Machiel Salomons, a traveling salesman by profession, was the third of the seven children of the then 35-year-old teacher Simon Salomons and Sprins Wagenaar and was born in Plantage Doklaan 7 Amsterdam on 3 July 1891. His youngest sister Esther was born on 14 July 1888, his brother Alexander on 14 July 1890, Nanette on 1 October 1892, Abraham on 28 November 1893, Leon on 4 April 1895, however, he died young on 3 July 1911 and the last was Frederika, who was born on 28 May 1896.
The marriage of Machiel Salomons and Sara Duque took place on 5 January 1921 in Amsterdam and on 9 February 1921 they moved to Deventer and moved into a house at Brink 70. Later they moved to Smalle Pad 7. Sara was a daughter of Jacob Duque (1867-1924) and Rebekka Dwinger (1865-1943) and was born on 8 January 1893 in Amsterdam. Their two children were born in Deventer: Sprins on 31 October 1922 and Jacob on 13 February 1927.
On 18 June 1942, when the family still lived in Deventer, Machiel Salomons replied to a letter to the Synagogal Board of the Dutch Israelite Congration in Deventer, stating that he would gladly accept the appointment as officiating officer at the Funeral Service and expressing his sincere thanks for this. However, two months later, on 19 or 20 August 1942, Machiel had to leave for work in the Jewish labor camp Lievelde. And on 2 October 1942, on the holiest day of the Jewish Year, Yom Kippur, near midnight, the Jewish forced laborers were placed as inconspicuously as possible taken to Lievelde station and from there to camp Westerbork.
From Lievelde, Machiel wrote a letter to the Synagogal Board of the Dutch Israëlitic Congration of Deventer on 20 September 1942 in response to their letter of the 18th, that “refreshments were no longer allowed in the camp” and to “All camp friends, had a good fast and breakfast, The services were performed with great success”. From “Lager Westerbork” Machiel wrote to the Synagogal Board in Deventer that they could again receive all “refreshments” in this camp and that he wished them happy holidays.
On the evening and night of 2 to 3 October 1942, the Germans liquidated all Jewish Labor Camps in the Netherlands and transferred all Jewish forced laborers to Westerbork on foot, by train or both, which resulted in a more than chaotic situation there. In addition - in the context of the so-called "family reunification" - all family members still living at home were picked up from home and also transferred to Westerbork, whereby then the reunited families could be deported together to "the East".
The family of Machiel Salomons from Deventer was brought to Westerbork between 3 and 5 October 1942. Where they were housed was not recorded at the time due to the chaos there. While her parents and brother still remained behind in Westerbork, the almost 20-year-old Sprins Salomons was deported to Auschwitz on 9 October 1942, with 1702 other deportees. The transport lists drawn up in Westerbork and saved too in the archieves of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and Memorial have shown, that Sprins has arrived there too, was not put to work, but was murdered in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau immediately after arrival on 12 October 1942.
On 30 October 1942, Machiel, his wife Sara and their son Jacob were put on transport. This transport, with a total of 659 deportees, made a stop in Cosel where 200 boys and men between the ages of 15 and 50 were forced to leave the train. Jacob Salomons certainly belonged to that group of 200 men who were put to work as forced laborers in the surrounding labor camps in Upper Silesia, but it is impossible to determine where he ultimately ended up and when exactly he died. In an abbreviated description of that transport you can read more about where the men were taken from Cosel, but the exact place of his death is not known.
The conclusion from the Red Cross investigations, adopted by the Dutch Authorities, reads: "the men of the transport of 30 October 1942 from Westerbork, who disembarked in Cosel must, unless it appears otherwise, and with due observance of the general conclusions stated, be considered died after 2 November 1942, but no later than 31 March 1944 in one of the labor camps in Silesia (Poland)".
Partly based on these investigations by the Red Cross, the Dutch Ministry of Justice subsequently instructed the committee to report the death of missing persons, to draw up a death certificate for Jacob Salomons, which records that he died in Central Europe in 31 March 1944. His death certificate was registered in the Deventer Civil Registry on 26 January 1952.
However, Machiel Salomons and his wife Sara Duque were among those who remained on the train in Cosel and were transported onwards to Auschwitz. After arriving there on 2 November 1942, both of them, as well as the other remaining deportees, were immediately murdered in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration cards of Jacob Duque and Simon Salomons; Amsterdam birth certificate 7384 of Machiel Salomons and nr. 330 forr Sara Duque; Deventer archives/family registration card for Machiel Salomons; CBG collections/birth announcement Sprins Salomons; letters from Machiel Salomons tot he Synagogal Board of the Dutch Israëlitic Congregation of Deventer; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Machiel Salomons, Sara Salomons-Duque, Sprins Salomons and Jacob Salomons; Deventer certificate of death nr. 45 dated 26 Feb 1952 for Jacob Salomons; Wikipedia website Jodentransporten vanuit Nederland.nl.