Henri Zondervan was born in Maastricht as a tenth child of optician Benedictus Zondervan and his wife Johanna Wolf. After succesfully finishing his HBS-exams, he left to Amsterdam to study Geography and History. His education was partly financed by his four older brothers, who received a modest salary themselves. After his graduation, Henri Zondervan became a geography teacher. He taught at schools in Bergen op Zoom, Warffum and untill his retirement in 1930, at the State HBS in Groningen.
Henri Zondervan married his niece, Bertha Zondervan from Krefeld in 1901.
The couple had two children. Besides from being a teacher Henri Zondervan wrote several articles, some for the Royal Dutch Geography Society (KNAG). Furthermore, he was chief-editor for the Winkel Prins Encyclopedia, fourth revised edition (1915-1921) and the author of several books, among them Het spel der dieren, volwassenen en kinderen Encyclopedia of the Wereldbibliotheek (1928) and Algemeine Kartenkunde (Leipzig 1900). He also wrote the captions for the illustrations, 'Insulinde in Woord en Beeld' and 'Europa in Woord en Beeld'. These illustrations were used for educational purposes and published by Wolters.
After his retirement, Henri Zondervan and his wife moved to Zeist. In 1935 Bertha Zondervan died. Henri Zondervan hired a non-Jewish woman for domestic tasks and to keep him company. Henri Zondervan spent most of his time reading, studying, gardning and making small toys for his grandchildren.
After the Kristallnacht in 1938 Henri Zondervan went to Germany and smuggled his daughter to the Netherlands. This daughter went into hiding during the war. With Henri Zondervan this option was also dicussed multiple times but he argued to be too old to be deported, hence to be left alone. He also had doubts about his abilily to cope with being restrained indoors. In September 1942 Henri Zondervan was deported to Theresiënstadt and Auschwitz. His two children survived the war.
Addition of a visitor of the website
In addition, a Jokos file (number 18773) on this person is at the Amsterdam Municipal Archive. Access is subject to authorization from the Stichting Joods Maatschappelijk Werk.The Jokos file reveals that a claim was lodged for compensation for :
- securities or bonds. (W-claim, number C44/2389)
- valuables surrendered to the Lippmann-Rosenthal looting bank (L-claim, number 13519/7972)
This person is commemorated on a memorial in Zeist. More information on this memorial can be found (in Dutch) on the website of the Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 mei.