Several different layers
With the vast amount of varied information collected for the Monument, we tried to create as complete a picture as possible of the circumstances in which the Jewish victims lived before and during the war. To present the information clearly, it was divided into several different layers. The most important levels are briefly explained below. The additional background information and educational resources are clarified in a different part of the website.
Personal pages
A personal page was made for every person included in the Monument. It gives the personal details as recorded in the register lists, along with information from In Memoriam or other sources. These comprise first name, surname, place and date of birth, place and date of death, and if known, occupation. The age at death is given, based on the dates of birth and death. If no exact dates were available, the age is not given. Every personal page has space for biographical information and pictures. This space may be filled as the years go by, with stories, photographs and bibliographical references.
Family pages
The register lists often shed light on family relationships, showing who lived together at a given address as father, mother, son or daughter at the time of registration. These lists were used for the Monument to produce family pages, based on a particular moment in time. Children living away from home are not listed with the family. Since they were living elsewhere, they are treated as people running independent households.
Where family relationships were not mentioned in the sources, we have done our best to reconstruct the relationships between people living at the same address. These reconstructions were done by computer on the basis of calculations. This reconstruction was only possible if a nuclear family (father, mother and children) was clearly identifiable.
All persons with a surname identical to that of another person in the family are designated as relatives. A grandmother or son-in-law living as a member of the household is described in that case as a relative of the nuclear family. A person who is not clearly related to the nuclear family (a live-in housekeeper, for instance) is designated a ‘resident’. The family page, like the personal page, has space for biographical information and pictures to be added. It is therefore always worthwhile looking at someone’s family page as well as their personal page.
Finally, there is the possibility that two or more nuclear families may have been living at a single address. To prevent confusion, it was decided to list these families separately at the same address. An overview of all those living at a particular address can be found on the ‘Address page’.
Address pages
The addresses on the website are in general derived from the register lists, and reflect the situation at a particular time in 1941 or 1942. In most cases, there is a note on the website, below the address, stating when the person or family lived there, e.g. ‘Situation in March 1942’. So the situation may have been different before or after that date.
Clicking on the address will open the address page, which lists everyone who lived at that address. To the left and right of the opened address are the nearest Jewish neighbours. By clicking on those addresses, you can go on a virtual walk, visiting the Jewish residents of streets and towns. Residents of institutions (e.g. Jewish orphanages, Het Apeldoornse Bos) have been assigned the name and address of the institution as their address, if such information appeared in the sources.
Inventories
For several thousands of homes, inventories of household effects were drawn up. These are lists of the furniture and other household effects left behind when a Jewish family was deported or had gone into hiding. The goods were confiscated by the Germans, who kept detailed records of them. It should be borne in mind that precious items may have been stolen by neighbours, police officers or German officials. There are no inventories of these items. In addition, many Jews gave some of their possessions to others for safe keeping during the war. So in many cases the lists do not give a full picture of a family’s property.
The inventories have been copied from ‘M claims’ – claims submitted by surviving relatives after the war for compensation for looted property. These forms are kept in the ‘Jokos files’. Anyone wishing to inspect a Jokos file should apply to the foundation Joods Maatschappelijk Werk. You can download an application form here.