Heger-Leeuwarden family
Mathilde (Tilly) Heger-Leeuwarden (1881-1942) and Nathan Heger (1876-1942): A Life Marked by the Holocaust
Mathilde Leeuwarden was born in Delmenhorst (near Bremen, Germany) on January 2, 1881, She was the daughter of my great-great-grandparents: Levi Nathan Leeuwarden (1843-1904) and Rosette Polack (1846-1904). She was a sister of my great-grandmother Gretchen Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden (1877-1952).
This report outlines a biography of Mathilde (Tilly) Heger-Leeuwarden and her husband Nathan Heger, a couple whose lives tragically ended during the Holocaust. Based on available documents and additional information, their background, complex family ties, and the inevitable end of their lives in the Minsk ghetto are illuminated.
Family Ties and Background
Nathan Heinrich Heger was born on May 21, 1876, in Delmenhorst, Germany. His parents were Carl Heinrich Christian Heger (born November 7, 1835, in Stadthagen, died February 14, 1894, in Delmenhorst) and Mijntje Leeuwarden (born September 24, 1835, in Amsterdam, died November 9, 1880, in Delmenhorst). Nathan had an older brother, Wilhelm Diedrich Heger (born March 18, 1875, in Delmenhorst), who died on July 8, 1940, in Delmenhorst. Nathan was officially Jewish but was baptized as an Evangelical Christian. Due to his "Mosaic beliefs," he could not marry in a church, which initially prevented his children from being baptized as Christians; this happened only later. Nathan was considered a "Halbjude" (half-Jew) under Nazi law due to his ancestry. However, his marriage to Mathilde, a practicing Jew, made him a "Geltungsjude" (validity Jew) according to the Nuremberg Laws, meaning he was treated as a full Jew.
Nathan Heger was previously married to Minna Clara Heger-Thiele (born September 1, 1878, in Niederplanitz/Sa, died February 21, 1925, in Delmenhorst). From this marriage, three sons were born:
Nathan Heger and Mathilde Leeuwarden married on May 28, 1926, in Delmenhorst. From this marriage, they remained childless. Mathilde was a practicing member of the Jewish community, and both she and Nathan were members of the "Jüdische Gemeinde Delmenhorst." The family spent many summers at Villa Rosa on the island of Wangerooge, a house owned by Mathilde's sister Röschen Levy-Leeuwarden and her brother-in-law Moritz Levy. Photos from the summers of 1925 and 1926 show Mathilde and Nathan with other family members, including Rose Hugenholtz-Lehmkuhl and Julius.
Life under Nazi Persecution and the 'Abstammungsnachweise'
From the 1930s onwards, the situation for Jews in Germany drastically deteriorated. Nathan and Mathilde Heger were directly affected by anti-Jewish legislation and persecution.
Nazi ideology placed an obsessive emphasis on 'racial purity,' leading to the introduction of the Nuremberg Laws in 1935. These laws defined who qualified as 'Jew' or 'Mischling' (half-blood) and required 'Abstammungsnachweise' (proofs of ancestry) to determine one's 'Aryan' status. People were classified as 'Volljuden' (four or three Jewish grandparents), 'Halbjuden' (two Jewish grandparents), or 'Vierteljuden' (one Jewish grandparent). The status of 'Geltungsjude' was assigned to 'Halbjuden' who were married to a Jew or were members of the Jewish community. These classifications had far-reaching consequences for their rights, professional life, marriage, and ultimately their lives.
Nathan, a tailor by profession, made uniforms for the fire brigade, among other things, and was known as a respected man in Delmenhorst. He lived on School Street and Church Street. He had conflicts with the municipality over nuisances caused by unemployed people near his business on Kleine Kerststraße 9, which may already indicate growing anti-Jewish sentiments. Although Nathan was officially Jewish, he was not on the synagogue list where Mathilde was, possibly due to his marriage to a practicing Jew and his son Henry's high SS position.
A significant turning point in their lives was the expropriation of their home. Nathan and Mathilde had bought a house, which was later expropriated and sold for a small sum to Nazi sympathizers. This was a common pattern of theft of Jewish property during the Nazi regime. After their house was sold, Nathan and Mathilde reportedly lived 'hidden' and 'in miserable conditions' in an attic in Delmenhorst, with the landlord or his daughter occasionally providing them with food to prevent starvation.
Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden was known as well-read, poetic, and having strong family ties. In the 1939 census, she was registered as a Jew with four Jewish grandparents, or a 'Volljüdin'. Although persecution increased, Mathilde refused to flee. She considered it "illogical" to flee because she had received the Iron Cross, an award she believed would protect her. This highlights the extreme vulnerability and dependence in which Jews found themselves, and the misplaced hope some harbored based on past merits, which were completely ignored by Nazi legislation.
By the end of 1939, the number of Jews in Delmenhorst had fallen to just 21. The last Jews were forced to leave the city in April 1940 as part of the expulsion of Jews from the Oldenburg region and East Frisia. On April 4, 1940, Nathan and Mathilde Heger were deported to Bremen. There, they were first registered at Ostertorsteinweg 100 and from September 26, 1941, at Scharnhorststraße 121.
Deportation to Minsk and the Tragic End
The fate of Nathan and Mathilde Heger was sealed on November 17, 1941. Along with approximately 35 other individuals from Delmenhorst, and many others from Bremen, they were deported to Minsk. This occurred via a Gestapo-organized transport from Bremen, departing from Scharnhorststraße 121, the assembly point for Jews in the city.
Minsk (Belarus) was an important destination for Jewish transports before gas chambers were widely installed. The Minsk ghetto was one of the largest and most brutal ghettos in the occupied Soviet territory, characterized by inhumane conditions, hunger, extreme cold, disease, and constant fear. German Jews, including Nathan and Mathilde, were often housed in a separate part of the ghetto, known as 'Sonderghetto 1' or 'Ghetto Hamburg'. Conditions were terrible, with overcrowding, lack of hygiene, and insufficient food. The deportees were often forced into heavy labor, such as clearing rubble after bombings.
From November 1941 to October 1942, Germany deported over 35,000 Jews from the Reich to Belarus (Minsk Ghetto). Many of them had already been murdered in 1941. The 'General Kommissar' Kube reported on July 31, 1942: "In the city of Minsk, on July 28 and 29, 1942, 10,000 Jews were liquidated, including 6,500 Russian Jews, primarily from Vienna, Brno, Bremen, and Berlin, who had been sent to Minsk last November on the Führer's command."
Documents confirm that Nathan Heger (born 1876) and Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden (born 1881) were both deported to Minsk on November 18, 1941, and murdered there. Their date of death is generally assumed to be July 28, 1942, in Minsk. This means they likely fell victim to the large-scale 'Aktion' that took place in the Minsk ghetto at the end of July 1942, in which at least 9,000 Jews were murdered, including approximately 3,000 Jews from Central Europe. The victims were often shot on the spot or taken to execution sites such as Trostinez.
Contrasting Fates: Mathilde and Grietje Lehmkuhl
The tragic fate of Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden stands in stark contrast to that of her younger sister, Grietje (Gretchen) Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden (born November 17, 1877, in Delmenhorst). Grietje, who had moved to Klaaswaal in the Netherlands with her son Johann in 1934, was confronted with the Dutch registration ordinance for Jews in 1941. Initially, she was classified as a 'Volljüdin' with at least three Jewish grandparents and had to wear the Jewish star.
However, unlike in Germany, there was an option in the Netherlands to challenge racial classification. Grietje submitted a request for a review of her registration. The 'Rijksinspectie van de Bevolkingsregisters' (State Inspectorate of Population Registers) in The Hague decided on July 28, 1943, that Grietje should be registered as a 'qualifizierte Halbjudin G I' (mixed-race, first degree) with two Jewish grandparents. This meant she was no longer considered a 'Jew' and thus survived the Holocaust (she died in 1952 in the Netherlands).
This life-saving reclassification was partly due to the efforts of Hans Georg Calmeyer (1903-1972), a lawyer from Osnabrück who, as head of the department for racial doubt cases in the Netherlands, used his authority to save over 3,500 people from deportation and death. He interpreted the rules in an idiosyncratic way and allowed the manipulation of documents to classify people as 'Mischling'. Mathilde, in Germany, where the system was much more rigid, had no comparable chance to challenge her classification, and her fate was thus sealed. It is unknown whether Mathilde ever heard of Grietje's efforts and success.
Only a few of the estimated 90,000 Jews in Minsk survived the war. The information about Nathan and Mathilde is based on sources such as the "Gedenkbuch - Opfer der Verfolgung der Juden in Deutschland unter der Nationalsozialistische Gewaltherrschaft 1933-1945" from the Bundesarchiv and "Geschichte der Delmenhorster Juden 1695-1945" by Enno Meyer. Dr. Werner Meiners also published two articles about them in the OGF Jahrbuch 2010, titled "Familienforschung in Zeiten von „Abstammungsnachweis“ und „Judenkartei“," which extensively discuss the complex issues of racial classification and the fates of the Leeuwarden family.
The Stolpersteine in Bremen, in front of their last home on Scharnhorststraße 121, serve as a lasting reminder of their lives and their tragic end, and of the millions of other victims of the Holocaust. An attempt by the Volkshochschule Bremen to place a bronze plaque for "Bremen Jews" (including Nathan) in Minsk was forbidden by local authorities at the time.
The story of Mathilde and Nathan Heger is a poignant example of the profound impact of the Holocaust on individual lives and families, and the necessity of keeping the memory of these atrocities alive. The novel written by Rosita Steenbeek about the family contributes to keeping their story alive.
Several years ago Dr. Werners Meiners published published two articles in which they occur.
Meiners – Familienforschung in Zeiten von „Abstammungsnachweis“ und „Judenkartei“– GERMAN
Delmenhorster Zeitung 2011 GERMAN
This report outlines a biography of Mathilde (Tilly) Heger-Leeuwarden and her husband Nathan Heger, a couple whose lives tragically ended during the Holocaust. Based on available documents and additional information, their background, complex family ties, and the inevitable end of their lives in the Minsk ghetto are illuminated.
Family Ties and Background
Nathan Heinrich Heger was born on May 21, 1876, in Delmenhorst, Germany. His parents were Carl Heinrich Christian Heger (born November 7, 1835, in Stadthagen, died February 14, 1894, in Delmenhorst) and Mijntje Leeuwarden (born September 24, 1835, in Amsterdam, died November 9, 1880, in Delmenhorst). Nathan had an older brother, Wilhelm Diedrich Heger (born March 18, 1875, in Delmenhorst), who died on July 8, 1940, in Delmenhorst. Nathan was officially Jewish but was baptized as an Evangelical Christian. Due to his "Mosaic beliefs," he could not marry in a church, which initially prevented his children from being baptized as Christians; this happened only later. Nathan was considered a "Halbjude" (half-Jew) under Nazi law due to his ancestry. However, his marriage to Mathilde, a practicing Jew, made him a "Geltungsjude" (validity Jew) according to the Nuremberg Laws, meaning he was treated as a full Jew.
Nathan Heger was previously married to Minna Clara Heger-Thiele (born September 1, 1878, in Niederplanitz/Sa, died February 21, 1925, in Delmenhorst). From this marriage, three sons were born:
- Richard Karl Heinrich (Henry) Heger (1905-1937), born on February 21, 1905, in Bremen. Henry was an early and leading figure of the SS in Northwest Germany and an early member of the NSDAP. He signed various anti-Jewish measures. Around 1936, it was discovered that he was 25% Jewish (for the SS, 'pure' ancestry until 1750 was required!). He was demoted but for unknown reasons was not expelled from the SS. Henry died in 1937 due to an infection and was buried in Bremen with full SS honors. His death, on January 29, 1937, was a traumatic experience for his then 6-year-old son (Heinrich Heger), partly due to his mother blaming him for accidentally knocking over an infusion during his dying father's final moments.
- Friedrich Wilhelm (Willy) Heger (born 1907 in Delmenhorst). By profession, a "Schneider" (tailor). He emigrated on May 22, 1939, from Delmenhorst to Valparaíso, Chile. From Chile, he unsuccessfully tried to bring his father Nathan and stepmother Mathilde to Chile.
- Alfred Richard (Richard) Heger (1911-1979). Like Henry, he was disinherited. Richard was later expelled from officer training when his Jewish ancestry became known.
Nathan Heger and Mathilde Leeuwarden married on May 28, 1926, in Delmenhorst. From this marriage, they remained childless. Mathilde was a practicing member of the Jewish community, and both she and Nathan were members of the "Jüdische Gemeinde Delmenhorst." The family spent many summers at Villa Rosa on the island of Wangerooge, a house owned by Mathilde's sister Röschen Levy-Leeuwarden and her brother-in-law Moritz Levy. Photos from the summers of 1925 and 1926 show Mathilde and Nathan with other family members, including Rose Hugenholtz-Lehmkuhl and Julius.
Life under Nazi Persecution and the 'Abstammungsnachweise'
From the 1930s onwards, the situation for Jews in Germany drastically deteriorated. Nathan and Mathilde Heger were directly affected by anti-Jewish legislation and persecution.
Nazi ideology placed an obsessive emphasis on 'racial purity,' leading to the introduction of the Nuremberg Laws in 1935. These laws defined who qualified as 'Jew' or 'Mischling' (half-blood) and required 'Abstammungsnachweise' (proofs of ancestry) to determine one's 'Aryan' status. People were classified as 'Volljuden' (four or three Jewish grandparents), 'Halbjuden' (two Jewish grandparents), or 'Vierteljuden' (one Jewish grandparent). The status of 'Geltungsjude' was assigned to 'Halbjuden' who were married to a Jew or were members of the Jewish community. These classifications had far-reaching consequences for their rights, professional life, marriage, and ultimately their lives.
Nathan, a tailor by profession, made uniforms for the fire brigade, among other things, and was known as a respected man in Delmenhorst. He lived on School Street and Church Street. He had conflicts with the municipality over nuisances caused by unemployed people near his business on Kleine Kerststraße 9, which may already indicate growing anti-Jewish sentiments. Although Nathan was officially Jewish, he was not on the synagogue list where Mathilde was, possibly due to his marriage to a practicing Jew and his son Henry's high SS position.
A significant turning point in their lives was the expropriation of their home. Nathan and Mathilde had bought a house, which was later expropriated and sold for a small sum to Nazi sympathizers. This was a common pattern of theft of Jewish property during the Nazi regime. After their house was sold, Nathan and Mathilde reportedly lived 'hidden' and 'in miserable conditions' in an attic in Delmenhorst, with the landlord or his daughter occasionally providing them with food to prevent starvation.
Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden was known as well-read, poetic, and having strong family ties. In the 1939 census, she was registered as a Jew with four Jewish grandparents, or a 'Volljüdin'. Although persecution increased, Mathilde refused to flee. She considered it "illogical" to flee because she had received the Iron Cross, an award she believed would protect her. This highlights the extreme vulnerability and dependence in which Jews found themselves, and the misplaced hope some harbored based on past merits, which were completely ignored by Nazi legislation.
By the end of 1939, the number of Jews in Delmenhorst had fallen to just 21. The last Jews were forced to leave the city in April 1940 as part of the expulsion of Jews from the Oldenburg region and East Frisia. On April 4, 1940, Nathan and Mathilde Heger were deported to Bremen. There, they were first registered at Ostertorsteinweg 100 and from September 26, 1941, at Scharnhorststraße 121.
Deportation to Minsk and the Tragic End
The fate of Nathan and Mathilde Heger was sealed on November 17, 1941. Along with approximately 35 other individuals from Delmenhorst, and many others from Bremen, they were deported to Minsk. This occurred via a Gestapo-organized transport from Bremen, departing from Scharnhorststraße 121, the assembly point for Jews in the city.
Minsk (Belarus) was an important destination for Jewish transports before gas chambers were widely installed. The Minsk ghetto was one of the largest and most brutal ghettos in the occupied Soviet territory, characterized by inhumane conditions, hunger, extreme cold, disease, and constant fear. German Jews, including Nathan and Mathilde, were often housed in a separate part of the ghetto, known as 'Sonderghetto 1' or 'Ghetto Hamburg'. Conditions were terrible, with overcrowding, lack of hygiene, and insufficient food. The deportees were often forced into heavy labor, such as clearing rubble after bombings.
From November 1941 to October 1942, Germany deported over 35,000 Jews from the Reich to Belarus (Minsk Ghetto). Many of them had already been murdered in 1941. The 'General Kommissar' Kube reported on July 31, 1942: "In the city of Minsk, on July 28 and 29, 1942, 10,000 Jews were liquidated, including 6,500 Russian Jews, primarily from Vienna, Brno, Bremen, and Berlin, who had been sent to Minsk last November on the Führer's command."
Documents confirm that Nathan Heger (born 1876) and Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden (born 1881) were both deported to Minsk on November 18, 1941, and murdered there. Their date of death is generally assumed to be July 28, 1942, in Minsk. This means they likely fell victim to the large-scale 'Aktion' that took place in the Minsk ghetto at the end of July 1942, in which at least 9,000 Jews were murdered, including approximately 3,000 Jews from Central Europe. The victims were often shot on the spot or taken to execution sites such as Trostinez.
Contrasting Fates: Mathilde and Grietje Lehmkuhl
The tragic fate of Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden stands in stark contrast to that of her younger sister, Grietje (Gretchen) Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden (born November 17, 1877, in Delmenhorst). Grietje, who had moved to Klaaswaal in the Netherlands with her son Johann in 1934, was confronted with the Dutch registration ordinance for Jews in 1941. Initially, she was classified as a 'Volljüdin' with at least three Jewish grandparents and had to wear the Jewish star.
However, unlike in Germany, there was an option in the Netherlands to challenge racial classification. Grietje submitted a request for a review of her registration. The 'Rijksinspectie van de Bevolkingsregisters' (State Inspectorate of Population Registers) in The Hague decided on July 28, 1943, that Grietje should be registered as a 'qualifizierte Halbjudin G I' (mixed-race, first degree) with two Jewish grandparents. This meant she was no longer considered a 'Jew' and thus survived the Holocaust (she died in 1952 in the Netherlands).
This life-saving reclassification was partly due to the efforts of Hans Georg Calmeyer (1903-1972), a lawyer from Osnabrück who, as head of the department for racial doubt cases in the Netherlands, used his authority to save over 3,500 people from deportation and death. He interpreted the rules in an idiosyncratic way and allowed the manipulation of documents to classify people as 'Mischling'. Mathilde, in Germany, where the system was much more rigid, had no comparable chance to challenge her classification, and her fate was thus sealed. It is unknown whether Mathilde ever heard of Grietje's efforts and success.
Only a few of the estimated 90,000 Jews in Minsk survived the war. The information about Nathan and Mathilde is based on sources such as the "Gedenkbuch - Opfer der Verfolgung der Juden in Deutschland unter der Nationalsozialistische Gewaltherrschaft 1933-1945" from the Bundesarchiv and "Geschichte der Delmenhorster Juden 1695-1945" by Enno Meyer. Dr. Werner Meiners also published two articles about them in the OGF Jahrbuch 2010, titled "Familienforschung in Zeiten von „Abstammungsnachweis“ und „Judenkartei“," which extensively discuss the complex issues of racial classification and the fates of the Leeuwarden family.
The Stolpersteine in Bremen, in front of their last home on Scharnhorststraße 121, serve as a lasting reminder of their lives and their tragic end, and of the millions of other victims of the Holocaust. An attempt by the Volkshochschule Bremen to place a bronze plaque for "Bremen Jews" (including Nathan) in Minsk was forbidden by local authorities at the time.
The story of Mathilde and Nathan Heger is a poignant example of the profound impact of the Holocaust on individual lives and families, and the necessity of keeping the memory of these atrocities alive. The novel written by Rosita Steenbeek about the family contributes to keeping their story alive.
Several years ago Dr. Werners Meiners published published two articles in which they occur.
Meiners – Familienforschung in Zeiten von „Abstammungsnachweis“ und „Judenkartei“– GERMAN
Delmenhorster Zeitung 2011 GERMAN
Parents of Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden (my great-great-grandparents): Levi Nathan Leeuwarden (1843-1904) and Rossette Leeuwarden-Polack (1846-1900).
Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden (1881-1942)
Four sisters: Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden, Gretchen Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden, Lenchen Goldschmidt-Leeuwarden and Henny Willig-Leeuwarden.
Omstreeks 1915: Strandfoto genomen in Wangerooge. Rose Hugenholtz-Lehmkuhl met schep; 3e rechts voor Gretchen;
Julius Leeuwarden (1908-1981), son of Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden with his cousin and good friend Hans Lehmkuhl (1908-1992) . They spent many summers together.
Julius Leeuwarden (1908-1981), son of Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden. His father is unknown. Perhaps Nathan Heger (1876-1942) was his pre-marital illegimate father, but I simply don't know. Julius emigrated to Argentina in 1936. At athat time his cousin Johann Lehmkuhl alread fled to the Netherlands with his mother. They never were able to reconnect. His daughter conted me in 2023 after the family in Argentine found my website. Julius used the name Julio in Argentine.
Villa Rosa on the beautiful island of Wangerooge (Germany), owned by her sister Röschen Levy-Leeuwarden and brother in law Moritz Levy where the family spend a lot of summer holidays. The building (Zedeliusstraße 32) was demolished in the 1980's.
Winter 1926?: Oma Rose Hugenholtz-Lehmkuhl (midden met haar tante Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden (l) en moeder Gretchen (r)
oma Rose met haar tante Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden. Omstreeks 1920?
1925: Grandmother Rose Hugenholtz-Lehmkuhl and her cousins Willy Heger (who emigrated to Chile) and Julius Leeuwarden (who emigrated to Argentine).
Wangerooge, summer 1925: Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden (1881-1942)
Roschen Levy-Leeuwarden and her sister Mathilde (Tilly) Heger- Leeuwarden, Wangerooge 1925
Mina Clara Heger (1878-1925); first wife of Nathan Heger.
Julius Leeuwarden, Mathilde and Nathan Heger
Julius Leeuwarden, Mathilde and Nathan Heger (restored)
Hans Lehmkuhl, Henry Heger (in his very early SS-uniform), Mathilde/Tilly Heger-Leeuwarden, Gretchen Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden, Rose Hugenholtz-Lehmkuhl, Nathan Heger; around 1925/26
Reconstruction of the former synagogue in Delmenhorst circa 1928. Address: Cramerstraße 20A, Delmenhorst. The building was set on fire and gutted during the pogrom night (9–10 November 1938); in 1940 it was converted into a multi-family house (exterior walls and parts of the stairwells were preserved).
Cramerstraße 20A, Delmenhorst. The building was set on fire and gutted during the pogrom night (9–10 November 1938); it was converted into a multi-family house in 1940 (exterior walls and parts of the stairwells were preserved). This photo was taken in 2013.
Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden (1881-1942) and her husband Nathan Heger (1876-1942).
Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden (1881-1942)
Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden (1881-1942)
Willy, Mathilde and Nathan Heger, Delmenhorst, summer 1938.
Julius Leeuwarden (1908-1981) and his mother Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden.(restored)
Henry Heger (1905-1937), son of Nathan Heger.
Henry Heger (1905-1937), son of Nathan Heger
Delmenhorst 1935: “Jews enter Delmenhorst on their own risk”
Delmenhorst 1935: “Jews enter Delmenhorst on their own risk” (restored)
Family reunion with her sister and brother in law, probably around 1938: left to right: Nathan Heger, Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden, Rudolf Willig, Henny Willig Leeuwarden.
Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden (1881-1942) and her husband Nathan Heger (1876-1942).
Summer 1938: Visit of my great-grandmother to her sister Mathilde in Delmenhorst: Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden (1881-1942) her sister Gretchen Lehmkuhl-Leeuwarden (1877-1952), Nathan Heger (1876-1942).
Around 1938: Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden (1881-1942) and her husband Nathan Heger (1876-1942).
Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden (1881-1942)
Around 1938: Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden (1881-1942) and her son Julius Leeuwarden (1908-1981).
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Around 1938: Willy Heger, Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden (1881-1942) and her husband Nathan Heger (1876-1942).
Around 1938: Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden (1881-1942)
Around 1938: Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden (1881-1942) and her husband Nathan Heger (1876-1942).
Mathilde Heger-Leeuwarden (1881-1942)
Nathan Heger and his son Willy Heger, Delmenhorst, summer 1938. Willy moved to Valparaoiso (Chili) around 1939. He desperately tried to get Nathan and Mathilde over to Chili, but didn't succeed.
There home in the Scharnhorststraße 121 in Bremen, where they had to live, after being expelled from Delmenhorst. From there they were deported to Minsk (Belarus). Picture taken in 2011.
Stolpersteine in front of their last home on the Scharnhorststraße 121 in Bremen, from wich they were deported to Minsk and murdered in 1942.
My cousin Rosita Steenbeek has written a novel about our grandmother. The book is available in bookstores. A historical novel worth reading, regularly feature the rest of the family.
See my special page: “Rose” https://www.hugenholtz.net/rose/ This contains the hyperlinks of the persons who appear in the book and who have hteir own webpage.