Salomon ‘Sam’ Meljado

This time the display case is dedicated to sports. On the occasion of the temporary exhibition Sports and sportspeople in KL Auschwitz, the objects in the showcase tell the story of Salomon “Sam” Meljado. Sam Meljado was a Dutch soccer player living in Belgium and one of the best central midfielders of his generation. During World War II, because of his Jewish heritage, Sam was taken to a labor camp. He was later deported via the Dossin Barracks to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where he was murdered in the gas chambers in early 1943.

Youth

Sam Meljado was born on August 12, 1905 in Amsterdam. His parents, Hartog Meljado and Roosje Neuwit already had four children at that time, Juda, Simon, Vrouwtje and Rebecca. A final child, Sara, followed after Sam. In the summer of 1908, the family moved to Antwerp where father Hartog went to work as a diamond cutter.

Quite a few members of the Meljado family were true soccer fans. Sam developed a passion for soccer at an early age, and his brother Simon and sister Sara were also active soccer players.

Career as a soccer player

The name Meljado was well known in Antwerp. The children of the family enjoyed various hobbies and were active participants in mixed clubs where Jews and non-Jews came together. In addition to Sam, his older brother Simon was also a talented soccer player.
Some of the Beerschot talent scouts noticed the soccer-playing young Sam. At age 12, he was admitted to the Beerschot Youth. There he got the chance to further develop his talent. At the age of 17, he made his debut in the first team.

Sam would eventually be active at Beerschot for more than 15 years. During those years, the club experienced its glory days. Sam grew into a technically strong central midfielder who not only defended, but could also score regularly. In the 262 (league) games Sam played in his Beerschot jersey, he was able to score 43 times. He also became captain of the team and led them to championship titles in 1922, 1923, 1925, 1926 and 1928. After personal setbacks and injuries, Sam felt his time at Beerschot was up. In the summer of 1936 he made the move to S.K. Roeselare and three years later to fellow townsman F.C. Roeselare.

Family

On March 1, 1927, Sam married Rosalia De Vries. Two years later, on April 19, 1929, their son Herman was born.

Sam’s brother Simon died on January 30, 1930. During a game against Boom four days earlier, he collided with the other team’s goalkeeper, which left him with a ruptured liver. The injury would prove fatal to him. The impact of Simon’s death was immense. The Jewish-Dutch community in Antwerp united in mourning and organized a benefit to raise funds for Simon’s widow Wilhelmina and their daughter Norma. Father Hartog begged his children Sam and Sara to give up soccer, and they did. The love for the game proved too great, however, and after ten months Sam returned to his team Beerschot, which had slipped in the rankings in his absence. Just two years after the death of Simon, Sara also died, on March 25, 1932. She was hit by a drunk truck driver and died of a fractured skull.

World War II

In 1939, Sam, who still held a Dutch passport, was called up for army service in the Netherlands. The army began reinforcing and training soldiers in anticipation of a possible conflict. Despite the military preparations, the Netherlands did feel confident that neutrality would spare the country from war. Despite his army service, Sam played some games with Roeselare during his military leave. In May 1940, however, after the capitulation of the Netherlands, Sam returned to Antwerp. Because of his Jewish origin, he probably lost his job as a salesman. Even playing soccer was no longer part of his pursuits; survival became the priority.

The Meljado family became scattered during the war years. Juda fled to London when the Netherlands capitulated, and Vrouwtje went to Amsterdam. Rebecca and her husband Mark Turfkruijer went into hiding in Antwerp.

In the summer of 1942, more than 2,250 unemployed Jewish men were selected from the Register of Jews and called to forced labor for Organization Todt’s construction sites in northern France. Sam Meljado was one of them. The day Sam reported to Antwerp Central Station was the last time his wife and son saw him. Together with 287 other Antwerp citizens, Sam was taken to the French Ardennes. At the Les Mazures labor camp he was forced to produce charcoal. The work regime was grueling and conditions in the camp were poor. Sam was sent daily under escort to the Huet forest where he had to fell trees between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., with only one hour break through the day.

Remarkably, as a recognized soccer player, Sam enjoyed some protection. Lagerführer Döring was a soccer fan and appeared to know Sam. He made Sam his personal servant and one Sunday he even organized a soccer match with Sam on his team.

Deportation

On Oct. 21, 1942, 262 of the 288 men were taken by train to the Dossin Barracks. All men in the labor camp who were Belgian nationals or who were married to a non-Jewish woman were allowed to stay. The others were deported so the Nazis would meet their imposed deportation quota for that year. A day after arriving in Mechelen, the train traveled to Auschwitz-Birkenau as Transport XV. A week after the transport, Lagerführer Döring returned from leave, furious when he found that Sam had been put on the transport with him.

On Oct. 26, 1942, the transport arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau. From there, Sam was sent to the Jawischowitz coal mines. The physical work in the mines was grueling for his body. The quotas imposed were sometimes unachievable due to hunger, weakness or ignorance of how to do the work. Every few weeks, prisoners who were declared unfit for work were selected by lottery. They were transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and taken to the gas chambers. This also happened to Sam Meljado. In early 1943, at the age of 37, Sam Meljado was killed.

After the war

After the war, Sam was remembered as a celebrated soccer player. Several newspaper articles from 1945 lamented his death and remembered his exceptional soccer talent.