Boas Sanders was the eldest of the four children of Sander Sanders and Esther Morpurgo. He was born on 19 December 1902 at Swammerdamstraat 56 in Amsterdam. He earned his living as a warehouse clerk but later became a traveler in automotive supplies.
On 1 June 1921, Boas was approved for service in the National Militia. He was found suitable and, according to his wishes, was assigned to the Amsterdam Infantry. Between 1 and 5 November 1922 he was enlisted in the 5th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Squad at the Amsterdam Fortress. Boas was sent on long leave three times, the last time being on 23 September 1927.
In April 1932 Boas moved to Den Haag, where on 13 April 1932 he married Sarah Huisman, born there on 18 April 1908 as daughter of Meijer Huisman and Alida Bronkhorst. The Sanders-Huisman couple then moved into a house at Loosduinsekade 147, located in the West-Painters District of Den Haag.
After three years, on 30 April 1935, they moved to Van Limbug Stirumstraat 68, located near the Huygenspark in the Station Area of Den Haag. In the meantime, Boas and Sarah had had three children: their son Alexander was born on 9 July 1932, followed by Alida Esther on 13 December 1935 and Meijer was born on 2 October 1939. And as a traveling salesman, Boas managed to provide well for his family.
When the Second World War broke out, The Hague had approximately 17000 Jewish inhabitants. It was the second largest Jewish community in the Netherlands. Immediately after the occupation of the Netherlands in May 1940, anti-Jewish measures started and in August 1942 the deportations of the Jews of The Hague to the Nazi concentration and extermination camps began. (source: website Joods Erfgoed Den Haag – Dutch language only).
It is not known whether Boas Sanders was called up for work in one of the Jewish work camps in the Northern Netherlands in the spring of 1942. However, what is known is that on the night of 2 to 3 October 1942, all Jewish labor camps were liquidated by the Germans and all Jewish forced laborers were transferred to Westerbork.
On the night of 2 October 1942, the German Sicherheitsdienst (S.D.) and the Hague Police also collected the families of Jewish men from The Hague, who had to perform forced labor in Dutch labor camps in the Northern Netherlands and brought them, into the context of so-called ' family reunification', also to Westerbork. (source: website Joods Erfgoed Den Haag – Dutch language only).
According to the information stated on the registration cards of the Jewish Council, Boas Sanders, as well as his wife Sarah Huisman and their children Alexander, Alida Esther and Meijer, were brought into Westerbork between 3 and 5 October 1942, which suggests that Boas too was indeed employed in one of the Jewish Labor Camps.
On 9 October 1942, the family was deported to Auschwitz in a transport of more than 1700 victims. Upon arrival there on 12 October selections followed, with Boas Sanders being selected for employment. Women and children, on the other hand, were actually taken straight to the gas chambers and murdered. That was also the fate of Sarah Sanders-Huisman and her children Alexander (10 years old), Alida Esther (6 years old) and Meijer (3 years old); they were murdered in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau on 12 October 1942.
It is not known exactly where Boas Sanders ended up. The research that the Red Cross initiated immediately after the war and published in 1952 and 1953 shows, with regard to the deportation transport of 9 October 1942, that the selected men were almost all employed in the sub-camps of the actual Auschwitz camp-complex, i.e. in the "Stammlager" Auschwitz I, in Birkenau (Auschwitz II) or in the labor camps Monowitz-Buna, Jawischowitz and Golleschau (Auschwitz III), whereby the conclusion must be, that the employed persons, of whom individually nothing is known, died no later than 31 January 1943.
Partly based on the investigation by the Red Cross, the Dutch Authorities determined after the war, that Boas Sanders could no longer have been alive after 31 January 1943. The municipality of Den Haag was then instructed to draw up a death certificate for him, which recorded that Boas Sanders died in Auschwitz on 31 January 1943.
Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration cards of Sander Sanders (1874) and Boas Sanders; birth certificate of Boas Sanders no. 14891 of 19 December 1902; various residence cards of Amsterdam; Militia Register of Amsterdam/Boas Sanders;the Municipal Archives of Den Haag/family registration card of Boas Sanders; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Boas Sanders, Sarah Sanders-Huisman and Alexander, Alida Esther and Meijer Sanders; website Jodentransporten vanuit Nederland.nl/9 October 1942; death certificate no. C3504 dated 14 December 1950 for Boas Sanders, made out in Den Haag and the archives of the Red Cross/Publication “Auschwitz III”/direct Auschwitz transports/9 October 1942, edited October 1952, pages 62 and further.