Lange Tiendeweg 54

In front of the building at 54 Lange Tiendeweg you will find a remarkable stumbling block (also called Stolpersteine). It contains the name of a girl and a date of birth and death: Edith Roseij Beek, 1934 - 1943. She was nine years old when she was murdered in Auschwitz. A book about her short life will soon be published, written by family member Paul Beek. “When I found out about her story, I immediately wanted to know more,” explains Paul. "It was mainly the loneliness of her story that moved me so much."

Edith Beek, father Arnold, mother Clara and brother Johan came to live in Gouda at the beginning of the Second World War. Her father was a renowned general practitioner with a practice on the Lange Tiendeweg. “When increasingly strict rules were introduced for Jews, the family went into hiding separately from each other,” says Paul. Father and mother went into hiding in Friesland, Johan hid in the Veluwe and Edith went into hiding with A.G. Gunther. He was a pastor of the Remonstrant church in Zwammerdam.

The girl stayed in Zwammerdam for almost a year, but was betrayed and - after a short stay in an orphanage in The Hague - brought to Westerbork. Not long after, nine-year-old Edith is deported all alone to Auschwitz and gassed there immediately upon arrival. Her family survived the war.

“Her father Arnold - like Otto Frank - tried to find his daughter after the war,” explains Paul. "But it was not until after the trial of her traitors in 1948 that Arnold found out about her fate."

Paul Beek has been researching his family tree for over ten years and especially his father's branch - the Jewish branch - intrigues him. “More than 120 Beek family members were murdered in the war. Unbelievably many. I have written about some of my relatives on War Stories.com. A Jewish saying goes: as long as people are talked about, they are not really dead. That's why I wanted to write down Edith's sad story. ”

The book about his niece is a documentation of her life. “I have described everything I know about her,” he says. Includes photos, documents, articles and witness statements. I had a lot of help with this from the Red Cross and Central Holland Regional Archives. As a surviving relative, I also have access to the National Archives in The Hague. I checked the files of police officers involved who were stationed in Zwammerdam at the time and I was able to find her story completely. ”

Paul has been researching his family for so long that he knows where to look. "Unfortunately, there is no one left alive from this family or anyone who was involved with them."

"The sad life of Edith Roseij Beek" will be published by Boekscout on 6 November.

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