Biography

The fate of Herman Duitz and his wife Helene Levie

Helene Levie, the daughter of Julius Levie and Betty Wagenaar, was born on 12 May 1918 in Amsterdam. On 26 July 1942, the chupah of Helene Levie and Herman Duitz took place in the synagogue of the Lekstraat in Amsterdam. The civil wedding had taken place the day before. Their future address was Lekstraat 122, 3rd floor in Amsterdam, but until then she lived at home in the Sarphatistraat 127 house.

Herman Duitz was a son of Salomon Duitz and Elisabeth Duizend. He was born in Amsterdam on 19 January 1913 and before he was married he lived at home at Swammerdamstraat 24. In addition to being a lawyer and attorney, he was also a doctor of law and religion and was also a head teacher. He was “exempted due to position”  (gesperrt because of function) by the Jewish Council. He held this position at the Westerbork branch of the Jewish Council of Amsterdam at Lijnbaansgracht 366, for which he was issued an I.D. with no. JR 1275 referent.

Helene's education consisted of 5-year HBS, she became a religious teacher and held the headteacher's certificate A. Helene also was employed as such and after the mandatory registration she was provisionally exempted from deportation by the Jewish Council, because of her husband.

On 11 July 1942, Helene and Herman were provisionally “Rückgestellt” (set back) of the so-called “Arbeitseinsatz” by the Jewish Council and that “Rückstellung” (deferment) resulted in an official “Sperre bis auf weiteres” (exemption until further notice) in September. This was also underlined with their Sperre-Numbers, which were in the high number series 80000 to 100000, which were the actual Jewish Council Stamps. Helene had Sperre number 83640 and her husband Herman 83641.

Notes on both their registration cards from the Jewish Council show that Herman Duitz and his wife Helene Levie succeeded in obtaining a so-called Albersheim declaration on 27 May 1943. This statement, also called the Palestine certificate, would offer them the opportunity to emigrate to Palestine, but this was a registration, a provisional one, which did not yet provide the certainty that emigration to Palestine would actually take place.

On 27 July 1943, Helene Levie and her husband Herman Duitz were arrested and taken to Westerbork, where they were housed in barrack 63. The exact reason for their arrest is not known, but notes on their Jewish Council cards have also shown, that they were both discharged from Westerbork on 9 September 1943 and were able to return to Amsterdam. 

Due to, among other things, the major raid of 20 June 1943, where more than 5500 Jews were arrested and deported to Westerbork, a limited Jewish Council still had to continue to exist. “The whole business should not be liquidated too quickly. What else would the “Zentralstelle” do with its many officials? Thus Aus der Fünten”…..

Herman and Helene then received the so-called “Ausnahmebescheinigung”, a very last exemption, possibly because of their previously assigned high Sperre-numbers.

But that didn't last long. Amsterdam was on its way to becoming “Judenrein”. The major raids of May and June 1943 already led to this and several smaller raids were still carried out in September. The last roundup was on 29 September 1943, where 5,000 Jews were rounded up and taken to Westerbork, including Helene Duitz-Levie and her husband Herman Duitz. Also the members of the Jewish Council, which effectively ceased to exist, after which the Germans declared Amsterdam “Judenrein” (free of Jews).

Herman Duitz and his wife Helene Levie arrived in Westerbork on 29 September 1943 and were housed in barrack 62. Both were transported from Westerbork to Auschwitz on 8 February 1944, where they arrived on 10 or 11 February 1944. The circumstances in which Herman and Helene ended up would certainly not have been better there than the situation upon arrivals in Auschwitz from the summer of 1942.

It is not known what happened to Herman and Helene after their arrival in Auschwitz, whether they may still have been employed and if so where. Their exact date of death is also unknown. But it may assumed, that Herman Duitz was sent to one of the labor- or sub camps of Auschwitz, given the conclusion after the war that Herman Duitz did not die in (the vicinity of) Auschwitz, but in Mid-Europe. indicating one of the many labor camps in Upper Silesia.

Partly based on the investigations of the Red Cross, the Dutch Authorities determined after the war that Helene Levie could no longer be alive after 30 April 1944. The municipality of Amsterdam was then instructed to draw up a death certificate for her, stating that Helene Duitz-Levie died on 30 April 1944 in (the vicinity of) Auschwitz.

It has been established for her husband Herman Duitz that he could no longer be alive after 30 June 1944 and the municipality of Amsterdam was also instructed by the Ministry of Justice to draw up a death certificate, which records that Herman Duitz has died in Mid-Europa on 30 June 1944.

Sources include the Amsterdam City Archives, archive cards of Herman Duitz and Helene Levie; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Herman Duitz and Helene Duitz-Levie; website Jews' transports from Nederland.nl/transport 8 February 1944; Red Cross archive/transport list 8 February 1944 Westerbork -> Auschwitz/no.187 Herman Duitz, lawyer and no.188 Helene Duitz-Levie, seamstress; death certificte of Heman Duitz from the A-register 96-folio 47v, deed 271 dated 28 May 1952 and for Helene Duitz-Levie deed 87 dated 1 May 1952 from register A-96-folio 16, both made out in Amsterdam.

 

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