Emanuel Leon Beek, who was born in den Helder on 24 February 1913, was a son of Leon Salomon Beek and Mietje Oudkerk. He was a butcher by profession. The population register of Den Helder also shows the composition of the family: Emanuel Leon had 5 brothers and sisters, namely: Willem Salomon Leon, born in 1908; Jogeva born 1909; Lea in 1911, who died however after 11 weeks; then there came again a Lea in 1915 and an Elsje in 1916.
The population register of Winterswijk showed that Emanuel Leon Beek arrived in Winterswijk from Den Helder on 26 February 1932, but left for Hilversum already on 21 May 1932. In the meantime, on 11 April 1932, he was examined there for the National Militia, where it was found that the glasses-wearing Emanuel was nearsighted.
He was considered most suitable for coastal artillery and for infantry. Despite that, Emanuel Leon was declared “Extraordinary Conscript”, which meant that although he had been approved for military service, he had a low qualification. This effectively amounted to an exemption and he would only be called up in exceptional circumstances.
On 5 July 1934, he married the non-Jewish Febina Oosthoff in Anna Paulowna, a daughter of the farm worker Wildrik Oosthoff and Deuwerke Bakker. Febina, who was born in Odoorn in 1914, worked as a maid. The Beek-Oosthoff couple had a daughter, named Mietje Febina Beek, who was born on 24 November 1934 in Den Helder.
However, the marriage did not last; On 3 September 1937, Febina Oosthoff moved with her daughter Mietje Febina to Westerbeekstraat 57 in Rotterdam and Emanuel Leon lived at Binnenhaven 110 in Den Helder from 1 September 1937. The marriage was finally dissolved by divorce on 18 February 1942 in Anna Paulowna.
Subsequently, it appears from the engagement advertisement that was placed in the Joodsche Weekblad on 20 February 1942, that Emanuel would get engaged to Heintje Cohen, usually known as Henny, on the 24th. Heintje was born on 23 April 1916 in Den Haag as the daughter of Joël Cohen and Floortje Cosman, but unfortunately, the marriage never happened.
From 20 October 1938, Emanuel Leon lived at Nieuwe Achtergracht 10 in Amsterdam. However, it is not known when and why he was arrested in 1942 but it is known that he ended up in Camp Amersfoort on 9 June 1942 with 26 other Jews from Amsterdam. From there he was deported to Auschwitz via Westerbork on 16 July 1942.
That transport included a total of 895 deportees, including 309 prisoners from Camp Amersfoort, including Emanuel Leon Beek. After arrival in Auschwitz on ± 18/19 July 1942, he was given prisoner number 47962 and put to work, but where is unknown.
The surviving administration in the Auschwitz archives also contains a document regarding block 20, the prisoner hospital in Auschwitz I, where “patients” with a contagious disease were admitted. This also applies to Emanuel Leon Beek. (However, he appears to have been incorrectly registered as Beck, Emanuel:Mandel). Unfortunately, it is not known when his “capture” took place and when he was murdered in Block 20.
After the war, when all of the above was still unknown, the Dutch Authorities determined, partly based on investigations by the Dutch Red Cross and testimonies from survivors, that Emanuel Leon Beek could no longer be alive after 30 September 1942. The municipality of Den Helder was then instructed by the Ministry of Justice to draw up a death certificate for him, which recorded that Emanuel Leon Beek died in Auschwitz on 30 September 1942.
Sources include the Den Helder Population Register/Leon Salomon Beek; website wiewaswie/population register Winterswijk/Emanuel Leon Beek; website wiewaswie/military/Emanuel Leon Beek; website wiewaswie.nl/marriage 1940 and divorce 1942 Beek x Oosthof; the Amsterdam City Archives, archive card Emanuel Leon Beek, the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Emanuel Leon Beek and Heintje Cohen; Administration Camp Amersfoort/dientsttagebuch 9 June 1942 arrival of 26 Jews from Amsterdam; website Museum & Memorial Auschwitz-Birkenau/Auschwitz Prisoners/Beck, Emanuel:Mandel (error: should be Beek, Emanuel Leon); Wikipedia website Jodentransporten vanuit Nederland.nl and the death certificate 196 for Emanuel Leon Beek dated 1 September 1950 drawn up in Den Helder.