Venestraat 6

With these stumbling blocks we commemorate Max Holländer and his wife Meta Holländer-Katz. Max and Meta married in 1908. They were 70 and 75 years old, respectively, when they died in Sobibor on May 14, 1943. The couple remained childless. **

Max and Meta were originally German. In Bielefeld, Germany, Max held a high position in the department store S Alsberg & Co. This company was owned by his Jewish brother-in-law Benno Katz. Max lost his job when the Nazi regime proceeded to expropriate (aryanization) companies owned by Jewish owners.

Max and Meta lived in a distinguished house in Bielefeld. In Zwolle, where they probably arrived somewhat destitute in 1939, they depended on others. Deprived of their German nationality and independence, they first lived with family. In May 1941 they eventually rented rooms from the ladies Wolff, who ran a guest house in Venestraat 6.

All Stumbling Stones tell a story. Sometimes history leaves many stories, sometimes it doesn't. We know little about Max and Meta. They had no children. They did raise their parentless nephew Heinz Liepmann (1905-1966). Heinz and Max seemingly didn't get along well. Heinz dropped out after three years and left his uncle and aunt in 1921 at the age of 16. Heinz Liepmann has become a well-known (play) writer. During the war, he lived in the United States.

Max and Meta were among the last group of Jews to be deported from Zwolle. On April 9, 1943 they were taken to the Vught concentration camp. Exactly a month later, on May 9, they arrive at the Westerbork transit camp. On Tuesday 11 May, they will be transported to the Sobibor extermination camp, where they will be sent directly to the gas chamber after a three-day train journey.

P. Riemersma, The Stumbling Stones in Venestraat and Derk Buismanstraat (Zwolle 2015) p. 15-17.

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