a house at Tweede Boerhaavestraat 58 2nd floor in Amsterdam-East.
In March 1943 they received the call for deportation to Germany and on 19 March they were both transported by train to Westerbork from “Rietlanden Station”, located in the eastern port area of Amsterdam.
The Rietlanden was the shunting yard of the Dutch Railways. In the first months of 1943, many transports left for Westerbork, especially with sick people, from this shunting yard. As a "Sperrgebiet", this was the ideal place to deport Jews. No one was allowed to enter without permission and the activities of the Nazis were therefore not noticed. Therefore, the exact number of people who were deported from this location is not exactly known, it were certainly many thousands. (Source: website joodsamsterdam.nl/Borneokade.)
In Westerbork Marcus and Susanna arrived in Westerbork on 20 March 1943 and ended up in barrack 61. On 6 April they were put on transport to Sobibor with another 2018 deportees. Upon arrival there on 9 April 1943, Marcus Fruitmann and his wife Susanna Stokvis were immediately murdered in the gas chambers. Of this transport only two women survived Sobibor: Selma Wijnberg and Ursula Stern.
Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration cards of Juda Fruitman(n) (1851) and Marcus Fruitmann; archive cards of Marcus Fruitmann and Susanna Stokvis; wedding certificate 3055 of 4 October 1899 for Marcus Fruitmann/Klaartje Muller; certificate of death 4122 of 23 June 1911 for Klaartje Fruitmann-Muller; wedding certificate 108 of 22 February 1912 for Marcus Fruitmann/Susanna Stokvis; Dossier of Foreigners of the City of Antwerp nr.190266 for Marcus Fruitmann, images 674-686; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council,. registration cards of Marcus Fruitmann and Susanna Fruitmann-Stokvis; Dutch Red Cross archive/transport list of 19 March 1943 with Marcus Fruitmann and Susanna Stokvis and the Wikipedia webstie Jodentransporten vanuit Nederland.nl.