Family visits Sonsbeek Park and the bridge across the Rhine in prewar Arnhem
Creator(s)
- Mr. Louis de Groot
- Meijer de Groot (Camera Operator)
Biographical History
Meijer de Groot (1897-1944) and his wife Sophia Swaab de Groot (1900-1944) owned a hardware and electrical appliance store on Rijnstraat in the city of Arnhem, The Netherlands. After being warned of a forthcoming round-up of Jews, the de Groot family left their home in Arnhem to go into hiding in November 1942. Louis (b. 1929) and his sister, Rachel (1927-1944), hid in several dozen places throughout the Netherlands. Rachel eventually joined her parents at their hiding place in Amsterdam, while Louis made it to the home of Dirk and Ann Onderweegs in Lemmer in January 1944. Rachel and her parents were denounced on April 8, 1944, arrested by a Dutch policeman who was a childhood friend of Meijer's, and sent first to Westerbork and then to Auschwitz where they perished. Louis stayed with the Onderweegs until August 1946 when he entered the Jewish Boys Orphanage in Amsterdam. He fought for Israel in 1948, briefly returned to Holland, and emigrated to the United States in 1950, where he married and had two sons.
Scope and Content
Outdoors at Sonsbeek Park in Arnhem, rows of houses around a field in a square. Mansion at top of hill. Rachel picks flowers from that field. Rachel and Louis play leapfrog on the sidewalk as other de Groot family members walk towards the camera behind them. This road is on the way to Sonsbeek and the waterfall. 01:10:44 Large boulders and waterfall as the children walk along that precarious path. They wave to the camera as they attempt to navigate to the base of the waterfall, equipped with bread to feed the ducks. Children at the top of the waterfall. Louis splashing at a duck in a large pond. Rachel does somersaults in the grass. They meet up with father Meijer's friends, Mr. and Mrs. David Kruijer and their large dog. The dog runs towards the camera, and the children follow. 01:12:15 Indoor scene, dark, during a visit by mother Sophia's youngest sister Mietje and her husband Alfons (Abraham) Vigeveno and their dog Tippy. Members of the de Groot family (Louis, Mietje, Rachel, and behind them, Abraham standing) pose for a portrait, holding the small white dog and waving to the camera. 01:12:30 More members of the de Groot family walking towards the camera with Tippy, along a path in Arnhem towards the bridge across the Rhine. This bridge became the center of the Battle of Operation Market Garden in September 1944. Children, including cousin Henny Cohen, walk down brick steps. MS, a boat in the river. Children continue along brick ramp.
Note(s)
See related footage of the Vigevanos visit with the small white dog Tippy in RG-60.4844. For more artifacts related to the de Groot family, see USHMM collections with accession numbers 2003.155 and 2009.341
People
- de Groot, Louis.
Subjects
- FAMILIES
- PALACES/CASTLES
- RIVERS
- JEWISH LIFE (PRE-WAR)
- PARKS
- NETHERLANDS
- PLAYING
- JEWS
- CITIES
- HOUSES
- CHILDREN (JEWISH)
- DOGS
- BRIDGES
- RHINE RIVER
- BOATS
Places
- Arnhem, Netherlands
Genre
- Amateur.
- Film