Hans Joachim Tanchum Levie was born in Berlin-Zehlendorf on 17 March 1925 as the son of Abraham Levie and Hilde Goldschmidt. He moved with his parents from Berlin to Frankfurt am Main at some point and from there he came with them to Amsterdam in 1935. Hans Joachim was unmarried and a furrier by profession, his father a merchant in packaging articles.
Between the end of March 1935 and the beginning of November 1940 he lived with his parents at various addresses in Amsterdam, until they moved to Van Lijndenlaan 25 in Naarden on 6 November 1940 and were registered at Heemskerklaan 4 in Naarden in April 1942.
In accordance with the German regulation that obliged Jews to move to Amsterdam, Hans Joachim and his parents ended up at Onbekendegracht 5 in Amsterdam, from where they were arrested on 16 April 1943 and taken to the Vught concentration camp.
Hans Joachim Tanchum Levie was registered there as a furrier and probably also employed in the fur workshop. However, 4 days before his parents were sent to Westerbork, Hans Joachim was sent to the "Arbeitslager Oud Leusden" on 20 May 1943, where he was sent back to Vught after a few months and from where he was deported to Auschwitz on 15 November in a transport of 1149 people in total.
The general rule also applied to this transport, which arrived in Auschwitz on 18 November 1943, that young children (up to 15 years), mothers with children, pregnant women, as well as weak, sick and elderly people (usually over ±50 years), were either killed by gassing immediately upon arrival or after a stay of several weeks in so-called "quarantine".
From the subsequent selections, the remaining men aged 18-45 were divided into 2 groups, one of which was put to work in Auschwitz-Birkenau, while the other group was divided between the coal mines of Janina, Jawischowitz and Fürstengrube. Only very rough estimates can be made about the life expectancy of the selected men. Based on witness statements, the average life expectancy has been set at 2 to 3 months.
It can be assumed that Hans Joachim Levie belonged to the group that was put to work in Auschwitz-Birkenau. The final conclusion as stated in the Red Cross publication Auschwitz IV concerning the transport of 15 November 1943 therefore also applies to Hans Joachim Levie and it reads: All men who belonged to the transport of 15 November 1943 are, unless otherwise known individually, considered to have died in Auschwitz-Birkenau, no earlier than 1 January 1944 and at the latest 31 January 1944.
After the war, the Dutch Authorities adopted the conclusions of the Red Cross and on 5 July 1951 commissioned the Civil Registry of Naarden to draw up a death certificate stating that on behalf of the Minister of Justice, by the Commission for reporting the death of missing persons, Hans Joachim Tanchum Levie, born 17 March 1925 in Berlin-Zehlendorf died on 31 January 1944 in the vicinity of Oswiecim in Poland. Germany, living in Naarden, son of Levie Abraham and of Goldschmidt, Hilde.
Sources include the Amsterdam City Archives, familyregistration card of Abraham Levie (1887), archive cards of Abraham Levie and Hans Joachim Levie (1925); the archive of the Jewish Council, registration card of Hans Joachim Levie; website ITS Arolson/camp card Vught of Hans Joachim Levie; website Canon of the Netherlands/camp Amersfoort/Oud Leusden; website Oorlogsbronnen.nl/work camp Oud Leusden; the archive of the Red Cross/publication Auschwitz IV/autumn transports/chapter III, pages 43 et seq. to page 61/Appendix II, pages 68 and 69/October 1953 and the death certificate 122 for Hans Joachim Tanchum Levie, drawn up in Naarden on 10-10-1951.