Two people recognized in Westerbork film: ‘Can’t miss’

Once again, two people from the film about Westerbork camp have been recognized. It concerns the couple Marcus Pels and Hendrika Brandon. The couple was identified by amateur researcher Koen Hulsbos.

The Jewish photographer and filmmaker Rudolf Breslauer took images of the transit camp on behalf of camp commander Albert Gemmeker 80 years ago. He captured the well-known images of a transport leaving and filmed daily life in the camp, such as work and a football match.

The film can be seen in its entirety on YouTube. After one barely 5 minutes shows a man with a hat smiling into the camera, and next to him a woman with black, slightly wavy hair who can be seen from behind. The same couple enters 6 minutes again in the picture. That turned out to be Pels and Brandon.

Hulsbos had long owned a photo of Marcus Pels and Hendrika Brandon, a couple who lived in Amsterdam during the Second World War. It was clear that they were transported to Auschwitz on the day the film was shot, in the spring of 1944.

“I have seen the film many times, but at one point I thought ‘hey, this couple appears twice’. I had never really noticed that before,” he says.

Hulsbos then compared the external features of the two with three existing photos. “And then I thought: that can’t be missed,” says the amateur film historian.

Marcus Pels was taken immediately upon arrival gassed in Auschwitz. Hendrika Brandon survived the war, as did their daughter and son, who were placed with a foster family. Katy (Keetje, 86 years old) and Philip (83) are still alive and live in Canada. They were shown the moving images and confirmed that it was their parents.

“They don’t remember their father. So to actually see images of him, to see him just walking alive, there are no words,” said granddaughter Lisa Kaufman, spokesperson for the family. “It was very special to see my grandmother, who I grew up with.”

According to Hulsbos, more people who appear in the film should be identifiable. “A lot of images are bad, of course. But it is very rewarding work.”

Hulsbos has now collected 258 photos of the 446 Jewish prisoners who were in the camp at the time of the recordings. After 80 years, almost no one has been identified. “There are now about twenty people for whom we have a name.”

Earlier this year it emerged that filmmaker Breslauer had also captured two of his children in the Westerbork film. These are Ursula and Stefan, two of the three children of Breslauer and his wife Bella. They can only be seen for a few seconds, arm in arm.

In addition to father Rudolf and mother Bella, the Breslauer family consisted of three children: Ursula, Stefan and Max Michael. In 1942 the family ended up in Camp Westerbork and two years later were deported to Auschwitz extermination camp. Ursula was the only one in the family to survive. After the war she emigrated to Israel.