Benjamin Schouten was the eldest of the four sons of Nachman Schouten and Margaretha van West. He was born on 4 September 1909 in Amsterdam, and just as his father and younger brother Barend, he was employed as hides skinner. His possible workspot was in a slaughterhouse.
Benjamin married Vrouwtje Kroet on 3 June 1936 in Amsterdam, a daughter of Joseph Kroet and Heintje Schaap. Vrouwtje was born in Amsterdam on 1 June 1909 and before her marriage, she was employed as a lingerie seamstress. Benjamin and Vrouwtje had their son Nico on 17 May 1937.
Vrouwtje lived at home with her parents, who moved countless times and from 1909, when Vrouwtje was born, at least 5 or 6 relocations followed. In March 1936, Vrouwtje lived with her parens in the Dani Theronstraat 12 ground floor. But when Benjamin and Vrouwtje got married, they moved into living quarters together at Blasiusstraat 92 3rd floor, where their son Nico was born in 1937.
Benjamin, Vrouwtje and Nico most likely received a call to report in Westerbork for the so-called “Arbeitseinsatz” on 22 July 1942, but for reasons not known, they were temporarily exempted from deportation. Transportlists from the archives of the Red Cross of 29 July 1942 show, that they were taken to Westerbork in the night of 29 to 30 July 1942 with “Zug 1” – train no.1 - , which departed at 02:16 am from Amsterdam Central Station.
Because of that postponement of deportation, Benjamin, Vrouwtje and Nico received so-called numbered traintickets to Hooghalen, which were listed on their respective registration cards of the Jewish Council: Benjamin: 7352 BNH 5298 – Vrouwtje: 7353 BNH 5299 and Nico: 7354 BNH 5306.
The numbers, such as 7352 BNH 5298 and others, appear in July/August 1942 on the registration cards of the Jewish Council for people who have a temporary exemption from deportation. The first numer is the Zentralstelle number. Anyone who had reported his Jewish background according to Regulation 6/41 was given such a number. “BNH” stands for “Biljet Naar Hooghalen”, (Trainticket to Hooghalen). Then the number of the train ticket. That number was not synchronized with the Zentralstelle number, because people were exempted from deportation and therefore did not use the ticket. (source: Raymund Schütz – Red Cross archivist and the Municipal Archive of Den Haag).
The transport of 29 July 1942 arrived on 30 July in Westerbork but already the next day, 31 July 1942 the Benjamin Schouten family was put on transport to Auschwitz. Upon arrival there on 2 August, Vrouwtje Schouten-Kroet and her son Nico were immediately murdered in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Benjamin Schouten however then has been selected for “work” in the camp.
The kind of “work”, Benjamin hat to perform is unkown, nor after the war his exact date of death. The Dutch Authorities then have established, partly on the basis of research and testimonials of survivors, that Benjamin Schouten no longer could be alive after 30 September 1942. The Municipality of Amsterdam was instructed then to draw up a certificate of death for Benjamin Schouten, in which should be recorded that he has died in Auschwitz on 30 September 1942.
However, the "Sterbebücher" of Auschwitz - the preserved death registers - has shown that Benjamin Schouten was already murdered there on 25 August 1942. This date differs from the official date of death, as established after the war by the Dutch Ministry of Justice. For the time being, the website joodsmonument.nl only lists the official date of death, as published at the time in the Government Gazette by the Ministry of Justice.
Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration cards of Nachman Schouten, Benjamin Schouten and Joseph Kroet, archive cards of Benjamin Schouten, Vrouwtje Kroet and Nico Schouten; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Benjamin Schouten, Vrouwtje Schouten-Kroet and Nico Schouten; certificate of death made out in Amsterdam for Benjamin Schouten no.284 dated 29 Sept 1950 from the A-register 53-folio 49 and the website Museum and Memorial Auschwitz-Birkenau/Auschwitz Prisoners/Benjamin Schouten.