In 1911 the Kattenburgs, a Jewish family originally from the Alsace region and with a longstanding involvement in garment manufacturing, opened the Hollandia-Kattenburg garment factory. In 1917 this factory was based in Amsterdam North. Hollandia-Kattenburg specialized in waterproof rainwear and other apparel.
In 1940 Hollandia-Kattenburg had 740 employees, many of whom were Jewish. Because Hollandia-Kattenburg received many orders from the German Wehrmacht, the staff members were known as Rüstungsjuden and as such were provisionally exempt from deportation. These exemptions covered their spouses and children as well.
The large number of economic exemptions deeply irritated Rauter. In October 1942 he managed to cast such severe suspicion on the group of Rüstungjuden at Hollandia-Kattenburg that they were arrested despite their exemptions and deported with their families.
For additional information see the article Hollandia-Kattenburg on this website.
Term
Hollandia-Kattenburg
Ready-to-wear clothing factory where many of the employees were Jews before the war.
All rights reserved