The Jewish Koopmans family lived at Emmastraat 25 in Lochem, where Nathan Koopmans and Hendrika “Rika” Herschel ran a small textile and haberdashery shop. They had six children: Mozes Maurits, Nico, Carolina, Bertus, Ari and Bertha. During the Nazi occupation the family was persecuted, their home and shop were confiscated, and most family members were deported. Bertus was arrested in 1941 and murdered in Mauthausen. Mozes Maurits, Nico and Ari were deported via Westerbork to Auschwitz and murdered there in 1943. Rika was deported via Vught and Westerbork to Sobibor, where she was murdered on 28 May 1943. Nathan died in Lochem in January 1943. Carolina and Bertha survived the war.
