David van West, after being temporarily released from deportation by the Jewish Council on 29 July 1942, was arrested again during the raids at the beginning of October 1942 and brought to Westerbork between 3 and 5 October 1942. From that moment on he made efforts to be definitively exempted from deportation and pushed for release from Westerbork. From the notes made in this regard on his registration card of the Jewish Council, it quickly becomes clear why: one of those notes reads: “send documents of Aryan descent”.
The Genot family, from Wallonia in Belgium (Wanfercée-Baulet, province of Hainaut), was a non-Jewish family. Obituaries of Genot families from Belgium (Delpher Historical newspapers) indicate the Catholic religion.
David van West's mother-in-law was Jeanne Louise Genot; she was a daughter of Jules Genot and Eudolie Malfert from Wanfercée-Baulet and married to the Jewish Louis Gazan from Brielle. Their daughter and wife of David van West, Gabrielle Gazan was therefore not a Jewish woman and the marriage of David and Gabrielle was therefore a mixed marriage. No registrations with the Jewish Council have been found of their children, one of whom was born in 1941.
Gabrielle van West-Gazan was indeed registered with the Jewish Council, but her registration card does not mention anything about a stay in Westerbork or deportation, other than that she was (temporarily) exempted from deportation by the Jewish Council on 29 July 1942. From further notes on David van West's registration card, it appears that Gabrielle was formally “gesperrt” (exempted from deportation) in September according to the list B2 of the Jewish Council, but this was, for unknown reasons, not mentioned on her Jewish Council card.
Apparently David had no protection, but his wife did. When David arrived in Westerbork (3-5 October 1942), he started to apply for exemption through the "Antragstelle"/Jewish Council and the following notes are stated on his registration card:
- "photocopy PB women (personal identity card Gabrielle Gazan-Genot and Jeanne Louise Genot), Letter copy to Rijkskomm. 14 October 1942"; this refers to a petition addressed to the Reichskommissar für Verwaltung und Justiz, and handling by Calmeyer.
- taken into consideration 19 October 1942;
- proof of identity issued, photocopy PB passed on to Antragstelle, 27 October 1942;
- send documents of Aryan descent (first put O and on receipt the cross (X) over it);
- 10November 1942 Aryan documents to Westerbork;
- 7/ December discharged on 4 December 1942
It is remarkable because in that period the conditions in Westerbork were very hectic. The Jewish labor camps were liquidated and the men were reunited with their families in overcrowded Westerbork. To have achieved this in that administrative chaos was really special and it will somehow have meant a lot of extra effort.
Sources include website Open Archives/marriage Louis Gazan x Jeanne Louise Genot; the Wikipedia website Wanfercée-Baulet; the Municipal Archives of The Hague, Louis Gazan family registration card and marriage certificate 1318 of 3 November 1926 from The Hague of Madeleine Genot x Hendrik de Baan; Website Delpher Historical Newspapers/obituary notices of Belgian Genot families; the archive of the Jewish Council, registration cards of David van West and Gabrielle Gazan and the reconstruction of the notes on the registration card of David van West by Raymund Schütz, which led to his release from Westerbork on 4 December 1942.