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Isaak and Emmy, both from the Netherlands, seek a better life in Belgium. However, they are gripped by the horror of anti-Semitism.
Isaak de Groot (°15/06/1902 in Delft, the Netherlands) moved from the Netherlands to Belgium in August 1926. He started work as a docker in Antwerp. Emmy Sigrid Alida Winther (born 7/11/1909 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands) has been in Belgium since 1910, she too originally comes from the Netherlands. The two married in December 1930. After their marriage the newlyweds go and live for a short period of time in Pacificatiestraat in Antwerp. In 1934 they moved to the Van Erstenstraat in Deurne. There their daughters were born: Henriette (°15/12/1932 in Antwerp) and Alida (°21/02/1934 in Antwerp).
In May 1940 Nazi-Germany invaded Belgium and instituted an anti-Jewish policy. As a result of this policy Jews had to register in the Register of Jews (end 1940) and with the local Jewish association (spring 1942). Isaak, his wife and daughters also registered with the Antwerp Jewish Association. At that time, they lived in the Frans Erlingerstraat in Deurne. In September 1942, Emmy Sigrid was interned with her daughters in the Dossin Barracks. Together with 760 other Jews they were rounded up during the great Antwerp razzia of 21 and 22 September. Emmy, Henriette and Alida were deported with transport XI to Auschwitz-Birkenau; they did not survive the war.
Isaak was probably able to stay out of the hands of the Germans for a while longer. Nothing is known about the circumstances of his arrest or his internment in the Dossin Barracks. On 11 January 1943 Isaak was part of a group of 37 prisoners who were transferred from the Dossin Barracks to the Breendonk penal camp. The commander of the Dossin Barracks had discovered parcel fraud and wanted to punish the men. Isaak survived the internment in Breendonk and was brought back to the Dossin Barracks in June 1943, just like the 24 other survivors of the Breendonk group. On 15 January 1944, he was deported with transport XXIII to Auschwitz-Birkenau. He was selected for forced labour – the number 172308 was tattooed on his arm – but like his wife and children, Isaak was murdered.
