Keuter family papers

Albert Keuter, (1892-1944) was a Mennonite minister born in Blokzijl, Netherlands, to Barend and Wilhelmina Keuter. He married Elisabeth van der Lee in 1917, and they lived in the Hague with their five children: Barend Klaas (Jons, 1918-1944), Cornelia (Corrie, b. 1919), Elisabeth (Beppie, b. 1924), Willem (Wim, b. 1928), and Alberdina (Appie, b. 1936). Following the German occupation during World War II, the family was evicted from their home because the Germans were creating a combat zone (“Tankgracht”) in the area. Albert Keuter became involved in the Dutch resistance group Ter Galestin, not knowing that his oldest son, Barend, was also active in the resistance. Albert was arrested at a train station on January 5, 1944, and his son Willem witnessed the arrested because he was at the station to pick up his father. Barend was arrested shortly after, and both Albert and Barend were imprisoned in Scheveningen (the Oranje Hotel prison). They were transferred to Vught concentration camp on June 6, to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp on September 6, and to Bergen Belsen on February 5, 1945. Barend died at Bergen Belsen on March 5th and his father on March 10th. The Keuter family papers consist of letters written by Albert and Barend Klaas Keuter from the Oranje Hotel prison in Scheveningen, Netherlands, and smuggled to their family describing their arrests, conditions in prison, hunger, and solitude. The papers also include wartime records documenting restrictions on Dutch civilians under the Nazi occupation and the family’s concerns for Albert and Barend; and postwar correspondence to Elizabeth Keuter conveying information about what happened to Albert and Barend in the Vught, Sachsenhausen, and Bergen Belsen concentration camps. Most of the documents are accompanied by annotated translations.