Building a synagogue in Rotterdam; celebrating Hannukah

Film | Digitized | Accession Number: 2014.524 | RG Number: RG-60.1517 | Film ID: 4103

Overview

Description: Street sign, "Walenburger Weg." In Rotterdam. INT, wood workshop. Building a synagogue in the late 1930s close enough to the Schaap family home so the elder Salomon Schaap could walk there; the synagogue was not destroyed during WWII. 06:22:07 Star of David on door. Men carry wood into doorway. Menorah in INT of workshop/store. Hebrew letters on tiles Men unload materials for work on synagogue. 06:26:08 INT, crowd of religious Jews. Cantor sings. Men in top-hats and tuxedoes. Bride and groom under pieces of cloth. Light candles. Wedding. Bride and groom smile and shake hands.

Little boy lights menorah. Children wearing Hebrew letters, dressed like dreidels. Children dance and sing, look at camera. Crowd of children with a few adults watch a play.
Film Title: 1930s events -- Maurits Schaap -- amateur
Duration: 00:10:06
Date: Event: 1930s
Locale: Rotterdam, Netherlands
Credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Eli Schaap
Contributor: Camera Operator: Maurits Schaap
Biography: Maurits Schaap was in hiding in Axel near Zeeuws-Vlaanderen.

Physical Details

Language: Silent
Genre/Form: Amateur.
B&W / Color: Black & White
Image Quality: Fair
Time Code: 06:21:19:00 to 06:31:25:00
Film Format: Master
Master 4103 Digital: ProRes 422 - color - HD
Master 4103 Digital: ProRes 422 - color - HD
Master 4103 Digital: ProRes 422 - color - HD
Master 4103 Digital: ProRes 422 - color - HD

Rights & Restrictions

Conditions on Access: You do not require further permission from the Museum to access this archival media.
Copyright: Eli Schaap
Conditions on Use: The Museum does not own the copyright for this material and does not have authority to authorize third party use. For permission, please contact the rights holder, Mr. Eli Schaap.
Copyright Holder: Eli Schaap

Keywords & Subjects

Keyword: CANTORS CHILDREN (JEWISH) HEBREW HOLIDAYS (HANNUKAH) JEWISH LIFE (PRE-WAR) JEWS RELIGIOUS SERVICES (JEWISH) STARS OF DAVID SYNAGOGUES THEATERS WEDDINGS WORKERS

Administrative Notes

Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Film Provenance: Eli Schaap donated digital copies of a selection of his father's 8mm films to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2014. He had all of his father's films transferred to video at Brodsky & Treadway in 1998 and 1999, and donated video copies to the Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive in Jerusalem in 2000.
Note: Videotape label: "Father's movies: 1930s events, Reels 1A,1B,1C,2A,3A,3B"
Copied From: 8mm b/w
Film Source: Eli Schaap
File Number: Legacy Database File: 5743
Special Collection: Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive

Record last modified:: 2024-02-21 08:06:26
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn1002810

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Also in Schaap Family Collection

Maurits Schaap filmed 8mm home movies of the extended Schaap family's prewar, wartime, and postwar experiences in the Netherlands, Palestine, and England. His son, Eli Schaap, donated Betacam copies of the original films to the Museum. Highlights include: 1930s Palestine; building of a synagogue in Rotterdam in the 1930s; a gypsy encampment; a Jewish orphanage in Leiden; the 1942 birthday party for the patriarch of the family; Zionist youth groups; postwar visit to the non-Jewish Dutch family who hid the Schaaps; and the Negbah ship departing Holland with Holocaust survivors for Palestine in 1947.

Schaaps visit their rescuers after the war

Film

Title card with graphic of baby in stroller, text "Onze Baby". Maurits Schaap and his family visit the home of the Naeije family who hid him during the war. INT, family home in Axel near Zeeuws-Vlaanderen in the Netherlands. The Naeije infant is fed from a bottle and plays with multiple people. 00:01:50 CU, Salomon Schaap smoking pipe, reading letter, playing with baby. 00:04:05 Geleijn Naeije shows off a piece of art inside his home. The painting is of a woman seated at a table with her hands clasped as if in prayer. 00:04:44 Sister of Mrs. Naeije in a black embroidered top. 00:04:56 EXT, home with number 22 and the surrounding neighborhood. This was Maurits Schaap's first housing after liberated (Dokstraat 22). Young women exit and greet the camera, laughing. 00:05:45 Salomon Schaap with pipe and other family members in front of the residence. Man with round wire glasses in a military uniform (probably Dr. Herman Sajet). 00:06:03 Another visit to a farm, possibly of the Naeije family? The Schaap children and family play and work on the farm. Man (Maurits?) cleans auto. Feeding pigs, cows, and chickens.

Schaap visits Palestine and returns to Holland

Film

Continued from Film ID 4101 when Maurits Schaap visited his brother Meijer in Palestine in December 1935. Maurits showed the films to the Jewish community of Rotterdam after he returned. Streets of Tel Aviv, recording signs and activities within the city. Title, "Autotocht naar HEBRON-DOODE ZEE en JERICHO". Visiting Jericho and the Dead Sea. 02:04:51 Man sits down for a haircut and a shave. 02:05:23 Reflection of cameraman Schaap in a mirror inside the barber shop. Architecture of an ancient amphitheater and the campus of a university. Lectures and people working in a laboratory. 02:12:23 Title, "Graf van Absalom Koningsgraven" The Tomb of Absalom in Jerusalem and the surrounding area. City shots. 02:15:08 Title, "RECHOWOTH met proefstation" INT and EXT of a testing station, possibly dedicated to food production or evaluation. Surrounding territory is farmland. Farms, animals, and the farm activities of a small family. 02:19:23 Title, "TIBERIAS met warme bronnen en opgravingen te Tapcha en Kefar-Nahoem". Touring architecture and visiting the hot springs. City shots and farming scenes. Title card "Ghalassa - Tel Ghaj - Metullah - Safed - Akko - Haifa". Visiting cities and sites. Graveyard, ships at sea, lighthouse, people engaged in commerce. 02:31:11 Outer walls of Jerusalem filmed from a distance. Title, "KLAAGMUUR". The Western Wall and densely populated streets in the Old City of Jerusalem. 02:35:12 "TERUGREIS Cyprus (Larnaca) reddingsoefening. Aansteken der Menorah door Dr. Leibowitz aan boord van het ss. "Gallilea"" Journey to Cyprus by sea aboard the SS Galilee. Rescue exercise performed by the ship's crew on small boats. 02:37:34 Small gathering of individuals Dr. Leibowitz lights six candles on a menorah. Train station in a mountainous region. 02:39:59 "Nieuwjaarsmorgen 1936 in Parijs" Travel in Paris, visiting Place de la Concord and the Eiffel Tower. Aerial views from the Eiffel Tower looking northwest toward Place Trocadero. Bridge construction and renovation on the Seine. City streets, including an area of Montmartre on approach to the Cathedrale de Sacre Coeur. 02:41:10 Title, "AANKOMST te R'DAM, Woensdagavond 1 Januari 1936" Arriving in Rotterdam at night on January 1, 1936, focusing on lights and neon signs. "EINDE"

Schaap travels to Palestine via Italy in 1935

Film

Maurits Schaap visited his brother Meijer in Palestine in December 1935. Maurits showed the films to the Jewish community of Rotterdam after he returned. "ROTTERDAM-PALESTINA vice-versa, Camera: Mau Schaap. Caricaturen: Joseph Rosenberg. Chanoekah 5696" Title card: "VERTREK STATION D.P. met opnamen van Rotterdam - Parÿs - Milaan - Monza - Venetië - Triëst". Busy train station after 11AM. People moving about the station and getting on and off trains. The cameraman, shown to be Maurits Schaap from the title card, boards a train and films through an exterior window of the departure and the landscape. Platform at an intermediate stop. Train moves. 01:02:34 Sign for "AMSTERDAM," followed by "Den Haag, Roosendaal, Antwerpen Oost, Brussel Zuid" and then "Anvers Est, Bruxelles Midi, Paris Nord", followed by an underlined destination, "Paris PLM." Men smoke on the train before an intermediate stop is made at St. Quentin. The train arrives in Paris: busy streets, Arc de Triomphe. Scenery. "Paris - Modane" station, and the journey continues. 01:05:24 Train arrives. City streets, street trolley with the sign "DIRETTO MILANO MONZA". Inside a moving car, people, marketplaces. Train to the coast, possibly on arrival to Manzano in northeastern Italy. Market scene. 01:08:11 Man stands next to sign marked "TEL-AVIV" pointing toward where the boat is waiting. Title card "INSCHEPING met het leven aan boord van s.s. Tel Awiv". Ships at dock, S.S. Tel Aviv, mast and flags. Passengers line up with their luggage and board the vessel. 01:11:41 Small band plays music. The ship departs. People from the shore wave. The coastline, the city and the hills. Title: "DE BEMANNING met caricaturen van personeel en passagiers". Tour of the ship, signs, structure, and passengers. 01:13:08 Man wears an officer's uniform with a Jewish star on his right sleeve. He grabs binoculars and surveys the horizon. Equipment and tools on the vessel. Sea and coast. Dining hall. Waiters and other staff greet the camera and lay out tableware. Passengers relax in the sun on benches. Flotation devices with words "TEL-AVIV" and "HAIFA". Man works with an unknown machine, possibly stamping and pressing envelopes. Officer uses a sextant to estimate the position of the ship. Meeting of the ship's officers. The Captain distributes messages. The officers wear Star of David armbands. List of crew with names in Hebrew. 01:20:46 Hand-drawn caricatures of crew with labels. Profile of man with black hair, "Der Rofe". Man smoking a pipe. "Sonnen Scheint", man playing the violin. "Dr. Oberchasan", a man painting. "L'Homme Invisible", a man in black pants with a white shirt and bowtie. "Der Ober Stuart", a balding man wearing a uniform with a Star of David on his left sleeve. "Gottschalk", profile of a man with a cigarette, glasses, and a tie. "Der Deutsche Horra Tanzer aus sud amerika", a man with arms and legs contorted in a dancing form. "Vom Skat!" a man with eyes closed clasping something in his left hand. 01:21:47 Passengers dance in a circle. More signs on the ship. The ship arrives at its destination of Tel Aviv. Other ships in the port sit at anchor. Preparation for arrival. 01:24:15 Title: "AANKOMST te HAIFA met reis HAIFA - AFULEH - RAMATAIM". Going ashore in a small boat and passing through customs. Exploring the city, signs, people. Broken-down bus. Title: "Ramataim - Tel Awiv - Jaffa". Young boy (less than five years old) and a two men (father?) playing in a fruit garden. They pick fruit and throw it back and forth. City views. Man digs, farms. Horse drawn carts roll along the street in front of apartment buildings. People greet the camera. 01:31:22 Man in front of posters. Some streets are wet from a street cleaner car. Farming activity in rural area. Young boy. 01:37:38 Coastal area with ships, a dock, and people working. Shipments of unknown goods loaded onto boats, hundreds of boxes. Marketplace where fruits, textiles, and other goods are exchanged. Camels. Interacting with family and friends. Camels and construction. Title card, "GAN JELADIEM met leermethode; de kinderen op weg naar de filmvoorstelling". Young students play outside the school. Layout and decorations of an empty classroom. The students fill the classroom, and their instructor teaches a lesson in spelling. Donkeys. School group with students walking in pairs down a hill. Electrical tower's transformer. 01:47:13 Man stands next to a sign with a shell on it in Hebrew (maybe for the Shell oil company - Royal Dutch Shell). Children and the young boy play outside. Electric signs and a shop open late. City life, including camels, people, and horse drawn carriages moving along the streets. Fruit garden and young boy seen earlier. The family picks fruit into a basket. Baby chicks. 01:51:50 Title, "JERUZALEM met Universiteit, KKL-gebouwen en Koningsgraven". Young boys play in courtyard of a school. Touring university and other sites, observing people and structures. Camels.

Synagogue and cemetery in Gorredijk

Film

Synagogue in Gorredijk (razed in 1953). Hartog Beem and his wife (researchers of Dutch Jewry) get into boat in swampy river area. Cows in a field. Jewish cemetery in Gorredijk after the war. CUs headstones, overgrown. Bep Schaap, on shore, reaches out her hand to help. CUS, signs in Dutch. Homes. Church. Woman (Bep?) washes her dog outdoors in a bucket.

Children at school in Palestine; daily life in Holland; Carnival parade; El Al flight

Film

Titles, "Haifa" and other locations in Palestine. Street scenes. Children in school/nursery in Palestine, wearing costumes, performing a play. Outdoor exercises with teacher. A young couple walks down steps through a yard toward camera. 06:35:15 In Holland, rose garden. Outdoor marketplace crowded with people. Flag of Netherlands flies atop domed building. Elders sit outdoors at the seaside café in the Hague, drinking mineral water. Woman in lab-coat seen earlier with puppies at kennel. Woman looks at dogs. Men gesture to camera near automobile. Man with back to camera speaks on ornate telephone in an office. 06:37:44 Walking along boardwalk: women in ethnic Dutch costumes, old man carries newspaper, girls eat ice cream. Ship with Navy men. 06:38:34 Little boy stands beside mother. Plane (PH-AII) on airfield. Man pats horse. "Taverne Rio" café, likely in Zoersel, Belgium. INTs, people hold hands and dance in a circle around champagne bottles. Port. Pan, large expanse of water, very long bridge, ships. 06:41:37 Man holds up movie camera. Man exits a shop combing hair and smoking cigarette. Children at beach run toward water, play games in the sand. Group of people look down from ivy-covered balcony. Man and woman exit an automobile. Crowd in the street - man in bus with bandaged head wounds. 06:43:59 Slow-moving parade, marching, playing instruments. Children and others carry flags and wreaths, some in youth group uniforms. 06:45:07 Carnival or Queen's Day parade in city square on cobbled streets with floats and more festive paraders in the rain. CU, masked man with "Niews Polygoon Haarlem" camera as a decorated prop. Another sign indicates "1940" (could be the year). 06:47:17 Race track at summertime. Crowds at betting windows, horses and jockeys run race, jump over hedges. Trophies on table. 06:49:38 Couple enters a building. Sign, "Eilanden Beurs". Family name of shop (illegible). INT, furniture shop (possibly the store of family Naeije who hid Maurits Schaap in Terneuzen or Firma Monasch where Maurits worked until 1940). People shop at large indoor market or warehouse. 06:50:56 (postwar, Inaugural flight of EL AL in Sept 1948.) Airport. Man wears jacket with "El Al" on back. Views from plane. INT, cockpit instruments. Flying over mountains, canals. Automobile. People eat at a table outdoors. Picnic tables by a lake. Sign for "The Strand Palace Hotel" in England. Buckingham Palace. Band.

Prewar and immediate postwar events in the Netherlands; anti-Jewish sign torn down

Film

The Allies commissioned this four part documentary from Maurits Schaap after liberation. Titles: "Zeeuwsch Vlaanderen", "Documentaire Film der Verwoesting", "Vervaardigd met Medewerking van het M.G. Te Sluiskil, Sept. 1944 - April 1945", "Opgenomen en Gemonteerd Door M.S. Schaap". Title "Er Was Eens Een Vrij Nederland". Scenes of prewar Netherlands: cathedral, horses at work, boats on the water, planes at an airport, and people at a beach. Title, "Er Was Eens Een Welvarend Zeeland". Prewar Netherlands, including streets and waterways. A clock tower and "Hotel Nieuwe Doelen." Musicians play in the street as people conduct their normal business. Title, "Er Was Eens Een Onbeschadigd Breskens" Arrival of a ferry and the disembarkation of people and their vehicles. 05:04:16 Title, "Nadat de Kruit-Damp Opgetrok-Ken is..." The film shifts to postwar Netherlands. Mangled anti-aircraft gun batteries, abandoned tanks, overturned vehicles, and destroyed trains mix with the metal wreckage of aircraft. Signs in multiple languages. Title: "Herneemt Het Normaal Leven Zijn Loop". Horses walk along a clear path while a farmer tends to pigs housed in a crudely constructed pen. A young filly walks with a mare, and a woman milks a cow. Title, "Met Man En Macht Wordt Aan De Opruiming Begonnen". Farmer's family feeds chickens. Men clear debris. 05:07:56 Title, "Zij Gaven Hun Leven Voor Onze Vrijheid" Cemetery with gravemarkers and flowers. Names and dates are legible. Title cards, "Met Het Wegvoeren Der Krijgsgevangenen En Landverraders", "Verdween Tevens De Rassentheorie". Sign targeting the Jewish population. "Voor Joden verboden" sign is pulled down and torn to shreds by a man wearing a suit. 05:09:07 Title cards, "Een Opgeblazen Brug Wordt Vervangen En Spoedig Daveren Geallieerde", "Colonnes Er Over". Destroyed and mangled metal near a newly constructed bridge, which someone has labeled "Gdynia Bridge." Civilians, Allied military, and a Red Cross vehicle use this bridge and nearby roadways to transport personnel and material. Title cards, "De Door Londen Aangewezen "Nieuwe" Burgermeester Begint Direct Na", "De Bevrijding", "Aan De Opruiming Van De Augiusstal, De Erfenis", "Van Vier Jaar Duitsche Bescherming". Damaged walls and scenes of destruction underlay an image of a man talking on a phone. Newspaper covers are tossed down on a table. Title, "Het M.G. de central, waar alle Draden Samenkomen". Central office of the commissariat of Zealand, employees, British and the Netherlands flags fly. Title, "De ordonnans rukt uit". Allied forces move out. Title, "Aflossing der wacht bij het militaire gezag". Men stand guard along the perimeter of a building. Title, "Einde eerste deel"

Visiting England, 1947

Film

Maurits Schaap visits England in 1947 to get supplies for his hatmaker shop. Forested area. Fence marked "The Vale." Schaap visits acquaintances - house and expansive flower garden. Busy city streets. Back at the house, people greet the camera and offer small garden tours. 04:27:37 Man in what appears to be military dress. City life. Crowd gathers around a man speaking in front of a banner that reads "The New Health Crusade." Sign for Aldgate East Station in London. Vendors sell various goods, including newspapers, in the busy streets of the city. Various buildings in London. Large cathedral, grounds and cemetery. Suburban area near "The Vale" as seen earlier. Two women and one man greet the camera. 04:34:44 London, busy streets in which goods are for sale. 04:35:18 Sign "Welcome Home Hymie." Home near the Vale. Back in London, large gathering at a park. People congregate with demonstration signs while a man gives a speech. Traveling in London. Along the Thames, small paddleboats, families, and swans. Leicester Square in London. 04:40:28 EXT Odeon Theatre, playing the movie "Jassy" (released in 1947). Other theatres: Empire Theatre, "Song of a Thin Man"; Warner Theatre, Humphrey Bogart leads in "The Two Mrs. Carrolls"; an unidentified theatre shows "Cobacabana"; Grand National Pictures, "The Turners of Prospect Road." Man sets up a ladder in front of Grand National Pictures, reaches and enters a window. Tourist scenes: Tower of London, an unknown cathedral, the "Shakespeare Hotel", the "Talbot Hotel" (possibly in Stourridge), and Bignell's Service Stations Ltd. in Highgate. 04:51:45 In color, several people swim in a pool with a diving board. Market street, location unknown, where people gather to buy a variety of goods. Journey through London. Shipping yard where vehicles are loaded onto a ship using a large crane. Ferry looking out over the water. More sightseeing - buildings. 04:57:29 Public pool with swimmers diving and going down slides, some in slow motion.

Vacationing in Belgium and England

Film

Titles, "VACANTIE 1939", "HORS D'OEUVRE AAN DE BELGISCHE KUST". Beach on the coast of Belgium. Young boys play in the sand, adults enjoy the sunshine. Artist painting on an easel, Grand Place, EXT of l'Hotel de Ville. HAS of city and buildings. Travel along a waterway, likely Canal du Centre, by boat. Bep and Maurits Schaap on boat. 04:05:46 Flag on top of building. Restaurant. Family sits down for a meal at the coast. 04:06:51 Title over map of England: "Met de Citroen naar Engeland". Road trip in 1939 with Simon Lo through parts of England. Automobiles at a port where a crane lowers cars to a fixed dock. Title, "En Nu..." "Simon Lo en Mau", "Exploreeren de Zuidkust". Schaap and Lo enter their car and take off for the countryside, stopping along the way. People and places, signs. They meet with acquaintances. "The Sandringham" hotel (on the Isle of Wight). Rocky terrain, Clovelly in North Devon, UK. Funicular. Beach on Atlantic coast. People dive off the rocks (some shown in slow-mo). 04:14:17 Stream, foliage, roadways, and the terrain of the coast. 04:16:14 Buckingham Palace, men in uniform march and a military band plays music. The gates of the Palace are open and a military unit moves through. Visiting principal historic sites: the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge, Downing Street, and the British Parliament building. Public announcements for the Civil Nursing Reserve and National Service, among others. 04:20:31 Street vendor sells Daily Telegraph newspapers with headline, "Ribbentrop Going to Moscow." The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed on August 23, 1939. Sites in London both on foot and from the upper level of a double-decker bus. Wreaths at the Cenotaph in Whitehall and at 04:21:47 a zeppelin high above the city. Three women and one man walk toward the camera near a parking lot. CU, unknown pin on one woman's lapel.

Postwar wedding of Jewish survivors; ritual circumcision of their newborn

Film

Title, "Onze Trouw-Film" [Our Wedding Film]. City streets. At the Roxy Theater. Maurits Schaap and Rebecca (Bep) Bedak, soon to be married, meet and start toward City Hall in August 1945. Title, "Aankomst op het staduis" City Hall (The Hague). Street signs and the general location. There is no filming inside City Hall itself for the signing of the marriage license. The couple exits the building holding the marriage contract. In Rotterdam, Bep wears diamond jewelry just below her neck. The family prepares for the wedding ceremony in a synagogue in Rotterdam. Bep dresses in a gown and veil. 03:43:03 Title card: "Naar de kerk". Guests arrive at the synagogue with Star of Davids above the doors. Bep and Maurits and several attendees arrive. Family and children gather for photos at a residence after the ceremony. 03:46:38 INTs of the Roxy movie theater in The Hague owned by Bep's parents (killed in Auschwitz). Bep and Maurits lived here for a few months after getting married in 1945. This is the only theater the family got back after the war. Daily life (possibly staged). An office or study has been decorated - books are piled high on one table, flowers in vases add to the calm atmosphere. A man sits at a desk, smoking and filing paperwork. The woman folds and reads a newspaper after showing food that has been prepared and set out on a low table. She offers a small tour of the study. 03:49:47 EXT in front of the residence of "M.S. SCHAAP", number 74 on a city street with trams and pedestrians. Maurits and Bep take their dog for a walk through town. Bep is pregnant. She rests in bed and eats soup, perhaps having just given birth. Baby Eljakiem Schaap (born in 1946) is in a crib above which hangs a Star of David. 03:54:10 The infant boy is circumcised in a ceremony. The entire process is shown in detail, including the tools and procedures for a circumcision as well as the surgery itself. 03:55:25 EXT of building, "EMMAKLINIEK". Family exits carrying baby Eljakiem in a blanket. They arrive at home by car. CUs of mother Bep.

Schaap family life after the war

Film

At a farm, the Schaap, Naeije?, and other families line up with children in front of the camera. Riding bicycles, CUs. 00:17:33 A city home, address #32. Women and children exit the residence. Girl wears a jacket with a patch on the shoulder. Woman with fur jacket. Maurits Schaap? dressed in uniform with a yarmulke smokes and chats with a woman, man (brother Louis?), and his father, Salomon Schaap. Feeding chickens. 00:20:15 Street scenes from inside a moving car, flags of the Netherlands overhead. INTs, men in a study and on balcony, one snuggles with a toddler girl. 00:21:07 Two men in military uniforms stand by a Red Cross vehicle. Woman primps. Men smoke, may include Dr. Herman Sajet. 00:21:53 EXT, snow-covered streets, windmill, family farm, tailor shop and "Garage K. Bos". Adults get into a vehicle on snowy city streets. Dog. 00:24:02 Number 22 residence. This was Maurits Schaap's first housing after liberated (Dokstraat 22) - the two military personnel seen earlier exit the residence. Dr. Sajat? smiles at camera and mingles with adults. Some mount horses. More families pose by a home with distinctive shutters for the camera. Residence door #1.

Scrap iron business

Film

Men clear and shape shredded metal after the war. This scrap iron business was owned by Levie Simons and located in Pernis (Rotterdam area). Maurits Schaap worked here in 1940, and met Andre de la Porte, an aristocrat who later intervened to help Schaap during the war. Several people work at typewriters and telephones.

Wounded survivors; postwar military parade

Film

The Allies commissioned this four part documentary from Maurits Schaap after liberation. Titles: "Zeeuwsch Vlaanderen", "Documentaire Film der Verwoesting", "En de wateren warden stil... Genesis 8 1". Flooding, possibly from an irrigation system failing, in an unknown location. Title card: "De watertoren bij axel" Water tower. Title, "En de watertoren van Oostburg". The water tower of Oostburg was destroyed. Title: "Sas van Gent het centrum der suiker en meelindustrie" Grain is loaded onto carts and processed into flour at Sas van Gent. 05:50:26 Title: "Alarm!!! Het Roode Kruis rukt uit" Female nurse for the Red Cross answers a telephone call before Red Cross personnel enter a vehicle, possibly staged. Title: "In Koewacht, viel een V-1" Red Cross vehicle arrives in Koewacht at the site of a destroyed building. Personnel enter in search of survivors and carry several people on stretchers from the structure. The injured are laid onto beds at the Red Cross building, where their wounds are treated. Title: "geen ijs, toch chocolademelk... het v.h.k. aan den arbeid". People assemble outside a vehicle marked "Noodvoedsel wagen" for food supplies and ice cream. Title, "Met "Vrouwelijke" charme verricht" Red Cross personnel distribute supplies, drive vehicles, refill gas, and tend to the injured. 05:55:51 Title, "De Z.V.T.M. Verlost de diverse plaatsen uit hun isolement" Horses drag a wagon behind a slow-moving train. Title: "Tante Pos laat zich niet onbetuigd" Damaged streets and destroyed buildings. A man repairs wire on a pole. Titles, "Het particulier initiatief heft reeds zijn weg gevonden", "En lustig ploegt de boer den akker, die nog kort te voren onder vijandelijk", "granaatvuur lag". Man cuts metal shards into farming tools. Other civilians work nearby. Title: "Nederland herrijst". Sequence of military men walk in parade style between crowds lining street. Netherlands flags hang overhead or ascending flagpoles. "Einde"

Clearing war debris; military officers make plans

Film

The Allies commissioned this four part documentary from Maurits Schaap after liberation. Titles, "Zeeuwsch Vlaanderen", "Documentaire Film der Verwoesting", "De toegang tot west Z. Vlaanderen Isabellasluis". Allied vehicles move along a cleared road. The surrounding area is heavily damaged. Destroyed buildings. Men and horses work through the rubble. Possible near Breskens. Title, "Nu verrichten deze "heeren" productieve arbeid, waar zij altijd zooveel", "over spraken". Men work to clear debris, probably in Oostburg. Signs in English from the Allied Forces and in Dutch demarcating destroyed structures, including a school and a bank. Note in English outside of "Stadhuis" identifying the building as a Historic Monument. Title, "J. van Dale, de samensteller van het groot Nederlandsch woordenboek" Artist's bust of J. van Dale. Title, "Herbouw". Men work to rebuild brick walls with mortar and stone and to lay new streets with cobblestone, possibly in Aardenburg. 05:27:41 Titles, "Door een vruchtbare samenwerking van de geallieerden...", "Majoor R.S.N. Clarke Hoofd C.A. Det. 614". Major Clarke smokes a pipe and reads documents. He is assisted by a man in military uniform. Titles, "Met de nederlandsche militaire autoriteiten", "Kolonel J. van Leeuwen, Mil. Commissaris van Z. Vlaanderen". Colonel Leeuwen looks out a window. Titles, "Wordt in't Westen Schoon Schip gemaakt. De bulldozers eens bested.", "Voor het slagveld", "Staan nu in dienst van het vredeswerk en ruimen volt de oorlogsschade op", "Hoofd der opruimingswerk zaamheden Capt. S. Bresloff &", "1st Lt. M.V. Dorp". Men in front of a map on a table, discussing plans. The captain is seated. The Lieutenant stands next to him. Title, "Einde tweede deel"

Postwar life of the Schaap family; funeral for Dr. Amir

Film

Men with yarmulkes exit a building. INTs, dark. Cars on a street, one with "USA" and numbers on the hood. An elder with a top-hat gets into a car. CUs, adults, one pins flower on lapel. 00:37:21 In London, pan, up and down of a stone statue. Sign advertising "Yehudi Menuhin" concert at Royal Albert Hall (maybe in June 1946). British soldiers. Lake. 00:38:48 Street traffic and sightseeing to the Parliament and Westminster and around London's cinemas (films opened in 1946). 00:40:16 Israel Legation in Amsterdam. Funeral procession for Dr. Michael Amir, the Israel envoy to the Netherlands, on June 21, 1954. He was a Jewish diplomat. Representation of multiple military units. The procession proceeds past a sign marked "Clingendael" before the coffin is placed within a hearse. The vehicle departs.

Allies clear debris; children sent to England to recuperate

Film

The Allies commissioned this four part documentary from Maurits Schaap after liberation. Titles: "Zeeuwsch Vlaanderen", "Documentaire Film der Verwoesting", "Bulldozers aan den arbeid". An Allied bulldozer clears debris. Cranes and other tractors push, pull, lift and haul destroyed materials. Title, "Afscheid Kol. J.V. Leeuwen. Gezagsoverdracht aan Maj. F. Koch" Military and civilian personnel sit together at a large banquet table, enjoying a meal before the departure of Colonel. J.V. Leeuwen. Titles: "Nieuwe Mil. Commissaris van Z. Vlaanderen Majoor", "F.P.O.M. Koch". Koch works at a desk, signing paperwork, answering telephone call. Title: "Rechterhand van den millitairen commissaris Kap. P. de Bruyne E.T.O." De Bruyne works in an office. List of personnel and hierarchy on a blackboard with the date April 25, 1945. 05:39:42 Dutch children in Zeeland being sent to England to recuperate in 1945. Titles: "Kindertransport naar Engeland, leiding van Mevr. Standaert", "en Kapitein Bakker". Children board a bus to start their journey to England. The children each wear small identification tags on string, usually around the neck or pinned to their clothing. Title cards: "Het is prettig naar engeland te gaan, maar...er is ook het afscheid" Title card: "Niet alles mag mee naar Engeland!!" The children say goodbye to their parents and board the bus. Delousing. "T no 1792, Naam: Merck, P. Adres: Breskensche Duk, Groede 0.2", "Post of embarkation: OSTEND", "destination: c O Netherlands Government, "Children's Committee", Londen [sic], S.W.1." The bus departs. On the side of the bus is a banner that reads: "Wij varen naar Engeland" Title, "De kazerne als kinderspeelplaats" Children leave the bus and play in an open space. Behind them are barracks. Title: "Op weg naar de haven" Children walk with their supervisors past men carrying shovels. Bags. A few gesture to the camera. The children get into another truck with an Allied star and wave goodbye. Title card: "Einde derde deel"

Garden; prewar Zionist youth group

Film

Color film of park or garden. Flowering trees. Pan up windmill. Dutch flags flying from buildings on a narrow street. Women and children, including Herman and Sarah Vleeschhouwer, play and eat outdoors. Large group gathers to hear Zionist youths with blue and white clothing sing under director, probably in 1938 or 1939 in the Netherlands. Large Zionist flags. Man speaks from podium. More flags. Kids carrying flags and wearing uniforms parade.

Prewar Jewish life in the Netherlands; Haamstede Airfield; Jewish orphanage

Film

Street scenes in the early 1930s in Rotterdam. Salomon Schaap (on far left) and Naatje Keizer Schaap (in middle), the cameraman's parents, walk together in the streets, arm in arm. Shop sign. They enter the cheese shop they owned. The family lived behind this shop. The man in the light-colored suit who follows them into the shop is Emanuel Schaap (died in Mauthausen in 1944). Maurits exits the car and gets a hair cut in barber shop. Man waves. Visit to a vegetable garden owned by a sister or aunt. Older man with a yarmulke and Naatje. They walk towards the camera. Louis Schaap, the cameraman's brother, smokes a cigar while walking in the street. Signs for businesses, family members walk towards camera. HAS, kids play in the street. Canals, pan up church tower. People in boat down canal. Steam ships on river. Water views, pans of buildings in port town. "Tea Room". "President Kruger" on side of ship. Man in top-hat walks directly up to camera. Ship, water, and street scenes. Man seen earlier gets into car. Travelogue. Sign: "Hasselt", a city in Belgium, general views. 06:10:07 Plane overhead in sky, landing on runway at Haamstede Airfield, KLM. Crowd gathers in hangar. Gentlemen disembark Fokker plane numbered PH-AKQ (in service between 1935 and 1940). View from air. KLM on building. Cockpit of plane. 06:12:25 Brief cartoon of Felix the cat with titles in English. 06:13:32 Holland street scenes. Woman with young boy backs away from camera. Plays ball with boy outside of house. INT, woman holds baby. 06:15:11 EXT Wagons lined on grass - possibly a Romani encampment. Children playing in FG. Four Roma (?) men in sweaters walk toward camera. 06:15:51 Street scene with bicycles and other traffic, probably in Holland. 06:16:15 Family (same gentleman in top-hat from earlier) poses for the camera and jokes around. A group of men fix a car. EXT, children at the Jewish orphanage in Leiden, run by a sister or aunt in the Schaap family. Girls pose in front of residence. Man approaches with his bicycle, children watch as he tinkers with the bike. Children gather for group shot, including a man with a yarmulke. The staff of the Jewish orphanage pose on the porch, including a Schaap family member, the man with the yarmulke, and the woman with a lab-coat. Canal. Farm. INT, textile store (possibly associated with Family Naeije?). "Amstel Bier" sign. 06:19:10 Shipyard. People pose for camera in streets, presumably in the Hague. Blonde looks over shoulder while leaning on lamp post. LS, the boardwalk area on the coast in the Hague, possibly postwar. Automobiles, people stroll and eat in outdoor café. Two women, probably members of an anti-Nazi Christian family who helped the Schaaps with cleaning after WWII when they were billeted at a house previously occupied by a Nazi. The women exit then enter store; one walks toward camera and laughs.

Departure of passenger ship Negbah with Jewish children

Film

At a seaport in Holland, the departure of a passenger ship, in 1948. On the ship's bow is written "Negbah" and Haifa" with corresponding Hebrew text. Flags of Israel held by passengers and on the vessel itself. Passengers climb aboard the ship along a gangplank. 00:31:14 Girl with long blonde braids, from behind, and her brother among other children. [The two kids were adopted by the Schaap family in Holland after the war. A Dutch family wanted to adopt them, but the courts ruled that the children should go to a Jewish family, so the Schaaps fled to Israel.] Ship departs dock.

Family; ritual circumcision; children at play

Film

EXT, family with five adults and three children, presumably in front of their residence (#165). Good shots. They dress in furs and walk through a central park/garden. 03:13:13 Small boat at sea taking the Schaap family to England in 1939 and the passengers. 03:13:36 Well-dressed people gather in the city streets of Rotterdam and enter a building. The Chief Rabbi of Rotterdam, Yissachar-Berhard Davids, in a top-hat with Naatje Keizer Schaap with a white lace scarf. INTs, rabbi preparing for ritual bris ceremony of Chaim (Herman) Eljakim Vleeschhouwer (a cousin, b. June 5, 1935). Additional guests walk down street towards door. Man arrives on motorcycle with sidecar with a storage box labeled "S. SCHAAP." Door number "119"?. INT, a private residence. Care of the newborn boy. 03:16:07 The baby is circumcised in a religious ceremony. Festive celebration for circumcision. Cake with name, "Chaim Eljakim." Family gathers at a table for a meal. 00:18:45 Mother Margaret (Gretha) Vleeschhouwer with white lace cap lies in bed eating small treats. MS, newborn, drinking from a bottle. Gretha and her husband Isaac admire the baby. 03:20:47 The baby is older: sitting in a high chair, standing with assistance, and playing outdoors. 03:24:28 Netherlands flag hangs from outside the (same?) residence. Herman plays on the sidewalk and meets a new sibling, Sarah Eva Vleeschhouwer, born September 1, 1936, in a crib. Newborn girl is fed milk from a bottle. Herman potty trains. 03:28:36 Herman and Sarah, now older, on the stairs, playing in an open space. They dance in a circle with a female relative, possibly mother Gretha. Balcony with adults. 03:31:20 Family gathering, including three young girls and two young boys. Children and women dance in a circle, including Herman and Sarah. 03:35:20 Quick view of children in costume, possibly for Purim. Outside in the garden, the family poses for a family portrait. The man in the center holds a camera. Parents organize everyone. 03:37:30 INT, young girl on a woman's lap. EXT, kids play with a wheelbarrow, scooter, and other toys. INT, adults at a table enjoying tea or coffee, talking. Family dances with children in a circle around an older relative. 03:39:05 In color, Herman and Sarah play outside, hug and kiss.

Jewish orphanage; Schaap family gatherings

Film

Children at the Jewish orphanage in Leiden. Boys march in file and perform marching exercises in uniform. Toddlers play along with the older boys, including two black children (the product of a Jewish mother and black father). INT, family sits down for a meal. EXT, apartment building, birds flying about in the courtyard, family feeds the birds from the balcony. 03:01:58 A gathering of well-dressed family and friends, probably pre-war, including the couple seen moments earlier eating at home. The group eats a meal, plays cards, dances, and smokes. The men wear yarmulkes and there is a menorah on a nearby table. 03:06:19 A different gathering (notice the daylight and table setting) for Salomon's 82nd birthday in January 1942 with a mix of Orthodox, non-Orthodox Jews, and non-Jews. 03:07:43 Chief Rabbi of Rotterdam, Rabbi Yissachar-Berhard Davids, and a famous rabbi of Haarlem with a long white beard, Rabbi Simon Philip de Vries. Neither man survived the Holocaust.

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