Hartog (Harry) Kalkoene

Hartog (Harry) Kalkoene grew up together with his brother Willem, father Bernardus and mother Anna at 39 Stille Veerkade in The Hague. Over the years, the family lived at different addresses in The Hague and Rotterdam. The Kalkoene family liked to spend their days outside. They liked to visit the beach of Scheveningen. Bernardus' career in the furniture trade had come to nothing and several jobs had followed one another: office clerk, porter and merchant in draperies. Bernardus did not like to sit still, was always on the road and looked for ways to support his family.

The crisis of 1929

When a crisis arose in the 1930s and there was no longer enough work, the Kalkoene family moved in March 1940 to the first floor of the Valckenierstraat 3 in Amsterdam. Harry learned the tricks of the trade of the fur business. In early July 1942 Harry and his family still lived in Amsterdam.

Deportations

When the deportations in The Netherlands started in 1942, Willem was the first to report for 'employment in Germany'. The family was torn apart after that. On August 7, 1942, Bernardus and Anna were on the train to Auschwitz.

Hartog lost his entire family

• Bernardus Kalkoene (Hartog's father) was 39 years old.
• Anna Kalkoene - Huisman (Hartog's mother) was 40 years old.
• Willem Kalkoene (Hartog's bother) was 18 years old.

Harry was the only one of the family in Amsterdam. He stayed with friends and acquaintances of his parents in Amsterdam. He was eventually round up and arrested, which happened on March 10, 1943. After which he was deported via the 'Hollandsche Schouwburg' to Kamp Vught, where he was detained on March 12, 1943 until March 21, 1944. After that Hartog was deported to Westerbork where he spent just two days before being put on transport to Auschwitz.

Auschwitz

Immediately after his arrvial in Auschwitz, Hartog recieved a tattoo with number 175399 on his arm. He managed to survive the camp including the death march from Gleiwitz to Blechhammer. In the subcamp Blechhammer he was finally liberated by the Russians on or about January 26, 1945.

Blechhammer

The largest of the Auschwitz sub-camps, located in Sławięcice near Blachownia Śląska (German: Blechhammer), near the synthetic fuels plant belonging to Oberschlesische Hydrierwerke AG. It came into being in April 1944 when the Auschwitz commandant’s office took over a Schmelt Organization compulsory labor camp for Jews. The camp consisted of 25 wooden barracks residential, storage, kitchens, washrooms, etc., surrounded by a wall of concrete panels topped with electrified barbed wire. It also had a small crematorium. Prisoners worked at expanding the plant by digging foundations and building roads and air-raid shelters. Since the American bombing of the plant started in June 1944, prisoner Kommandos were sent there as needed to locate and disarm unexploded bombs. A total of almost 200 prisoners died in the camp, and several hundred more were probably sent to Birkenau after selection. The peak population, in January 1945, was almost 4,000 men and 160 women. During the evacuation on foot to the Gross-Rosen camp, the SS shot about 800 of these prisoners. Shortly before the liberation of Blechhammer by Soviet soldiers, the SS torched, shelled, and tossed grenades into the camp barracks, in which sick prisoners had been left behind. Some of them survived.

A long journey followed until Harry finally returned to the Netherlands at the end of May 1945. My grandfather was the only one left of his deported relatives. Hartog survived eight Nazi camps, three of which were concentration camps and then of course the death march.

• Concentration camp Vught
• Camp Moerdijk
• Concentration camp Vught
• Transit camp Westerbork
• Concentration camp Auschwitz
• Forced labor camp Monowitz
• The Auschwitz subcamp Gleiwitz
• The Auschwitz subcamp Blechhammer

Thanks to Deborah for sharing her grandfather's story.