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Sophie Cahn-Leviticus
(Sophie Rosette)

∗ 04-12-1913 Dordrecht     † 31-10-1944 Auschwitz / Oświęcim (30)
- Valkenburg - ✡ - -

On July 30, 1942, Sophie Rosette Leviticus and Louis Cahn. married in Dordrecht (where her family lived).
See also the announcement in the weekly newspaper Joods Weekblad of August 7, 1942, on the occasion of the simultaneous wedding of Sophie and her brother Henri. It mentions as her new address Grendelplein 8, Valkenburg. [1]
This was Lou’s parents’ house, now numbered Grendelplein 7.

In Bezwaard verleden, the Arolsen Archive is cited. Unfortunately, this link is no longer available. [2]
After their wedding, the couple moved to Korte Waal 30 in Amsterdam. They were arrested in their hiding place.

The biography of her husband Louis Jacques Cahn on genealogieonline states that they had previously gone into hiding in Leerdam and only then moved to a new hiding place in Amsterdam. Of course, they were still registered in Valkenburg-Houthem and not at their hiding places. That is where the police went to deliver the summons to Louis’ parents, as we shall see. We must bear in mind that their wedding took place on July 30, 1942, in Dordrecht and that they should have reported for the first deportation on August 25, 1942. After Louis and probably also his wife had been summoned for this transport, they did not appear.
The Valkenburg city archives contain a letter dated August 24, 1942, from Louis’s father to the mayor. He writes that his son had married in Dordrecht and had not returned. “When I inquired in Dordrecht, I was told that no one there knew where the newlyweds were either. Now I believe that he left for Poland with his wife, as he repeatedly emphasized that he would not let his wife go alone if the call to leave for Poland came in Dordrecht, and that this was precisely why they had gotten married so quickly.”

In reality, the young couple went into hiding with a family in Leerdam. Nine months later, they moved to Amsterdam, where they were arrested. Lou was imprisoned on November 30, 1942, in the prison on Amstelveenseweg. Sophie was taken to the Hollandse Schouwburg. Records from Westerbork show that Sophie was deported to Auschwitz on December 8, 1942, where she died at the age of 29. According to records from the Joodsche Raad, Lou was transported to Westerbork on January 8, 1943. However, he jumped from the train that was supposed to take him to Camp Westerbork. He was shot and wounded in the legs and head. He persuaded a policeman who found him to let him go by offering him jewelry he had hidden in the hem of his pants. Sophie’s sister in Amsterdam treated his wounds. From there, he returned to his hiding place in Leerdam, where he remained until liberation. [3]

From this we can conclude that Sophie never actually lived in Valkenburg. Until her marriage in Dordrecht, after which they went into hiding in Leerdam and Amsterdam. Between her marriage and her arrest, she may have been registered in Valkenburg. This plays a role in the question of whether she should also be mentioned on the Jewish memorial at the entrance to the Jewish cemetery in Valkenburg.

Footnotes

1. joodsmonument.nl Sophia Rosette Cahn-Leviticus
2. R.J.T. van Rijsselt, E.F. van Rijsselt en M.C. Vlieks, Bezwaard Verleden, Ontrechting en Rechtsherstel van Joodse inwoners in de voormalige gemeenten Valkenburg-Houthem en Berg en Terblijt, PDF, Copyright © 2025
   ISBN/EAN 978-90-9040873-6
3. Stamboom Martens IJsselstreek » Louis Jacques Cahn (1910-1996)