United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Clara Renee Keren Vromen (also known as Clary) was born on September 27, 1931 in Enschede, Netherlands, to Abraham Vromen and Minnie van Dam. Minnie was born in Enschede on June 6, 1907 to Isidoor van Dam (1876-1952) and Clara Samson (1880-1964). She had two sisters: Hettie Wilhelmina van Dam (later Hettie van der Meulen, 1902-1975) and Edith Rebecca van Dam (1918-1988). Minnie and Abraham married on December 13, 1927 in Enschede. Clara had one brother, Jaap Herman Vromen (also known as Jacob, b. July 21, 1930). Clara’s father was a businessman and head of Hachsara, a Zionist youth movement. The family immigrated to Palestine and settled in Tel Aviv. Minnie and Abraham divorced in 1934, and Minnie and the children returned to the Netherlands and settled in The Hague. Minnie studied to become a hospital assistant. In May 1940 Germany invaded and occupied the Netherlands. Minnie worked as a social worker, and received papers that protected her from deportation. By 1943 Minnie had gone into hiding under the false identity of Nellie Boorsman. She later used the false identity of Mininie Helene Lebeboer. Minnie hid her children first with two different families in Deurne, Netherlands. Jaap was later hidden with Annie (Anneke) and Johan Le Febre until liberation. Clara was hidden with a Catholic family, Riek and Gerard Hoefs and their children, in Utrecht, Netherlands. Clara remained in the house until liberation under the false identity of a cousin from Zeelandic Flanders. Clara and her family were all reunited after the war. They moved back to their home in Enschede, but found that their apartment was occupied by strangers. The family then moved to Amsterdam. Clara moved to London in 1950 to study nursing, and immigrated to Israel in 1952. Both of Minnie’s parents were briefly imprisoned in Westerbork, but survived the Holocaust. Riek and Gerard Hoefs were named Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in 1977.
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The collection is arranged as a single series.
The collection documents the prewar, wartime, and postwar experiences of Clara Vromen, originally of Enschede, Netherlands, along with her mother Minnie van Dam, her grandparents Clara and Isidor van Dam, and her brother Jaap Vromen. Included are biographical materials, correspondence, photographs, a personal narrative, and clippings. Biographical materials include identification documents, paperwork regarding Westerbork, and a list of gold and silver items owned by Isidor. There are also false identification cards for Minnie and Isidor under the names of Mininie Helene Lebeboer and Frederik Borger respectively. Other material includes Clara Vromen’s autograph book, personal narratives by Minnie in Dutch and English, and a collection of postwar clippings regarding hidden children in the Netherlands. Correspondence includes wartime and postwar letters exchanged by Minnie, her sisters Hettie and Edith, her children, and her parents Isidor and Clara. Photographs primarily consist of postwar family photographs, but also include prewar depictions of Minnie’s wedding and the family house in Enschede, and postwar depictions of Riek and Gerard Hoefs and their children, whom Clara Vromen hid with during the war. Also included are annotated photograph collages of the family in the Netherlands during the war.
Clara Renee Keren Vromen papers