Elsje Sonja van Praag was the second child of Jogeva van Praag and Gerrit van Praag. She was born on 28 November 1942 in Amsterdam, when her mother moved to the Jekerstraat 74 ground floor after the arrest of her husband Gerrit and his brother-in-law Emanuel van Praag on 1 April 1942. Elsje had a brother, who was born on 9 November 1941 in Velsen: Martijn Herman van Praag, but he died there after 4 days on 13 November 1941.
Elsje Sonja's father Gerrit van Praag, who was arrested in Amsterdam together with his brother-in-law Emanuel on 1 October 1942, was detained with his brother-in-law at the Jewish Affairs Bureau and brought before the S.D. After “interrogation”, he and Emanuel were transferred to Camp Amersfoort where they stayed till 23 December 1942. That date in December, both were sent to Westerbork in a group of 30 Jewish prisoners. It was not until 17 March 1943 that Elsje's father Gerrit was deported to Sobibor, where he was murdered after arriving on 20 March 1943.
Elsje's mother Jogeva van Praag-van Praag stayed at Jekerstraat 74 and worked as an Emergency Service Employee of the Home Care Department of the Jewish Council. On 24 May 1943, she was arrested and deported from Westerbork to Sobibor on 1 June 1943, where she was murdered on 4 June 1943 upon arrival.
Who also lived in the Jekerstraat was Elsje Sonja's unmarried uncle Gerrit van Praag, who was born in 1910. (Her own father Gerrit was born in 1909). Since Elsje Sonja's parents were deported in 1943 and Elsje was effectively an orphan, her uncle Gerrit took further care of her.
With the help of her uncle, Elsje Sonja van Praag survived the war, just like her uncle himself. On 7 May 1945, the then ± 2 ½ year old Elsje Sonja and her uncle Gerrit stayed at Maasstraat 51 in Amsterdam. After the war, her uncle married a non-Jewish woman and they left with Elsje Sonja van Praag on 4 October 1945 to their new place of residence Zeeweg 287 in Velsen.
Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, the (not public) archive card of Elsje Sonja van Praag; the police reportes of 1 and 2 October 1942 with G. v. Praag, E. v. Praag and others; information from the former Camp Amersfoort; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Gerrit van Praag, Jogeva van Praag-van Praag and Elsje Sonja van Praag; Amsterdam residence cards of Jekerstraat 74 and Maasstraat 51.