Drielsma-Wolf family. Collection

Hessel Drielsma was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on 10 November 1884 as the son of Meyer Drielsma and Jeanne Turksma. On 2 April 1914, Hessel married Josephine alias Fien Wolf in Heerlen, the Netherlands. Josephine had been born on 13 March 1889 in Urmond, the Netherlands. She was the youngest of Soesman Wolf and Sophia Hertz’s fifteen children. Hessel and Josephine would have three children of their own, all born in Heerlen: René on 20 December 1914, Sophia Jeanne on 31 March 1916 and Marschel alias Marcel on 10 July 1918. In July 1927 the Drielsma-Wolf family emigrated to Belgium. Josephine’s brother Emile Wolf and his family already lived there since 1912. The Drielsma-Wolf family settled at Avenue de l’Observatoire 57 in Liège. They were well-to-do as Hessel was an entrepreneur, but the family retained their Dutch citizenship. Eldest son René became a sales representative, while youngest son Marschel worked as a modeller for “The National” in Liège. Daughter Sophia married the non-Jewish Belgian Jean Reydams with whom she lived in Zwartberg, where Jean worked in the mining industry. On 20 November 1939 Sophia gave birth to a son named Robert Reydams. Being married to a non-Jewish Belgian, Sophia would be exempted from obeying the anti-Jewish decrees implemented during the war. Hessel and Josephine Drielsma-Wolf still lived in Liège when Nazi-Germany invaded Belgium on 10 May 1940. By that time eldest son René Drielsma had been drafted into the Dutch army, serving in the 13th infantry regiment. Upon the German invasion, youngest son Marschel was able cross into France by bike. He reached Bordeaux, where he embarked for the United Kingdom. During the remainder of the war, he served on a Dutch navy supply ship. On an unknown date, René Drielsma re-joined his parents Hessel and Josephine in Liège. Hessel, Josephine and René were forced to register in the municipal Jewish register of Liège at the end of that year. In March 1942 they became members of the Association of Jews in Belgium. By then, the family lived at Rue des Buissons 24 in Liège. In July 1942, René Drielsma married the non-Jewish Belgian Mariette Dieltiels. Around the time of René and Mariette’s wedding, Hessel and Josephine Drielsma-Wolf received an Arbeitseinsatzbefehl, a work order. The couple had to present themselves at the SS-Sammellager Mecheln (Dossin barracks) on 6 August 1942. Their son-in-law Jean Reycams reluctantly drove them there as Hessel and Josephine insisted they could keep their daughter and grandson safe by obeying the work order. Nonetheless, Sophia visited her parents at the camp to bring them bread until it became too dangerous. Hessel and Josephine Drielsma-Wolf were deported from Mechelen to Auschwitz-Birkenau via transport II on 11 August 1942 and were murdered. Josephine’s nephew Leon Wolf, son of her brother Emile, was also on-board this train and was also killed. Upon Hessel and Josephine’s departure to Mechelen, Sophia, her husband Jean and their son Robert moved into the Drielsma-Wolf family home in Liège. All three of them survived the war there. Sadly, René Drielsma was arrested in Liège on 11 September 1942. He was deported from the Dossin barracks to Auschwitz-Birkenau via Transport IX on 12 September 1942. René was last seen in Ludwigsdorf in December 1943. He never knew that his son Guy had been born in Liège on 14 April 1943. René Drielsma was murdered during the Holocaust. Upon Liberation, Sophia Drielsma started looking for information on her parents and brother René. She filled out search requests, only to learn that they had been murdered. On 5 January 1945, Sophia gave birth to a son named Marc and on 21 February 1950 to a daughter named Diane. Her husband Jean Reycams passed away in 1997, Sophia Drielsma in 2000.

The original photos and documents in this collection were saved by Sophia Drielsma, daughter of Hessel and Josephine Drielsma-Wolf, and were passed on to her son Marc Reydams upon her passing in 2000. On 7 May 2024, Marc kindly donated the original items to Kazerne Dossin with the exception of one of the postcards (KD_01026_000001 and KD_01026_000002) which remained in the family.

Marc Reydams, 2024