Emanuel was born on 17 May 1909 in The Hague, the eldest of the three children of Andries Wijzenbeek and Eva Verveer. He lives with his wife Marietje and their two children in Eindhoven, where he works as a sales representative at Philips. At the time of the German occupation, his Dutch-Israeli origins put him at acute risk of persecution, but this did not stop Emanuel from helping fellow believers in hiding. For them, he arranges hiding addresses, false papers and voucher cards. For a long time, Emanuel managed to keep his underground activities secret, but in early January 1944, the Germans nevertheless tracked him down and arrested him in Eindhoven on 14 January. For interrogation, he is detained in Scheveningen prison, the “Oranjehotel”, after which he is transported via Camp Westerbork to Auschwitz. There he is killed on 15 May 1944, presumably in the gas chambers. Emanuel reached the age of 34. His wife (then pregnant with their third child) and children survived the war.
In the Eindhoven district of Acht, a street name was named after him, Maan Wijzenbeeklaan.
His (Catholic) wife was pregnant with a son when Emanuel Wijzenbeek was rounded up. Nine days after Emanuel's death, she gave birth to a son.
