Jennie Trijtel was a daughter of Abraham Trijtel and Rebecca Zomerplaag, who was born on 16 August 1916 in London. She married Joel Hillesum, a son of Hartog Hillesum and Marianna van Collem. The Hillesum-Trijtel couple had three children, namely: the twins Marianna and Rebecca in 1937 and a son Hartog in 1938.
The Hillesum family stayed in Deurne in Belgium and was deported from Mechelen to Auschwitz. Joel was deported to Auschwitz on 31 October 1942 with the 16thconvoy but his wife and children were deported to Auschwitz on 8 September 1942 with the 8th convoy.
It is not exactly known what happened to Joel Hillesum after he arrived in Auschwitz, but the Belgian government has published in the Belgian Official State Gazette that he died in an unknown place between 31 October 1942 and 1 June 1945. The Jewish Monument will therefore publish his date of death as unknown.
The 8th convoy, of which Jennie and her children Marianna Rebecca and Hartog were part of, arrived in Auschwitz on 11 September 1942. After arrival they were murdered in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau. However, the exact date of death is not known, which is why the Belgian government stated in the Belgian Official State Gazette that Jennie Trijtel (Trytel), wife of Joel Hillesum, died in Auschwitz between 8 and 18 September and 1942, the latter date being considered as deadline that Jennie could still be alive. On the Jewish Monument, the date of 18 September 1942 is used as the date of her death in Auschwitz.
The Belgian Official State Gazette also mentions the date of death between 8 and 18 September 1942 in Auschwitz for the children Marianna, Rebecca and Hartog Hillesum. The Jewish Monument also lists their place and date of death as having died in Auschwitz on 18 September 1942.
Sources include the Dossier of Foreigners of the City of Antwerp no’s 14959 and 199859; the Memorial of the Deportation of the Belgian Jews, pages 261 and 262 and also pages 24 (convoy 8) and 28 (convoy 16) and the Belgian Official State Gazeette of 29 October 1953 page 6968.