Forced to emigrate

The fate of the Simon family

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Uncovering the fates of victims of Nazi persecution is often like assembling a puzzle. As pieces of information come to light one by one, the full story of an individual’s path of persecution gradually emerges. The Dutch online portal “Warlives.org” works in a similar way, gathering information from multiple sources and weaving it together to reconstruct individual life stories. Among the sources used are documents from the Arolsen Archives, some of which contain information about the persecution of Selma Simon-Katz, for example. Her story is one of those featured on the portal. Selma tried to emigrate to Cuba with her family, but the Nazis deported her first to the Westerbork transit camp and later to the Sobibor extermination camp. Three of her daughters survived because they were able to emigrate to England before their mother was deported.

Persecution begins in 1938

Selma Simon-Katz was born in Bad Arolsen in 1894. Her husband Karl was a wealthy cattle dealer, and they had four daughters. The family was living in Cloppenburg when the Nazi regime stepped up its campaign of terror against Jews. In the wake of the November pogroms of 1938 (the coordinated anti-Jewish attacks of November 9–10 often referred to as “Kristallnacht”), the Nazis arrested about 30,000 Jewish men. Karl Simon was one of them.

Released on condition they emigrate

The official reasons given for the arrests in the aftermath of the violent pogrom against the Jewish population were “protective custody” and the “restoration of order.” But in reality, most of those targeted were wealthy Jews. The Nazis used the arrests to force them to emigrate and surrender their property to the state. Karl Simon was sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Like many others, he had to guarantee that he would leave Germany in order to secure his release.

The St. Louis sets sail

When Karl was released, the family tried to escape Nazi persecution as quickly as possible. Selma had sent two of her daughters on a Kindertransport to England while her husband was still in custody. In May 1939, the rest of the family finally boarded the St Louis passenger ship in Hamburg.

The St. Louis and the promise of freedom

The Simon family was hoping to start a new life in Cuba – and perhaps eventually emigrate to the USA from there. They shared the same goal as the other passengers on the St. Louis and they were in a similar situation. There were more than 950 people on board. All of them were victims of Nazi persecution and all had landing permits that had been issued to them by the Cuban immigration authorities. A number of children were among the passengers.

Joy and relief at leaving Germany

During the voyage to Cuba, most of the passengers were looking forward to a new life in freedom. Some of them had already spent time in concentration camps. In order to secure their release, many – like Karl Simon – had signed a pledge promising to leave Germany. All the passengers on board the St. Louis had been forced to leave most of their possessions behind; they were only allowed to take 10 Reichsmark with them on their journey.

An unexpected turn of events

However, their journey was to take an unexpected turn. When they arrived in Cuba, they were refused entry. The Cuban government had changed the regulations for immigrants shortly before their arrival. Only 29 passengers were allowed to disembark in Havana. All attempts made by the German Captain Gustav Schröder to secure permission for his passengers to enter the USA or Canada met with failure. The governments of both countries refused to accept the refugees.

A death sentence for many refugees

In June 1939, the St. Louis finally turned back and set course for Europe again. After days of uncertainty at sea, the ship was finally allowed to dock in Antwerp, Belgium. Returning to Germany was not an option for those stranded there. They had witnessed the escalating radicalization under Nazi rule and feared they would be imprisoned in a concentration camp again if they went back. The passengers were accepted by the governments of the Netherlands, France, Belgium, and England. But tragically, this apparent rescue would turn out to be a death sentence for some of them.

Interned in the Westerbork transit camp

The Simon family emigrated to the Netherlands and spent the next three years in Arnhem. However, they were not safe from the Nazi regime there either, especially when Germany occupied the Netherlands on May 15, 1940. In 1942, Jews began to be deported from the Netherlands to German extermination camps. Westerbork, a former refugee camp now under German administration, served as a central assembly point. The Simon family were interned there along with others who had previously fled from Germany or Austria. The eldest daughter, Edith, had managed to emigrate to England shortly beforehand. 

Transport to the Sobibor extermination camp

On May 18, 1943, the Nazis deported Selma and Karl Simon and their 14-year-old daughter Ilse to the Sobibor extermination camp in eastern Poland. They were murdered on arrival three days later – like most of the 33,000 people sent there from the Netherlands alone. Between 1942 and 1943, the Nazis killed between 150,000 and 250,000 people in Sobibor.

Few survivors

In October 1943, a group of prisoners staged an uprising. They succeeded in killing a number of SS men, including the deputy camp commandant Johann Niemann, and managed to cut the telephone wires. As they fled from the remaining guards, many were shot or died in the minefield that the SS had planted around the perimeter of the camp. Only about 200 prisoners managed to reach the safety of the woods close by. Those prisoners who remained in the camp were murdered.

Little evidence remains of Sobibor

After the uprising, the Nazis razed the camp to the ground and destroyed all the documents. It is not possible to determine the exact number of victims with any certainty now. Photographs from a photo album belonging to the camp commandant were made accessible to the public in January 2020. They came into his family’s possession when the camp was dissolved. Among the most important sources of information available today are the firsthand accounts of the few survivors. Jules Schelvis was one of them. He visited the Arolsen Archives in 2004 and presented a book he had written, in which he reflects upon his experiences in Sobibor.