Barend Scheffer was born at 8 Nieuwe Grachtje in Amsterdam as the sixth child of Salomon Scheffer and Rosetta Victoria Levitus. After his father died in 1930, he was sent to the Jewish boys' orphanage at 21 Amstel in Amsterdam. At age 16 he became a warehouse clerk and moved back in with his mother at 37 Hofmeyrstraat, fourth floor, in Amsterdam.
Barend Scheffer married Esther Appel, daughter of Barend Appel and Maria Crost, on 20 July 1942. Esther started out as a kitchen maid and later became a childcare worker. After they married the couple lived at 52 Nieuwe Prinsengracht in Amsterdam.
Soon after their marriage, Barend Scheffer was summoned to a Jewish labour camp, from where he was transferred to Camp Ellecom, a training camp for the Dutch SS. On 21 November he was transferred to Westerbork. He had been tortured so badly at Ellecom, that he was hospitalized at Westerbork. Following his discharge, he joined the Ordedienst (OD) at Camp Westerbork.
Esther Scheffer-Appel was caught in a raid on 17 April 1943 and transported to Westerbork via the Hollandsche Schouwburg. She was deported from there with her husband via Theresienstadt to Bergen-Belsen.
Copies remain of the birth certificate of Barend Scheffer and of the marriage certificate of Barend Scheffer and Esther Appel.
Joods Historisch Museum, Documentenverzameling, inv.nr 10289, ordner II
Biography