Straelenlaan 31

Benjamin Blankenstein was born on February 20, 1914 in Hilversum as the oldest of four children and grew up in Hollandse Rading. His family belonged to the Gereformeerde Bondskerk (Church of the Reformed), from which sprang his unshakable faith that provided him with guidance and guidance in his life. After completing high school, he chose the teaching profession and completed the teacher training course. After his first school in Groenekan, he was appointed in Soest in 1938 as Master of the fifth grade Primary School. On May 24, 1939 he married Maria Suzanna van Klingeren from Lage Vuursche and they went to Soest together to live in this house.

The oldest daughter Fieke was born on September 10, 1940, and on November 29, 1943 daughter Betty was born. World War II had already been going on for a long time and with it the regime of the horrible Nazi terror, also in the Netherlands.

Since Hitler's seizure of power, many Jews had already fled to the Netherlands to emigrate from there to Palestine or America, if possible. After Kristallnacht in 1938, their numbers increased significantly. In any case, it was no longer possible to leave the Netherlands once it was occupied by the Germans. The Bernstein family from Hilden near Düsseldorf also belonged to the refugees who had come no further than Holland. They went to Soest where Rolf Bernstein ended up in the fifth grade of Master Blankenstein. When it subsequently became necessary in Holland for the Jews to go into hiding in order to prevent deportation and not to be locked up in one of the camps, the Master was asked for help for his student's family. It became too dangerous at the bakery where they had been hiding until then. A difficult situation and a difficult, tough decision especially for a young family with first one and later two small children.

For Ben Blankenstein and his wife Marie, it was a decision of deep faith and great confidence: They hid the Bernstein family in the attic and shared not only the already tight food with these three people, but also their time, their lives.

Not only the Sinterklaas poems that remain, but also memories of Marie Blankenstein passed on to us by her daughter Thea, bear witness to the mutual loving interaction between the two families. This included, for example, joint games when the Bernstein family could leave the attic at night when the curtains were closed, and that they were happy with the drawing, painting and carving of Henry and Rolf Bernstein. Likewise, Ben Blankenstein also helped Rolf to develop through a written MULO course for which Ben Blankenstein applied under his own name. The lessons learned were sent for correction, and after return he discussed the errors and progress with the young Rolf. The last lesson is from June 2, 1944. However, it could no longer be sent for correction because both Ben Blankenstein and the Bernstein family were already arrested on June 5. They had been betrayed by a Dutch woman from Soest. The arrested arrived in Amersfoort camp from where they were brought to Amsterdam for interrogation the same day by train. The Bernstein family was then taken to Camp Westerbork and then to Theresienstadt Camp, from where Henry and Rolf Bernstein were taken to Auschwitz to be gassed. Maddi Bernstein survived Theresienstadt, returned to Soest and emigrated to the United States in 1947.

Ben Blankenstein was interrogated several times in Amsterdam because he was a member of the LO, the national organization for help to people in hiding, and they tried to get names of other LO members under pressure. However, he remained steadfast under it and insisted on not knowing any names, after all, he was believed. He was detained in Amsterdam for a month, then spent two months in concentration camp Vught until that camp was closed because the Allies were advancing from the south. During this time, Ben Blankenstein regularly wrote to his wife Marie to reassure her, saying that he was doing well and that he would be home soon. But his clandestine notes, arriving by detours, spoke a different language. However, Ben Blankenstein's agony was not yet over. In early September 1944, he was transported to Sachsenhausen where he had to do forced labor. Due to a continuous food shortage, he became completely exhausted there and ended up in a hospital in December. On February 4, 1945, he was taken to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. There he died on February 24, 1945 of exhaustion and dysentery. He was just 31 years old and his youngest daughter Thea was born 9 days earlier.

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