Leonard Schrijver werd op 12 februari 1893 geboren in Amsterdam als zoon van Hijman Schrijver en Louise Barends. Het Joodse gezin bestond uit vijf kinderen, drie jongens en twee meisjes.
Leo was de tweede zoon. Anders dan zijn vader, grootvader en overgrootvader werd hij geen diamantslijper. Zijn oudere broer David was eveneens ver van de stam gevallen, want arts geworden. Leo wist het nog niet zo goed. Hij staat eerst te boek als kantoorbediende bij een effectenkantoor (waarschijnlijk in de buurt van zijn oom Louis Schrijver (geb. 1881) en diens schoonvader Jacob Krijn), later als ‘koopman’. Hij woonde in die hoedanigheid enkele jaren in Shanghai, waar hij voor Shell werkte. Over zijn opleiding is weinig bekend, maar hij was goed ontwikkeld, las filosofische boeken en schreef wel eens wat. Twaalf beroepen, dertien ongelukken, altijd financiële zorgen. Musicus (violist/cellist) was de rode draad in zijn beroepsleven, maar hij kon daar niet altijd van rondkomen; hij schreef ook wel eens een artikel voor de krant (De Waarheid?). Soms werd hij door zijn familie wat geholpen.
Wij vinden hem als musicus terug in Berlijn, waar hij het geluk ging zoeken dat hij in zijn vaderland niet zo vond. Hij speelde in een vioolkwintet, voor weinig geld. Aan het eind van het verblijf daar ging het wat beter, maar toen ging de joodse samenstelling van het ensemble tegenwerken. Ze moesten stoppen. De tijd zat niet mee. Het was toen namelijk begin 1933. Samen met zijn neef Frans (mijn vader), arts. die daar was voor wetenschappelijk onderzoek, beleefden ze bange momenten temidden van de bruinhemden die de straat onveilig maakten voor joden.
De dochters van David en zijn vrouw Selina, de enige nakomelingen in de tak van Hijman, vonden hem een leuke oom “die, als hij ons in Apeldoorn bezocht, kleine speelgoedjes of lekkers voor ons meebracht. Het bezoek liep altijd uit op samen muziek maken met mijn ouders”.
Toen Duitsland hem te heet onder de voeten werd, vestigde Leo zich weer in Amsterdam, waar hij een groot aantal kamers op verschillende adressen versleet. De laatste tijd mede om zijn belagers te ontvluchten. Zijn laatste adres was Van Woustraat 127.
Evenals zijn oudste broer, de psychiater David, was Leo idealist, al vond hij waarschijnlijk pas na zijn 40e (1933) zijn roeping. Diepgravender indrukken over zijn karakter staan in de Engelstalige beschouwingen van zijn schoonzuster Selina aan het eind van dit In memoriam.
Volgens informatie van Davids dochter Judith (geb. 1924), noemde David zich liever 'Marxist' en Leo zou dan eerder communist zijn. David was op het nippertje in het voorjaar van 1940 met vrouw en dochters via Frankrijk naar Amerika ontkomen, Leo volgde hem niet. Het was sowieso te laat en Leo had er de middelen niet voor (die werden hem overigens door zijn broer en schoonzus aangeboden), maar de echte reden was dat hij als vrijgezel en communist de plicht voelde de Nazi's metterdaad te bestrijden.
Zijn lievelingszuster Nan (geb. 1900) was verpleegster, die voor de oorlog in Engeland had gewoond. Zij was toen ze nog in de Corn. Krusemanstraat 27/5 te Amsterdam woonde voor Leo contactpersoon vanuit zijn gevangenschap. Op tijd dook zij onder in Friesland. In de oorlog verzorgde zij o.m. Engelse piloten. Zij heeft na de oorlog nog lang in Amsterdam-West gewoond.
Leo’s tweede zuster Julia (geb. 1902) werd in 1918 slachtoffer van de Spaanse griep, waaraan zij een geestelijke aandoening overhield. Zij was in een inrichting opgenomen, waar haar eerder genoemde neef Frans, die als arts in Woerden woonde, haar weghaalde, omdat ze daar niet veilig was. Ondergebracht in Oudewater, overleefde ze de oorlog toch niet. Ze overleed 29 juli 1944.
De jongste broer Johan (geboren 1908) was leraar Frans / vertaler, woonde ongehuwd in de Maasstraat te Amsterdam. Over hem en contacten met zijn 15 jaar oudere broer is weinig bekend. Hij is in Sobibor vermoord op 9 juli 1943.
Leo’s vader Hijman (geb. 1866) was al in 1912 overleden. Zijn moeder Louise (geb. 1871) woonde als weduwe in de Rivierenbuurt, is daar opgepakt en op 10 september 1942 in Auschwitz vermoord.
Leo had graag meer daadwerkelijk willen bijdragen aan het verzet, maar al ver voor het begin van de vijandelijkheden tussen het Duitse Rijk en de Sovjet-Unie eind juni 1941 wordt hij opgepakt en na enkele weken Huis van Bewaring omstreeks 1 juli naar Schoorl is getransporteerd. Zoals uit de geschiedenis bleek, was echter de kiem van het communistisch verzet mede door inspanningen van mensen als Leo gezaaid en kon niet meer worden onderdrukt. Dit kwam bijvoorbeeld tot uiting na de arrestatie van vrijwel de hele partijtop, toen het verzet daarna juist nog oplaaide. Na Schoorl wordt hij overgebracht naar het beruchte Kamp Amersfoort. Van daaruit wordt Leo op 28 maart 1942 wordt met nog 90 andere Nederlanders (waarvan 5 Joden, staat er expliciet bij) naar kamp Buchenwald gebracht, waar hij op 30 april 1942 wordt vermoord. Buchenwald was een concentratiekamp voor allerlei soorten gevangenen, waaronder veel politieke. Van de in totaal 250.000 gevangenen die hier gedurende de hele oorlog verbleven, zijn er 56.000 omgekomen. Geen reden om te verwachten dat Leo op 49-jarige leeftijd het niet had kunnen overleven. De veronderstelling van een niet-natuurlijke dood komt dus snel op.
Naspeuringen bij het NIOD (waarover hieronder een verslag, zoals na het onderzoek in maart 2018 aan de Amerikaanse familie overgebracht) maken duidelijk dat hij een leidinggevende functie had in de CPN (Sectieleider Amsterdam Zuid), dat hij eind juni 1941 met vele andere is geïnterneerd in Schoorl. Op 28 maart 1942 maakte hij deel uit van een transport van 90 gevangenen dat in Buchenwald aankwam. De lijst van Nederlandse overledenen in Buchenwald vermeldt hem zonder doodsoorzaak. Een brief van zijn zuster Nan aan de rest van de familie uit 1945 maakt melding van een bericht uit 1942, dat zij als meest directe familiecontact in 1942 van de Duitsers had ontvangen (“het vuile tuig” schreef ze), waarin stond dat Leo aan “Herzschwache” overleden zou zijn en op 2 mei 1942 was “verascht”.
Jan F. Schrijver, kleinzoon van een broer (Joachim) van Leo’s vader, Amsterdam, 28 maart 2018
(informatie ontleend aan Stadsarchief Amsterdam, NIOD, de brieven van Frans Schrijver uit Berlijn 1933 aan het thuisfront, brieven van zijn zus Nan aan de Amerikaanse familie David en Selina Schrijver-Hertzberger, aan een persoonlijke beschrijving van laatstgenoemde en aan herinneringen van hun dochter Judith Bellin, geb. 1924)
Some information about the fate of Leo Schrijver during WO II
The Netherlands Research Institute on War Documentation (NIOD) on Herengracht in Amsterdam had four records about Leo(nard) Schrijver, two in the database about Communists and two in the archive of Dutch prisoners in Buchenwald.
The communist archive is currently being digitalised, but they still had everything on microfilm. Quite a challenge to decipher.
- A German list (October 1941) containing functionaries of the Dutch Communist Party (CPN) that might be useful for reprisal measures. Here he is shown as CPN Section Leader Amsterdam South. Strangely enough the fact that he was Jewish is left out here. Obviously not his worst mischief. His location is described as Police Custody (Huis van Bewaring), but this must be mistaken (copied from another older source), because we have other more plausible information that locates him in a special camp in Schoorl.
- A complete list (27th of August 1941) of 501 Communists who had at some point been detained in a special camp in Schoorl (North Holland, North of Amsterdam near the sea). Here his last address is mentioned: Van Woustraat 127. And his profession Musiker (musician). There is another list dated June 26 of communists that were transported from Amsterdam to Schoorl, but this list is (very) incomplete and he cannot be found here, although he was probably on this list.
Background information:
The war between Germany and the Soviet Union started June 22nd 1941. Before that day, communists were prosecuted, but treated differently than after. I found a (of course German controlled) newspaper article of September 1941, about a trial of 22 communists who were sentenced to long imprisonment up to 17 years. It was explicitly added that these sanctions were not so harsh as they could have been (!), because their offences were committed before June 22nd. After that date similar participation on communist activities would be treated as ‘Preparation for High Treason’ and death penalty before a military tribunal would be appropriate (support of the enemy).
We do not know whether Leo was caught redhanded, taking part in communist propaganda activities, but most probably he was arrested merely because of his function in the CPN during a big raid in June where the Germans tried to decapitate the communist party of its entire leadership. In this they were very successful (see the list of 501), but remarkably the agitprop activity of communists did not stop during the summer of 1941. Contrary, it increased up to the end of August 1941. The Germans even feared an outburst, some kind of uproar, on the birthday of the beloved Queen Wilhelmina August 31 (who resided in London at the time). One of the Occupation-authorities Harster proposed to set an example to deter the communists and to send a group of 100 communist prisoners to a concentration camp. Buchenwald was named, later Sachsenhausen. This proposal was not approved in Berlin and Queen’s day passed relatively calm. The list of 100 is available, where Leo was not in. Another list of 103 CPN members in Schoorl mentions him.
The Schoorl camp was already in use before the war as refugee camp. The victims of the very first razzia’s of Jews (opportunity for the famous February strike 2-25-1941) were sent to Schoorl, because the later transit-camps of Westerbork and Vught were not yet ready. After the Jews the camp was reserved for communist prisoners. Schoorl was a residential camp. Compulsory labour was done on the road leading to the camp. People were not killed here. There is a book about this camp, but no specific information about individual inmates.
About the atmosphere in the camp I read a German report of August 4th 1941. It describes illegal activities that were hard to prove. Two leaders De Visser and Bork have tried to push their fellow inmates in their communist doctrine, whereas another one Seegers abstained from such activities. Another report of July 16th says that the mood in the camp during the first weeks of the fights on the Eastern front was very excited. Roads in the camp were named Stalinstreet and Louis de Visserstreet. But when Bolshevist successes kept away, the sentiments turned around.
At some point in 1941 Leo was brought over to the infamous camp Amersfoort, where he was detained for several months according to the letter of his sister Nan (dated 12 August 1945, now kept in NIOD).
Now the question has to be answered: when was Leo sent from Amersfoort to Buchenwald?
Therefore the archives about Dutch prisoners in Buchenwald give some information. One of the lists is about groups of prisoners that arrived from The Netherlands.
3. A list of Changes in K.L. Buchenwald (Konzentrazions Lager) dated march 28th 1942, shows Leo among 90 arriving ‘Niederländische Häftlinge, davon 5 Juden’ (Dutch prisoners of which 5 Jews). His Buchenwald prisoners number was 860. This a relatively early number, because Buchenwald was kept open during the whole war and counted more than 250.000 individuals, each with his own number.
# 860 Schrijver Leonard Jude Geb. 12-2-1893 Amsterdam Musiker
4. The list of Dutch prisoners who died in Buchenwald mentions Leonard on April 30th 1942, cause of death not specified (like most others) and the list mention as next of kin his sister Nanny Schrijver, Cornelis Krusemanstraat 21/5 Amsterdam
Background information
Buchenwald was a camp for all kinds of prisoners, mostly political opponents. This was not a Vernichtungslager (destruction camp). Yet Leo only survived for one month here. He must have been murdered, but we cannot tell how. More information about Buchenwald can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchenwald_concentration_camp
Description of Leo as a hero by his sister-in-law, dr. Selina Schrijver-Hertzberger
(additions by J.F. Schrijver)
Who was Leo? Where did he come from?
There was the contrast between his performance and his appearance: neither in his looks or in his behavior was there anything outstanding about him. No one could guess that he was of the stuff of which heroes are made.
Nothing in his background had prepared him for this. He grew up in a middle class family with the usual ideals of being well to do and law abiding, striving for a higher social status. His father had died bankrupt (1912). At that time he was still in his teens. Thereafter he had been fed and clothed in the home of spinster aunts without high ambitions (Sara, Eva, Elisabeth and Marianne). After graduation from school he was given a job in the business of an uncle stockbroker (Louis). He must have been one of the lower clerks and he must have realised that he was supposed to be thankful for what the family did for him.
Then a desire for independence came to the surface. He took advantage of the opportunity to become an office worker in China for a big oil cartel. Before leaving he had quietly paid from his meager salary the debts incurred by his parents to small storekeepers in the neighborhood.
In China he lived the life of the colonial master. There was no indication that he questioned the right of his people to be the masters there. He even came up with ideas of how to increase the profit of the big company (Shell).
As most people under there circumstances, he must have been lonesome. Some took to drinking, some committed suicide, all acquired the feeling of belonging tot the master-race among people they did not understand and which they regarded as inferior.
In some ways he differed from his fellow-employees: he tried to learn Chines and befriended his teacher, he studies music and when the occasion arose, he helped some poor woman, victim of one of the many floods.
To his native country he returned somewhat a dandy. In China he had been “Somebody”. Now for the first time he felt himself an independent man at home, accepted as an equal by those among whom he lived.
At his discharge he had received a small capital, such as the oil companies accumulated for their personnel. He decided to become a pupil of the famous music school of Leipzig. When he had spent the greater part of his money, he went to Berlin looking for work. It was around 1930. Economic depression was all around. Work was hard to get. Whatever was available was badly paid and temporary. At one occasion he even had to put on a uniform of the band in a lower class café. Once during sickness he had to ask for financial help. (The opportunity to share his room with his cousin Frans, who in 1933 came in Berlin for medical studies, offered a welcome bit of extra income. When finally his violin quartet became somewhat more successful, it had to stop, because its players were Jewish). The Nazis had taken over and he had to leave for Holland. That country too was in economic depression. For a time he provided for himself by giving language lessons.
After a while he found himself unemployed and without money. The family again saw him as the lowest member of their group. With amazement he realized that he was an outcast from society.
Unemployment compensation enabled him to stay alive. Thus he became acquainted with people living under the same circumstances. Here his education in economics and politics started. In the neighborhood of the unemployment office people engaged in discussions and he began to see the world from the side of the poor.
He met members of radical organizations. As most outsiders, who took no active part, he was critical of their work with an eager open eye for their shortcomings. Yet he was attracted to their ideas and their goal. He learned to acknowledge their achievements.
Soon he took the decisive step; he joined the organization for help to the anti-Nazi victims. He came in contact with those who risked their lives crossing the German border to assist the underground resistance movement. Spies infiltrated his organisation trying to destroy it. To unmask these spies was one of the many tasks that were his. Much work of the kind for which only trusted people were accepted was done by him.
His was an unpersonal life. He worked for those in danger. The goal was a better future, even if he would not see it.
He belonged to the underprivileged and he had accepted that condition as a fact of life and of life in general in the capitalistic system. No one ever heard him complain.
When the Nazis overran Holland, he was ready to do his part. By that time he had become a member of the Communist party. To him was assigned the task to do for the unemployed what in earlier times the unemployed had done for him: he would explain what it is that brings on poverty and that Nazism was a special form of capitalistic exploitation.
He knew that this would lead to imprisonment and death. “When they catch us”, he remarked, “they will give it to us double, once as Jews and once as Communists.”
When his friends admired his courage and esteemed his activities. he refused any praise with his well known modesty. His answer was: “Don’t forget that I am alone. Maybe if I had a family to take care of, it would be different.”
Especially active was he during the workers’ strike (Februaristaking). He welcomed help, but he did not depend on it. He did what had to be done without making demands on others.
Nothing was heard of him after his arrest - until the family was notified of his death by the authorities. What they had done to him can only be guessed.
He was a men who under ‘ordinary’ conditions would have given the impression that he was not different from the many. Circumstances brought his greatness to light. Before the catastrophe already he had always been ready to help others. But in no way did he give the impression of an outstanding personality. Indeed he did not have any special talents. He did not indulge in illusions, in wishful thinking or in selfdeceit. He tried to understand reality. His realism, however did not make him hard or cynical. He liked to play with children and to give them presents from the little he possessed. He was thoughtful and considerate in the little things that make all the difference in everyday life. Barely did he talk about himself and never did he ask anything for himself. Independence was the only thing he wanted. He was willing to give his best ti help others fight fir that same independence.
Probably he never received encouragement or thanks. He did not want or expect that. He was a modest man. In him there was no showing of, no self-dramatisation, no cry for help.
Where did it come from, his courage, his persistence despite adversity and perils? When the Nazi-horror was all around him, he could have gone in hiding, trying to save his skin. Instead he stood up and did his part, knowing that torture and death would follow.
Was he a Hero? Was he a great man?
Not by present day standards. Recognitions and fame did not come his way. If heroism means giving oneself up for something important, for a meaningful end, then he is one of the unsung heroes whose life is worth admiration and gratefulness.
It is proper that he should be remembered as one superior to most whose existence was an example of the better part of mankind.
Seline Schrijver-Hertzberger, psychiatrist
New York,
omstreeks 1960
