Isaac Ritmeester was the second of the seven children of Jechiel Ritmeester and Elisabeth Brandon. He was unmarried and lived at home with his parents at Lepelstraat 2, 2nd floor, in the old center of Amsterdam.
On 19 July 1942, the then 26-year-old advertising painter Isaac Ritmeester, together with his twin sisters Rosa and Esther, had to prepare for transport from Amsterdam Central Station to Westerbork. The train would leave at 2:16 am that night.
However, for unknown reasons, Rosa and Ester Ritmeester were removed from the transport list at the last minute. They were not deported to Auschwitz until 15 November 1943 in a direct transport from Vught. Isaac Ritmeester, on the other hand, was deported to Westerbork that night of 19 July 1942 and from there deported to Auschwitz on 24 July. Upon arrival there, approximately 26/27 July 1942, Isaac was put to work, but it is unknown where and what work he had to do.
After the war, the Dutch Ministry of Justice determined, based on research by the Red Cross and testimonies from survivors, that Isaac Ritmeester died in Auschwitz on 9 August 1942. The municipality of Amsterdam was then instructed to draw up a death certificate for him, confirming that Isaac Ritmeester died in Auschwitz on 9 August 1942. In the later found remains of the Auschwitz administration, the so-called “Sterbebücher”, it could be proven that Isaac Ritmeester was murdered there a day earlier, on 8 August 1942.
Sources include the Amsterdam City Archives, family registration cards of Jechiël Ritmeester, archive card of Isaac Ritmeester; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration card of Isaac Ritmeester; the archive of the Rec Cross, Amsterdam-Westerbork transport list of 19 July 1942; the Wikipedia website Jews transports from Nederland.nl/transport 24 July 1942; the website Museum and Memorial Auschwitz-Birkenau/Auschwitz Prisoners/Isaac Ritmeester and the death certificate 420 of 8 September 1950 from the A-register 49-folio 71 verso for Isaac Ritmeester.