Biography

The fate of the sisters Lena and Celina Delden.

Both the sisters Lena and Celina Delden were employed at the clothing factory of Hollandia Kattenburg in Amsterdam since half April 1937. Lena, the eldest, was just 17 years of age and her sister Celina was 15 years old. Both the sisters lived at home with their parents Aron Delden and Marianne Waas at Nieuwe Kerkstraat 38 1st floor in Amsterdam. However, when Celina got married on 5 August 1942 to Abraham Swaap, she moved over to him at Waterlooplein 74.

On 11 November 1942 the raid on Hollandia Kattenburg took place; a part of the workers were carried off to the the prison in Scheveningen and the others directly to Westerbork. The parents of the sisters were carried off to Westerbork on 14 November. Lena and Celina were brought there on 26 November.

On 30 November 1942, the “re-united” Delden family was put on transport to Auschwitz. Their father most likely had to leave the train at a stop at Kozel, located ±80 km west from Auschwitz, together with another 170 deportees. They were all forced to perform forced labour in the surrounding labor camps of Upper-Silesia. Aron Delden eventually ended up in Blechammer. His exact date of death is unknown but the Dutch Authorities after the war have established that Aron Delden has died there on 31 December 1944.

Lena Delden, her sister Celina Swaap-Delden and their mother Marianne Delden-Waas were transported onwards from Kozel to Auschwitz and after arrival there they were immediately murdered in the gas chambers of Auschwit-Birkenau on 3 December 1942.

Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration card of Aron Delden, archive cards of Aron Delden, Marianne Waas, Lena Delden en Celina Delden, the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Aron Delden, Marianne Delden-Waas, Lena Delden en Celina Swaap-Delden; the Wikipedia listing of jodentransporten vanuit Nederland.nl and the death certificate of Aron Delden, nr. 144 dated 15 February 1952 from the A-register 94-folio 25verso, made out in Amsterdam.

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