Kerkstraat 33

Blanca Batscha was born on January 26, 1895 in Holleschau (Moravia) in Austria (now Czech Republic), as daughter of Moritz Batscha (?-1915) and Hanni Adler (1860-1943). Blanca has a brother, Theodor, and a sister, Renee (1898-2002). Renee moves to America and survives the war. Theodor also manages to reach America in time and also survives the war. Blanca's mother, Hanni Batscha-Adler, continued to live in Holleschau during the war and eventually died in 1943 at the age of 82 in Theresienstadt concentration camp.

On August 15, 1920, Blanca Batscha married Heinrich Strauss, a yarn manufacturer 13 years his senior, who was born on September 26, 1881 in Borschitz (now Boršice in the Czech Republic). The couple remains childless.

Blanca and Heinrich Strauss apply for a visa for the United States in Vienna in June 1938. The circumstances in Vienna are such that Heinrich can no longer continue his yarn factory. Because they have still not been admitted to the United States, they decide to flee to the Netherlands. A report from the police in Voorburg states that "after the most recent anti-Semitic outbursts (probably the Reichskristallnacht), he (Heinrich), with his wife, fled for fear of personal injury."

The couple was taken by car from Cologne to a small municipality in the Netherlands by an unknown Dutchman, where they received a train ticket for the train to The Hague. On December 7, 1938 they reported to the Aliens Service in Voorburg. They are considered illegal aliens. They want to stay in the Netherlands pending the processing of their visa application for the United States. Blanca Strauss' sister and brother-in-law, Renée and Erwin Goldreich, are also staying in the Netherlands, pending a similar visa application. They do manage to reach the United States on time.

Heinrich Strauss is admitted to the refugee camp in Hoek van Holland on January 5, 1939. Probably because the authorities are of the opinion that he has insufficient means of support. According to the police report, he has at most a thousand guilders. Heinrich also stays for some time in the Zeeburgerdijk camp from which he was discharged on 31 July 1939. He is reunited with his wife Blanca, who has since lived at various private addresses in Voorburg and The Hague. According to Blanca's identity card, they have been living at 45 Van Faukenbergestraat in Voorburg since 13 October 1939. After September 1940, Jews with a non-Dutch nationality, such as the many refugees from Germany and Austria, but also those from Russia and Poland, are no longer allowed to live in coastal towns such as The Hague. Most of them leave for another place of residence in the Netherlands. So is the Strauss-Batscha couple. At the end of October 1940 they come to Oisterwijk. At first they move into accommodation at Burgemeester Canterslaan 5. They soon come into contact with the head teacher of the neutral Oisterwijk School Association, Jelle Menage, who takes the couple into his house at 3 Bremlaan in Oisterwijk. Jelle Menage also offers shelter to several Jewish refugees during the war.

On August 1, 1941 they move to Kerkstraat 33 (Wijk A 16). They had only been living there for two months when Heinrich died suddenly on October 16, 1941. He is buried in the Jewish cemetery on Hondsbergselaan in Oisterwijk.

After the death of her husband, a difficult time begins for Blanca. She receives support from the poor relief of the Jewish community of Tilburg.

On October 20, 1942, more than a year after the death of her husband, Blanca is arrested and on October 30 she is interned in camp Westerbork. More than two months later, on 11 January 1943, she and 750 fellow prisoners were transported to Auschwitz. When she arrived there, she was killed by the Nazis in the gas chamber on 14 January 1943 and then cremated. Blanca is then almost 48 years old.

After her arrest, the contents of her home are confiscated. According to the statement, this consists of clothing, laundry, a desk lamp and foodstuffs. All this with a total value of five guilders.

Blanca's sister and brother-in-law, Renée and Erwin Goldreich, try several times from the United States after the war to find out what happened to Blanca.
A friend from The Hague also inquires about her after the Second World War.
One of Renée's grandchildren, Blanca Batscha's sister, has a painted portrait of her. However, further stories about and memories of Blanca Batscha are unfortunately missing from the relatives.

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