The Gobes-Elkan family
The SS Towa, a cargo ship flying the Dutch flag, was travelling in a convoy from Canada to England with a cargo of grain on board when, on 11 December 1940, it was struck amidships by a torpedo fired from the German submarine U-96, north-west of Scotland.
The crew of the Towa managed to launch three lifeboats whilst the ship was sinking. Tragically, one of the lifeboats capsized and the eighteen crew members seeking safety in it drowned. The cold December sea left them no chance of survival.
You will not find a Stolperstein for Michaël Gobes, one of the victims, in the street. However, we have created a virtual Stolperstein for him in this app. The reason for this is simple. According to the criteria of the Gunter Demnig project, he is indeed a victim of Nazi terror. He had left with his brother when the war broke out to join the army and was no longer officially resident at the address in Deurne. However, this is a requirement under the Antwerp regulations governing the placement of Stolpersteine in public spaces. And so we were not permitted to place a Stolperstein for him. The fact that he was killed by a German torpedo whilst on a ship delivering much-needed supplies to the besieged United Kingdom, and the fact that he was of Jewish origin, led us to decide that he did indeed deserve a Stolperstein.
Michaël Gobes was the eldest son of Aaron Gobes and Sara Elkan. His parents were Dutch Jews who had come to live in Deurne shortly before this tragic event.
Aaron’s parents, Michel Gobes and Esperance Kogel, emigrated from Amsterdam to Antwerp with their four children in 1892. Michel was a diamond cutter and, like many other Dutch diamond cutters, he saw his future in Antwerp. In 1914, at the outbreak of the First World War, the family returned to the neutral Netherlands. Michel and Esperance returned to Antwerp in 1919 with their two sons, Louis and Aaron.
Semmie Elkan, born in the United States, and Clara Blitz were married in Zaandam. Shortly after the birth of their eldest daughter, Sara, in 1895, Semmie moved to Antwerp. Once he had found a place to live and a job, his wife followed him, with the baby in her arms.
After the First World War, in 1920, Aaron and Sara were married in Borgerhout. Michaël was born in 1921, followed by Sylvain in 1924. Clara Blitz died in Berchem in June 1939, just shy of her 69th birthday. In the spring of 1940, Aaron and Sara moved to 14 Ravelsbergstraat in Deurne, and the widower Semmie came to live with them.
Aaron and Sara were arrested during the police raid on 28 August 1942 and taken to the Dossin barracks the following day. They were placed on the list for Transport VIII.
That convoy departed on 8 September and arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau on 10 September.
Were they murdered there shortly after their arrival, or were they first forced to carry out hard labour for a time in factories in the vicinity of the camp? This remains unknown.
From the moment the deportation train departed, all trace of them was lost. When the extermination camp was cleared, the Nazis destroyed much of the evidence of their crimes. In the remaining parts of the archive, there is no record of them.
Semmie was later deported on Transport XII. That convoy left Dossin on 10 October and arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau two days later. Semmie was 74 years old and had no chance of survival. Upon his arrival at Birkenau, he was killed immediately.
The youngest son, Sylvain ‘Van’ Gobes, served in the US Army during the war, fought in the Battle of the Ardennes in December ’44–January ’45, and subsequently studied at Ursinus College in Pennsylvania. He died at the age of ninety.
