Stumbling Stones Parklaan 14a

These memorial stones (so called Stolpersteine of stumbling blocks) commemorate:

family Cats-Speelman

The small copper plaques, in the pavement in front of houses of which the (mostly Jewish) residents were murdered by the Nazis, mention the name, date of birth and place (mostly a concentration camp) and date of death.

In many other cities, mainly in Germany but also in other European countries, the memorials also can be found. There are already many thousands of these plaques and their number is still counting. Almost all Stolpersteine are laid by the German artist himself, Gunter Demnig.

ELISABETH CATS PLAYMAN
December 11th, 1890 (Rotterdam) - April 9th, 1943 (Sobibor)
PARK AVENUE 14A
Elisabeth (Betsy) Speelman was the middle daughter in a Rotterdam family with three daughters. She married Lion Cats, who owned a textile wholesaler. When Lion died in March 1940 at the age of 54, Elisabeth continued to live with her daughter Minny Hanny at Parklaan 14A. Elisabeth owned the property downstairs, which had been used as business space for her husband's textile wholesaler. She had no profession, but is mentioned as a representative of a Haarlem branch of an association for the protection of Jewish girls.
In October 1942, the Haarlem police issued a search warrant against Elisabeth Cats-Speelman and her daughter Minny Hanny Cats because they were suspected of having 'changed their place of residence without having the required permit'. This means that they were in hiding. Because their house had been requisitioned by the Nazis, they lived at Schotersingel 7 for a short time, after which they went into hiding near Breda. There they were discovered, possibly through betrayal.
On February 26, 1943, Betsy and Minny arrived in camp Vught. From here they were deported to Westerbork on March 31, 1943 with a penal transport. There they ended up in barrack 57, where the prisoners had to dismantle batteries. On April 6, 1943 they were transported to Sobibor. On arrival in Sobibor on April 9, 1943, Elisabeth was immediately murdered.
Transport from Westerbork to Sobibor on April 6, 1943.
Murdered in Sobibor on April 9, 1943.
She was 52 years old.

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Source

• Text: Reini Elkerbout
• Photos: Reini Elkerbout