Settela Oak Born

In Born on Campus 1 there is a pedunculate oak, called Settela oak, where Settela Steinbach was most likely born under this oak under a caravan. She was taken away and killed with her entire family in WW2, only her father survived the war.
Settela can be seen in a film recording at the departure of a freight train from Westerbork to the east.

Part of the film fragment: Settela Steinbach, the girl from Westerbork on the train:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QxuqKkKZb0


On the monument Settela oak is mentioned

Settela_oak
This monumental pedunculate oak is the remnant of a row of trees that used to stand along the field road from Buchten to Born. This area was called 't Hetje and before WWII it was a station for caravans of traveling Sinti. The Steinbach family also regularly stood with their children in the vicinity of these trees. Settela Steinbach was born here on December 23, 1934.

On May 19, 1944, she and hundreds of others were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau by the Nazis after a short stay in Westerbork. Settela was the girl with the white headscarf who was filmed looking from the departing freight train. the well-known photo from this film became the symbol of the Holocaust. Settela Steinbach was murdered in the gas chamber of Birkenau on July 31, 1944, together with her mother and the other nine family members.
Only the father survived by going into hiding, but died 'of grief' at the age of 44 at the caravan camp in Maastricht, early 1945, when it became clear to him that none of the family would return.

To keep the memory of this gruesome period alive, this last, now monumental tree, was given the name "Settela-Eik".

"As long as your name is mentioned, you live on"

In the picture with her face is mentioned

'Settela oak'
Anna Maria
(Settela)
Steinbach

* Buchten
12-23-1934
+ Auschwitz
31-07-1944

She is very likely born
at this oak under the
caravan.

Do you have more information about this location? Inform us!

Source

• Text: André Hendriks
• Photos: André Hendriks