ca-005461-ra024-02
record resource extent: Extent of descriptive unit: 1 photocopy of a copy of an original death announcement; 1 notice of registration from the American Consulate in Rotterdam, Netherlands; 1 official identity card; 2 forged identity cards; and 2 ration cards.
identifier: RA024-02
is or was included in: ca-005461-ra024
archival history: Records were in the custody of Sorensen prior to their acquisition by the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre in 2019.
biographical history: Louise Stein Sorensen was born in Rotterdam on February 12, 1929 to Isidor Stein and Marianne (Jeanne) van Dam. Her sister, Eleonore, was born in 1923. Sorensen’s immediate family moved from Rotterdam to Amsterdam in 1936.Sorensen’s father ran a fur coat factory; the business was appropriated in 1941. In June 1942, Sorensen’s family home and all its contents were confiscated by the Nazis. After their home was expropriated, the family was moved to Amsterdam and placed in what would become the Jewish ghetto. They were temporarily protected by an exemption list, which was cancelled in January 1943. After their exemption was cancelled the family went into hiding, with help from a non-Jewish relative in Hilversum who was able to help them attain forged identity cards and their first hiding addresses. At her first address, Sorensen used the false name Loes van Boven. She was separated from her parents and sister and moved from home to home around the Netherlands. Sorensen had help from members of the resistance.Sorensen and her parents were reunited in the fall of 1943 and hidden by a farmworker and his wife in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. They stayed inside in an attic every day until mid-April 1945 when Canadian soldiers liberated the area. While Sorensen’s parents and sister survived, they later found out through the Red Cross that nearly all of their extended family had been murdered in Sobibor, Auschwitz and in Minsk and Transylvania.Louise Stein Sorensen graduated from the University of Amsterdam with a degree in Social Psychology in 1956. She married Eigil (Ike) Kaergaard Sorensen in her home town in January 1959. Shortly thereafter, she moved to British Columbia with her husband, a Danish immigrant who already resided there. They had two sons and three grandsons. Sorensen has been an outreach speaker for the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre since 1985 and was a VHEC board member for ten years. Additionally, she was a member of the Gesher Project, a group of survivo…
other finding aids: Item level description available.
has record set type: Series
date: 1941-[19--?]
title: Family records
type: RecordSet
physical characteristics and technical requirements: The items in this series display subtle signs of aging and handling through the discoloration, stains, fading, folds, creases, and tears of the materials.
record resource structure: Items have been arranged chronologically by the archivist according to the date of creation of the item.
archivist note: Series arranged in July 2019 by Ally Bebbling.
has or had some members with language: eng
has or had holder: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/institutions/ca-005461
scope and content: Series consists of records pertaining to several family members of Sorensen. Included is a photocopy of a copy of an original document announcing the death of Sorensen’s great-grandfather, Mozes van Dam; an original notice of registration from the American Consulate in Rotterdam, Netherlands; an official identity card for Marianne Stein (née van Dam); forged identity cards used by Sorensen’s mother, Marianne Stein, and great aunt, Jansje van Dam; and original ration cards used to receive textiles and to buy food staples like potatoes, butter, bread, milk and meat.
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/ca-005461-ra024-02/acquisitions/1
has or had some members with language: nld
accruals: Further accruals are not expected.