Rachel Slagter papers

Rachel Slagter was born on April 3, 1940, in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. Her father, Lion Slagter, was the rabbi of her hometown synagogue before and after World War II. Rachel's mother, Rebecca Slagter, cared for Rachel, her sister, Chaja, and her brother, Samuel.

Rachel's family was forced into the ghetto in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in
1943. They were spared from a round-up when German forces failed to search the attic in which they were living. Rachel's parents then sent their children to institutions for protection before going into hiding themselves. Rachel's parents were eventually deported to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where her mother perished during the war. Rachel and her sister were sent to a deportation center where a young Dutch Gentile rescued them. The two girls were then sent to separate foster homes. Their brother was sent to a nunnery where he stayed for the duration of the war. Over the course of the war, Rachel stayed with sixteen different foster families. She spent a significant amount of time with the Van der Veer family in the town of Stein, Netherlands. When people approached the front door, she hid in various areas of their house. The Van der Veers made Rachel feel as though she was a permanent part of their family.

After the war, Lion reunited with his children and they moved back to Apeldoorn. Rachel left home at the age of seventeen to attend a school for social work in Amsterdam. In 1961 she moved to Israel where she met Allan Levine. They were later married in the United States where they raised two children, Rebecca and Ruben. Rachel attended California State University, Los Angeles, where she received a Master of Business Administration degree. She later worked as an administrator for a Jewish home for the aged and became very active in the Jewish community. Rachel and her husband divorced, and in 1988 she immigrated to Israel. In 1987 Rachel was successful in finding her wartime foster mother, Mrs. Van der Veer, in the Netherlands.