Route of Commemorative Plaques
11. Pascalstraat 8
This was the home of JACOB SAMUEL WITSTEIN
Murdered in Auschwitz on 06/09/1944
Jacob Samuel Witstein was born in Dordrecht on 13 November 1879, the eldest child of Ezechiel Witstein and Hester Benedictus Berman. Another six children followed him, two boys and four girls. Father Ezechiel ran a gentlemen’s outfitter’s. In 1901, Jacob Samuel moved to Rotterdam. When the rest of the family moved to Rotterdam in 1904, he lived for a while in the parental home. In 1914, he moved to Arnhem and, according to the register in Rotterdam, was a salesman in butchery items. On 12 June 1915, he swapped Arnhem for Groningen. Around a month later, on 29 July 1915, Jacob Samuel married Alexandrina Elisabeth Chérie Drunet in Rotterdam; she was ten years his junior (born on 5 September 1889). The wedding would have been overshadowed by the death of Jacob Samuel’s sister Rosetta. She had died three months earlier, at the age of 32.
Jacob Samuel Witstein
Daughter Sonja Fortunette
Jacob and Alexandrina then went to live in Groningen, according to the advertisement in which they thank everyone for the support during their wedding. But they did not stay there long; in April 1917, they moved to Rotterdam where their daughter Sonja Fortunette was born on 22 May 1920. The family lived at Kruiskade 73a From Rotterdam, they moved to The Hague in 1926, where they lived for 12 years and where daughter Sonja went to grammar school. n 1938, they moved to Pascalstraat 8 in Amersfoort. Sonja graduated from grammar school here, in Amersfoort. According to the Amersfoort family map, Jacob Samuel was then a merchant in gentlemen’s clothing. Financially, he was doing well. With his wife and daughter, they were a close family.
Captured while in hiding
Then war broke out. From 30/10/1942, they were living at Uiterwaardenstraat 153 III in Amsterdam. They probably went into hiding at that time, in The Hague. After the war, Sonja said that she and her parents had been captured in The Hague in June 1944. All three were taken to Camp Westerbork. On 3 September 1944, they were deported to Auschwitz on the last transport. Upon arrival, on 6 September, Jacob Samuel and his wife Alexandrina were murdered.
As mentioned, one of Samuel Jacob’s sisters had already died in 1915. Out of all six children in the family of Jacob Samuel, only the youngest, Izaäk, survived the war. The others were all murdered in Auschwitz.
The bookcase at home
Daughter Sonja survived Auschwitz. She studied Dutch language and literature after the war. According to Sonja, her mother’s bookcase had played a role in developing her love of literature. In 1975, Sonja was made professor of Dutch literature in Leiden. She died on 11 July 1978, at the age of 58.
This was the home of ALEXANDRINA ELISABETH CHÉRIE WITSTEIN-DRUNET
Murdered in Auschwitz on 06/09/1944
Alexandrina Elisabeth Chérie Drunet was born in Arnhem on 5 September 1889. She was the daughter of Fortune Pierre Drunet and Heintje Pino. Her father was a Roman-catholic French wine merchant and her mother was Dutch and Jewish. Alexandrina had an older brother called Georges Henri. He was born on 3 February 1883 in Paris. That was five years before the marriage of his parents but, on the marriage certificate, it states that they both acknowledge him. The family then lived in Arnhem, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. On 29 January 1894, Alexandrina’s father died. He was 49 and Alexandrina was just four years old. Mother Heintje and the two children moved to Rotterdam.
Alexandrina Elisabeth Cherié Witstein Drunet
Close family
On 29 July 1915, at the age of 25, Alexandrina married Jacob Samuel Witstein who was ten years her senior. Jacob and Alexandrina then went to live in Groningen, according to the advertisement in which they thank everyone for the support during their wedding. But they did not stay there long; in April 1917, they moved to Rotterdam where their daughter Sonja Fortunette was born on 22 May 1920. The family lived at Kruiskade 73a From Rotterdam, they moved to The Hague in 1926, where they lived for 12 years and where daughter Sonja went to grammar school. In 1938, they moved to Pascalstraat 8 in Amersfoort. Sonja graduated from grammar school here, in Amersfoort. According to the Amersfoort family map, Alexandrina’s husband was a merchant in gentlemen’s’ clothing. Financially, they were doing well. They were an extremely close family and there was a profound connection between Alexandrina and daughter Sonja.
Hiding in The Hague
Then war broke out. From 30/10/1942, they were living at Uiterwaardenstraat 153 III in Amsterdam. They probably went into hiding at that time, in The Hague. After the war, Sonja said that she and her parents had been captured in The Hague in June 1944. All three were taken to Camp Westerbork. On 3 September 1944, they were deported to Auschwitz on the last transport. Upon arrival on 6 September, both Alexandrina and her husband Jacob Samuel were murdered.
Daughter Sonja Fortunette
Daughter Sonja survived Auschwitz. She studied Dutch language and literature after the war. According to Sonja, her mother’s bookcase had played a role in developing her love of literature. In 1975, Sonja was made professor of Dutch literature in Leiden. She died on 11 July 1978, at the age of 58.
Alexandrina’s brother
Alexandrina’s brother, his wife and two sons were all murdered in Auschwitz. Their daughter Henriette Johanna Drunet survived the war. In 1952, she relinquished her French nationality to be naturalised in the Netherlands.
