Married to Zwiers, Fransiskus Johannes Zwiers (none Jew)

Jacob Rozendal was born at Havelte in 1852. He married Schoontje Glazer (born in Havelte in 1857) on 28 Febuary 1878. Soon after their marriage they moved to Meppel. The couple had seven children: Saartje, Jettje, Lezer, Jacob, Klazina, Aleida and Vrouwgien. Two of the children died before they had reached marriageable age (Lezer and Saartje); all the other five children married. Before the war four of the children were living in Meppel (Jacob, Jettje, Vrouwgien and Aleida).
Jacob sr. died at Staphorst on 10 May 1924; his wife Schoontje survived him sixteen years and died just before the Second World War on 5 January 1940. Vrouwgien (born in 1891) married Hendrikus Johannes Knoops (1893) in 1918. He was not Jewish. They had six children. Vrouwgien died on 16 September 1939, just before the war.

	Vrougien Knoops-Rozendal, Aleida’s sister, who died before the war.

Aleida (1893) married Franciskus Johannes Zwiers (non- Jewish) in 1913. They had eleven children! Jacob married a Jewish girl and Jettje was not married when the war broke out; we will come back to them later.
At the beginning of the war Aleida Zwiers-Rozendal, her husband and children had to report to Meppel local council as part of regulation 6/1941, which said that all Jewish persons had to beregistered. Before 21 February everyone had to fill in a form (for which of course a sum of fl 1,- had to be paid) and send it to the town clerk’s office. As anyone who had at least one fully-Jewish grand parent was considered ‘entirely or partly of Jewish blood’ the Zwiers families did not escape from these new measures.
Aleida at once contacted the Netherlandsch Israelitische Council in Meppel to ask them if they would declare that they weren’t members of this council. The council wanted to help, but to no avail. Meppel local council was unrelenting; the form had to be filled in.
The family did not have to pay the fl 1,- because their income was not enough.

	Aleida Zwiers-Rozendal received from the Mayor of Meppel the certificate of ‘Mixed Marriage’ on the 16th of September 1942.

The ‘J’ printed in bold type was put on Aleida’s identity papers mid-1941; for her children this was not necessary. That was just the beginning. Having to wear the Star of David by the end of April 1942 was another of all the indignities they had to suffer.
Jews from the age of six who went outside were obliged to wear on their clothes the yellow Star of David upon which the word ‘Jew’ was printed. In exchange for one textile point and a sum of 4 cents they received a specimen of the star.
How must they have felt? We know that Aleida Zwiers was ashamed of the stigma of this star. Then Aleida had to fill in a form that stated that her marriage was a ‘mixed marriage’. On 16 September Aleida’s statement was finished and sent to the Rijksinspectie van de Bevolkingsregisters (the Registry Office). On 3 October when most of the Meppel Jews had to leave their homes, one in ten Jews legally remained in Meppel, among them Aleida Zwiers-Rozendal. For Aleida it was not over yet. Bureaucratic measures pursued the few remaining Jews in Meppel.
Regarding Aleida a Fragenbogen zur Judenerfassung (questionnaire for registering Jews) was drawn up at the beginning of 1943.
In this all relevant information about her and her family was written. At the end of this document was written: no proof of exemption is granted. ‘Freistellungsvermerk: nein’. (exemption: no).
That meant the end of her stay in Meppel. The reason for this unexpected deportation to Westerbork may have been betrayal. Aleida had two portraits of members of the royal family hanging on the wall: Queen Wilhelmina and princess – regent Emma. These portraits offended the Germans, and if they needed a reason to deport her, this was definitely one. Probably a family member tipped her off to Mr Kroon, a member of NSB (the Dutch National Socialist Party), who then informed the police.
Some members of NSB had there own philosophies about the Jews:

Jews were extortionists and spongers. Jews threw stones and were moneygrubbers. In short, they did not behave like other people. I heard around me that it was a good thing that Jews were sent to camps in the east. There they could be re-educated and taught how to work. That those Jews were being dealt with was a good thing, I understood.

	Aleida Zwiers-Rozendal.

Aleida ended up in Westerbork. Without any doubt she would have been transported to the east if her eldest daughter had not found a way to bribe the camp guard. Aleida was allowed to go to Amsterdam for a health check. Together with her daughter she got on the train, heading for the hospital in Amsterdam, not to the East but to the West!
During a stop over in Meppel, a niece boarded the train to accompany the ladies. The three of them went to the Jewish hospital. There they met someone from Meppel, Julie Drukker, who worked there. They spoke a few words and then Aleida left the hospital, her bag covering the Star of David. First she took the tram, and then she took a train back to Meppel, where she survived the war (contrary to her brother and sister). The Germans never arrested her again. She had to wear the Star of David on her coat until the end of 1943. Then the Mayor of Meppel received a letter from the Rijksinspectie van de Bevolkingsregisters (Registry Office):

The Commissioner-General for Security declares that Rozendal, Aleida, married to Zwiers, born 14 January 1893 in …, living in Meppel at 25 Hagendwarsstraat, is granted exemption from wearing the Star of David. It is the wish of the German authorities that this exemption be granted as stated below. It is to be registered in the population register; the person concerned should be given a new identity paper with a J stamped on it by the Inspectorate. (On the identity card section 6), after the indication ‘J’ an * ought to be placed, which means: excemption Star of David.

This time again the council will have carried out the measure immediately. This meant that Aleida at the end of November 1943 no longer had to wear the star on her clothes when she left the house.

Hagendwarsstraat.