Leentje De Metz. Collection

Leentje De Metz, born on 31 August 1916 in Rotterdam, was the mother of Yvonne Stollard. Together with her father Rudolph De Metz, Leentje De Metz arrived in Belgium in 1935, and they went into hiding on 15 July 1942. During the war they moved to different houses in and around Brussels. On 4 November 1942, Leentje De Metz was arrested and brought to Mechelen to the SS-Sammellager für Juden in the Dossin barracks. Due to “interventions”, Leentje De Metz was released a year later on 13 November 1943. The nature of these interventions is not clear. Her release is possibly linked to a bribe from her grandfather, or has something to do with an interference of the Association of Jews in Belgium and her placement in a Jewish kindergarten. Leentje De Metz ended up surviving the war and went to live in the United Kingdom. While she was still in hiding, Leentje De Metz stayed with her uncle and aunt a lot, Judith De Metz and her husband Isidor Leek. Judith De Metz, born 4 June 1889 in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, was able to survive the war. After the liberation she carried on living in Brussels. Her husband Isidor Leek was born on 16 August 1888 in Groningen and worked as a salesman. His brother Jacob Leek, born on 20 November 1889, also lived in Brussels. Both Jacob and Isidor were arrested and brought to the Dossin barracks on 19 June 1943, presumably they were stopped on the road and someone had noticed that their identity papers were fake. Both their names were written down on the Transport list of XXI but the name of Isidor was crossed out and someone added “deported on Transport XXII/348”. Jacob was deported without family to Auschwitz-Birkenau on 31 July 1943. Isidor Leek’s name was written down on a second Transport list, this time Transport XXIIA. This was done on 20 August 1943. Isidor Leek was deported without family to Auschwitz-Birkenau on 20 September 1943. Jacob and Isidor did not survive the deportation, but the circumstances, the moment and the place of their death are not known. Together with the release of Leentje De Metz, her cousin Greta/Grete/Greetje/Judicje Anna Drilsma, born on 6 March 1915 in Amsterdam, was also released from the Dossin barracks. She survived the war and went to live in the United States of America. One other cousin of Leentje De Metz was Johanna Van Der Karr – Leek, born on 15 Martch 1913 in Groningen. She was able to survive the war.

Yvonne Stollard, daughter of Leentje De Metz, kindly provided Kazerne Dossin with a digital copy of the three documents in this collection.

Yvonne Stollard, daughter of Leentje De Metz