- Birth Certificate
- Lieselotte
- Poesie Album
-
Collection
- Notebook
- School
- Letters
- Olly
Poetry album of Lotte Sigmund
1939-Summer 1940: Aerdenhout, November 1940 - July 1941: Bussum.
It is very special that this poetry album has been preserved.
In May 1942, everything in the house of the De Nooij family, where Sigmund was living, was inventoried and recorded. From furniture to the children's toys and books. Earlier, Sigmund had already moved valuable possessions to safety because they expected this to happen.
In addition to this poetry album, a few notebooks belonging to Kurt and Lotte have also been preserved.
Poesie album
A poetry album was given to classmates, family, or friends who wrote a verse in it. They were often sturdily bound booklets with light-colored paper. The verses were carefully written with a pen, sometimes in elegant handwriting.
The pictures consisted of glossy, embossed images of flowers, roses, forget-me-nots, little angels, cute children and baskets of flowers. The tone of the verses was often sentimental, moralistic, or pious, with a strong emphasis on friendship, virtue, and remembrance (forget-me-not). The album had something of a memorial book about it, something to keep.
Poetry album by Liselotte Sigmund, from Sinterklaas December 6, 1938
Lotte received her Poesie album from Sinterklaas on December 6, 1938. The entries in the album tell the story of the Sigmund family. They first lived in Aerdenhout, where the first verses were also written by classmates and friends. In October 1940, the family moved to the Hooftlaan in Bussum. Contributions from this period include those from Mr. and Mrs. de Nooij, with whom the Sigmund family lived. There are also contributions from Agnes Bruin, with whom Lotte corresponded, and from Esther Souget, who was in the same class as Lotte after Jewish children were no longer allowed to attend school.
Just like his wife Käthe, Ernst writes a little poem in Lotte's poetry album, in Dutch.
Be calm, be sure,
be true and be good,
and in sorrow show precisely
your faithfulness and your courage.
He who is strong and brave
and knows how to bear the blow,
always tries to help
and does not think of complaining.
your father
Names poetry album Lotte
Mother Käthe
Father Ernst
Brother Kurt
Grossmutter Netta
Totie Diewes
Peter Gross
Geertje Wilner
Renate Hertz
Ciska Schippers
Jansje Wilner
Erica Schmidt
Béla Brandon
J.M. Hofland
Anneke Post
A J Koning
Trudie Domhoff
Annie v.d. Weide
Bep Kamp
Fietje Beets
Louky Boltmann
Ans Walop
Rieteke Bonebakker
Nel Leenman
Mej F van der Duin
Je Blonde Vriend
J de Nooij
G.U.F. de Nooij-Krüger
Hannah van Son
Toos Bokhoven
Rieteke Bonebakker
Agnes Bruin
Ariane des Bouvrie
Gerda Dekker
Esther Souget
Marijke van Benthem Jutting
Marcella
E.S. Weijl
Grandmother Netta Sigmund writes in German. Immediately after Kristallnacht, she fled to the Netherlands. When she wrote this little poem in Lotte's poetry album, she had only been in the Netherlands for about 7 weeks.
January 9, 1939
Dearest Lieselotte!
When, after many years,
my name is spoken,
then think back and say,
we were kindred spirits.
Roses, tulips, carnations,
all these fade,
steel and iron break,
but our love does not.
This in remembrance,
from your grandmother
Kurt was 6.5 years old when he wrote this.
Aerdenhout January 16, 1939
Dear Liselotte!
I wasn't born a poet
so I can't write poetry
but still I want to be in your album
so I put my name here
your little brother
Koertie
lieffu lot
Lieffe lot means Dear Lotte, written as it was pronounsed in Dutch. At the back of the album lay a card with a text from Kurt on the back. He wrote: lieffe lot hoe gaat h - gaat het goe - faal . la. On the left side it says: maar hoe gaat m ju; he probably meant to write: how are you doing? The last letter e has been heavily changed into a u. The card is made of fairly thick paper; the u is clearly visible on the other side of the card. At the bottom of the card is written: 13 December 1939 Kurti 3 mnd. Apparently, they called him Kurti. The card has been made smaller; some letters go over the edge of the card.
Pictures
At the back of the album, there was also an envelope containing poetry album pictures. The albums were exchanged among people so they could write a verse in each other's albums. It was customary to paste a picture or draw a picture to go with it. Lotte's pictures were in this envelope.
E Weijl
The last contribution to Lotte's poetry album came from E. (Elly) Weijl. She worked for Ernst Sigmund as a secretary in Amsterdam. Elly looked after the affairs of Ernst and Käthe. On the 'Westerbork' page on this site are two letters that Elly wrote.
Investigation
The poetry album has been preserved by the children of the De Nooij family.
For all the names appearing in the poetry album, an attempt was made to ascertain whether the individuals are still alive. Contact was made with surviving relatives and family members regarding a number of them, who might have more information, such as photographs.
Esther (David) Souget survived the war, but unfortunately, she had no photos of Lotte and Kurt. Esther passed away in 2019.
The daughters of Marijke van Benthem Jutting had a class photo; see school.
Appeal
This is an appeal to the family or next of kin of Lotte's school friends to take a good look through old photos to see if there are any class photos (Montessori school), birthday photos, etc., in which Lotte (might) appear.
Contact: siodesigner@gmail.com