Today, 76 years ago, thousands of European Roma and Sinti are murdered in Auschwitz. At that time, about forty Roma and Sinti were living in Amsterdam. 22 of them are arrested by the occupying forces, but they escape death by means of a benevolent agent.
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“People have lived here who went along with the gypsy transport and were murdered in Auschwitz on August 2, 1944,” says historian Angelique van der Pol when she is standing in front of a house in the Zanddwarsstraat in the center.
Van der Pol researched Roma and Sinti and came across the Steinbach family, who lived in Amsterdam. It concerns the family of the Limburg Settela Steinbach, the girl with the headscarf that became known through the Westerbork documentary by Rudolf Breslauer.
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Settela Steinbach
Her family lived here in Amsterdam on this street. Her great-uncle, for example, with his children. So Settela’s cousins lived here in Amsterdam, worked here and performed here. Until well into 1944. “
Settela herself is murdered on August 2. Things are going better for 22 Roma and Sinti in Amsterdam, including Settela’s grandmother. And all because of the Amsterdam agent Jaap Knol, who they encounter at the police station after they have been arrested.
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“The story goes that the group is said: shave your beard and sideburns, blond your hair and you are not talking about anything anymore”
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“Those 22 people who were brought there,” says Van der Pol. ‘Jaap Knol came there and he actually collected testimonials from catering establishments here in Amsterdam that the Steinbachs, Rosenbergs and some others were indispensable people for Amsterdam’s nightlife. And with those statements, he eventually got them out. “
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Wikimedia Commons
Knol, who also plays for Ajax 1 and competes as a javelin thrower at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, ensures that the Roma and Sinti stay at the police station for as long as they miss the train to Westerbork.
“Those people were deliberately released on May 20. Then the train to Westerbork had already left. Because it left on May 19. That’s also when Settela looks into the camera. The story goes that the group is told: shave off your beard and sideburns, blond your hair and you’re not talking about anything. “
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‘It is part of our Amsterdam history. Those people walked around here, were arrested here ‘
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“In my opinion, much more can be known about the person Jaap Knol,” continues Van der Pol. ‘I have been in contact with the van Knol family since yesterday. They told me that he told a lot about the war, but they didn’t know this either. “
More attention for Tuber, therefore, if it is up to Van der Pol. According to Angelique, the killed Roma and Sinti also deserve more attention than they now receive. ‘Precisely because it receives very little attention, while it is also simply part of our Amsterdam history, our collective history and our war history.
She continues: “Those people have been walking around here, those people have been arrested here. Coincidentally, these people survived. But people who have lived here on the corner or have lived in Den Bosch have not survived. I think it is worth it that those stories are also known. “
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