Hoogstraat 109
Schiedam
Benjamin is a son of Meijer Bouman (1864-1912) & Sara van Dantzich (1864-1942)
He is named after his mother's father.
Benjamin Bouman opens his warehouse 't Lichtpunt at Hoogstraat 109 on October 18, 1924; he still lives in Rotterdam, with tailor F.J.A. Curtain in the Nieuwe Zaagmolenstraat. On February 23, 1925, he moved into the house above the store, at 109 Hoogstraat, together with his wife, since March 1, 1922, Catharina Louisa Coenders. That marriage ended on October 24, 1938, after which a daughter was born on January 29, 1939: Catharina Louise Tineke Bouman. Mrs. Bouman is a Catholic house and for that reason daughter Tineke is non-Jewish.
Benjamin Bouman's trade is very diverse: from lampshades from his own workshop to all kinds of electrical appliances such as stoves and irons, from bicycles to radio devices, and occasionally a collection of bread knives, pocket knives, screwdrivers and hammers in between. In the many advertisements in the (New) Schiedamsche Courant he sometimes uses the indication “Where the hood hangs” and that is very similar to that of a competitor: “Where that wheel turns”. During a storm in December 1929, the hood of the shop front blows off.
Benjamin Bouman or Warehouse 't Lichtpunt are regularly mentioned as donors of prizes, for a puzzle contest or a fishing competition. Or for yet another visitor to an exhibition. He often contributes, by making (sound) equipment available, to theater evenings of the middle-class association, to an exhibition to combat drinking (the Drankweer exhibition), the first radio evening of the Katholieke Kring (to go to a Mengelberg concert from the Concertgebouw) or at the annual bazaar of OBK (Oefening Baart Kunst). His “selfless contribution” is of course also a form of advertising. He also contributes to the evening of the Neighborhood Association TEGENO where attention is drawn to improving the Buntings. And he participates, with, among others, Radio Bob, in the light exhibition with Philips and also in the A.S.M.I.T. = the General Schiedamsche Middenstand- en Industrie Exhibition.
He is regularly thanked in the same breath with people like Jan Krabbendam from “Rosa” (for flowers), as Kramer Freher (when furniture is needed), as Hakkert (from the music store, when there is a need for an "ironing"). All well-known Schiedam figures!
Mr. Bouman shows great commitment to Hoogstraat and is seen as one of the initiators of a special shopping week, the Hokodama, in which retailers from Hoogstraat, Korte Dam and Grote Markt participate. As the chairman of the Hokodama, Mr A. van Duinhoven (known as 'Toontje Lef', councilor for the SDAP, writer in the daily newspaper Forward and owner of the socialist bookstore and publishing house at Hoogstraat 178), it dares to close Speaking about a shadow for about a week (he probably refers to a shortage of 19 guilders on the purchase of 1,200 guilders in prices for consumers), other shopkeepers and board members take up the position for Benjamin Bouman.
His existence as a shopkeeper has highlights (expansion of the store to Hoogstraat 107, opening of a branch at 12 Rubensplein, in the row at Corner House) but also lows. In the fire on March 6, 1935, the Hoogstraat 109 building was destroyed and several buildings next to it were damaged; opposite, the windows of pharmacist A. F. van Lissa are also killed by the heat.
Mrs. Bouman had already left town on the morning of March 6, and Mr. Bouman had rushed that evening after closing the store because he was going to go skittles in Rotterdam. It took a long time before the fire brigade responded: the alarm was broken and the first fire truck drove across the rescued furniture of the widow Zuidema. Then the director of the City cinema with the fire watch had already started extinguishing, with one hose from the cinema. Some young people from the NSB-Kringhuis on the Lange Haven have also helped extinguish for some time.
When Benjamin Bouman arrives at the fire, he is arrested as suspected of arson: after all, he is fully insured, left just before the fire and no one else happened to be home ?! He is released the next day.
The defect in the fire alarm has two tails. It sheds new light on the choice of the city council not to go along with a B&W proposal to start radio distribution and at the same time replace the fire detectors for the fire brigade and the police; apparently it was still necessary to replace the technical installation. But the second tail is much more striking: Benjamin Bouman himself proposes to the municipality to start a radio station with a large package of fire detectors and service telephones, to improve the fire brigade. He writes this proposal as an alternative to a plan of a combination of radio dealers from Schiedam, none of which reacts (positively). So then he leaves that combination and does it himself!
Al op 20 september 1935 wordt Magazijn ’t Lichtpunt op de Hoogstraat 109 heropend. In mei 1936 besluit de gemeenteraad om met de NV Schiedamsche Radio Centrale in zee te gaan, onder leiding van Bouman en engineer Leistra. In 1937 wordt de Hokodama-week nieuw leven ingeblazen, door Janssens Modemagazijn en Benjamin Bouman. Ook in 1938 wordt er een Hokodama-week gehouden.
De meest bizarre vermelding -in de Schiedamsche Courant- van Benjamin Bouman komt op 20 februari 1939 wanneer hij de eerste prijs wint op een bal masqué van de Rotterdamsche Kegel Bond, in the category “Typische Dames”, met zijn verkleding als heks…
Eind december 1940, maar ook van 1941, verschijnen er nog de gebruikelijke advertenties van Magazijn ’t Lichtpunt in de Schiedamsche Courant, met nieuwjaarswensen. Daarna komt ‘t Lichtpunt alleen nog voor in een announce op 12 januari 1943, dat er een net werkster wordt gezocht voor één dag per week, voor Van de Moezel die nu op Hoogstraat 109b woont, boven“ Het Lichtpunt ”.
De woning stond namelijk leeg: vanaf 26 november 1942 is Benjamin Bouman officieel van de radar verdwenen: de gemeente plaatst achter zijn naam VOW, Vertrokken Onbekend Waarheen. Vermoedelijk is hij ondergedoken maar het is onbekend waar. Indien hij als onderduiker is opgepakt, dan zou dat de reden kunnen zijn waarom hij op 2 december 1943 bij aankomst in Kamp Westerbork terecht komt in strafbarak 67 maar dat kan ook zijn omdat hij uit een gemengd huwelijk kwam.
Op 3 maart 1944 vertrekt Benjamin Bouman met transport 89 uit Kamp Westerbork. De trein telt 11 wagons, 732 Joden waaronder 94 kinderen. Ze komen aan, in Auschwitz-Birkenau, op 6 maart. Op “die Rampe” wordt geselecteerd: 179 mannen en 76 vrouwen worden toegelaten tot het kamp, 477 personen worden vergast. De dood van Benjamin Bouman wordt pas op 15 mei 1944 geregistreerd. Het is niet bekend hoe hij na iets meer dan twee maanden in Auschwitz-II om het leven komt: vergassing, uitputting, ziekte?
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