Biography

About Abraham Dreese and his family.

Abraham Dreese, born 23 June 1900, was a son of Lucas Dreese and Sientje Bosboom. He married in Amsterdam Esther Slap on 10 March 1931, a daughter of Ephraim Slap and Vrouwtje van de Kar. On 23 March 1932 their son Lucas was born, who, just as his mother, survived the Holocaust.

Abraham Dreese lived with his wife and son at Mozartkade 18 down floor in Amsterdam. However, 15 June 1943 the had to move to Colensostraat in the Transvaal neighbourhood in the Eastern part of Amsterdam, where they arrived at house nr. 7 upperhouse. Then the family decided to go into hiding and Esther Slap and Lucas survived the Holocaust in Sneek. By a unknown cause however, Abraham Dreese had been registered in Westerbork on 23 September 1943 and was locked in in the penal barrack 67. At some point however, he was transferred to barrack 81.

Abraham Dreese was a diamond polisher and later a commercial traveler with cloth for gents fashion. But at his registration card from the Jewish Council, he was registered as “teacher”. Perhaps by that, he managed to be placed on the Weinreb III list 6400/4, reason why he was exempted from deportation until further notice. Eventually, he was still deported 3 March 1944 as a penal case to Auschwitz with another 731 deportees, and upon arrival there he was immediately killed on 6 March 1944.

 Sources: City Archive of Amsterdam, archive cards of Abraham Dreese and Lucas Dreese; website wiewaswie.nl, marriage of Abraham Dreese and Esther Slap 1931; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Abraham Dreese, Esther Dreese-Slap and Lucas Dreese.