Henriette Velleman was a daughter of Levie Velleman and Rebecca Italiaander. She was born in Sloten on 19 November 1899 as the 3rd of 6 children and married on 19 June 1929 in Amsterdam her cousin 1st degree Simon Bierman. He was a son of Levie Bierman, who was married to Rebecca Italiaander's sister, Sara Italiaander and he was born in Amsterdam on 4 November 1903. After the birth of the 10th child of Levie Bierman and Sara Italiaander, Simon Bierman’s mother died in childbirth the next day on 9 July 1910.
The Bierman-Velleman couple had no children. Before he was married, Simon lived already at Reitzstraat 1 in Amsterdam-East and Henriette at the Nieuwe Meerdijk 41 in Haarlemmermeer. After being married, they moved into a a house in the Christiaan de Wetstraat 2 in Amsterdam-East on 23 November 1929, moved on 25 September 1931 to the President Brandstraat 11 and per 17 September 1934 to the Blasiusstraat 53.
When Henriette Velleman was registered from Haarlemmermeer in the Peoples Registry of Amsterdam, she was registered as “pharmacist” (apotheekster). Simon Bierman then was a tailor by profession. Up from 1934 Simon and Henriette runned a fuel trade. But in the months of spring and summer, Simon peddled ice cream in Amsterdam-East (later also in West) for which he had a vendor-permit. The other months, he peddled his fuels.
Henriette Velleman was “gesperrt because of husband” (exempted from deportation because of her spouse), who – just as she herself – was called-up for the so-called “Arbeitseinsatz, but was exempted according to a list 8/2b. Henriette would have been deported on 2 November 1942 but her deportation was cancelled. She had an exemption number 90074 from the series of the exemption number series 80.000 till 100.000, actually the real Jewish Council exemption stamps/numbers . From 3 May 1943 She worked for the department food supply at the Jewish Council.
However, in the raid of 20 June 1943, secretly prepared by the Germans, also Henriette Bierman-Velleman was arrested as one of the still not deported inhabitants, to deport her yet. In total then 5542 Jews were arrested and carried off by train to Westerbork. On 29 June 1943 Henriette was put on transport to Sobibor and upon arrival there on 2 July 1943, she was immediately murdered in the gas chambers there.
Incidentally, her husband Simon Bierman, despite his exemption from deportation, was nevertheless deported to Auschwitz on 2 November 1942, but ended up via a stopover at Kozel in one of the slave labour camps in Upper Silesia. Unknown is where and when he lost his life. The Dutch authorities after the war established that he has died in Mid-Europe on 31 March 1943.
Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration cards of Levie Velleman and Levie Bierman, archive cards of Henriette Velleman and Simon Bierman; street marked registration cards Amsterdam for Simon Bierman; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Henriette Bierman-Velleman and Simon Bierman.