Sippora Barend, usually named Sientje, the fourth child of Salomon Barend and Lena IJzerkoper, was born on 6 September 1895 in Amsterdam. She married her cousin Joseph IJzerkoper, shoemaker by profession and a son of Samson IJzerkoper and Grietje Carels. He was known as Jopie. The couple had two daughters, namely in 1923 Margaretha and in 1926 Lena. Both the parants and children were killed during the Shoah.
After their marriage, Sippora and Joseph (Sientje and Jopie) moved into a house at Veeteeltstraat 55 in Betondorp in Amsterdam-East, where both their daughters were born. Until their deportation, the IJzerkoper family always resided there.
Joseph IJzerkoper was a shoemaker. Jewish tradespeople, such as bakers, hairdressersx, butchers, fishmongers, grocers etc, were given a special “exemption” (Sperre), so that the Jewish population could continue using Jewish retailers. For example, on the registration card of the Jewish Council of Joseph IJzerkoper appears the note “LOK.A” (Joods Lokaal A – Jewish trade A), which means that Joseph IJzerkoper, as a shoemaker was temporaily exempted from mandatory employment in Germany.
Nevertheless, Joseph IJzerkoper ended up in Westerbork in October 1942; he had received a call to report to Westerbork before 14 October 1942. From that moment on, attempts were made again to be exempted from deportation and/or employment in Germany. Some notes on his registration card reads: “Daughter under 16 is exempted for Wehrmacht. Man has Jewish trade and was only for a few days in a State Labor Camp, reason why the well known argument does not apply to him (7/11)”. However, which argument was meant is unknown. At the otherhand, another note shows that from 11 November 1942 onwards “all this is pending”.
Correspondence follows, showing among others that his letter of 20 November 1942, in which he demands “immediate sending ot all his diplomas, which are wrapped in a piece of a newspaper and could be found in the bottom drawer of his desk, and the I.D. of Lena” returned to sender as “undeliverable” with a note “addressee also taken”. Also a telegram doesn’t arrive at the location of destination “as there is no longer a recipient in Amsterdam”.
Daughter Margaretha appeared to be exempted from deportation because of her job at the General Service Department of the Jewish Council as a canteen servant. She was in possession of an official exemption. According notes on the registration card of Joseph IJzerkoper, her sister Lena would be exempted for the Wehrmacht, but for that no evidence was further found.
Sippora IJzerkoper-Barend and her two daughters Margaretha and Lena were taken from home in the night of 21/22 November 1942 and transported to Westerbork. Sippora’s husband Joseph IJzerkoper stayed there already from 14 October. As a complete family, they were all put on transport to Auschwitz on 30 November 1942, the transport which contained also 367 Jewish employees of the Hollandia Kattenburg clothing factory.
The transport however made a stop at Kozel, located about 80 km west from Auschwitz. There, 170 boys and men between 15 and 50 years of age were forced to leave the train and were employed as forced labourers in the surrounding satellite camps of Auschwitz. Those, who remained in the train were transported onwards to Auschwitz, among them Sippora IJzerkoper-Barend and her two daughters; they were immediately killed there on arrival on 3 December 1942.
Most likely, Joseph IJzerkoper belonged to the group of 170 men who had to leave the train in Kozel. It is not known exactly where he ended up and where and when he lost his life. Therefore, after the war, the Dutch Authorities established his place and date of death and ordered the City of Amsterdam to draw op a certificate of death with location and date of death for Joseph IJzerkoper as on 31 March 1944 in Mid Europe.
Sources include Amsterdam City Archives, family registration card and archive card of Joseph IJzerkoper, archive card of Sippora Barend; website wiewaswie.nl/wedding Lena IJzerkoper to Salomon Barend and of Samson IJzerkoper to Grietje Carels; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Joseph IJzerkoper, Sippora IJzerkoper-Barend and Margaretha and Lena IJzerkoper; Wikipedia list of Jewish Transports from the Netherlands and the death certificate of Joseph IJzerkoper, reg.A94-fol.51v-cert.nr.298 made oud 15 February 1952 in Amsterdam.