There are many books about family histories in the world. This one was still missing: The history of the Jewish family Van Gelder in the Netherlands. The title “Beautiful People” was chosen in order to accentuate the unique appearance of the members of this family.
The research revealed roughly 7700 blood-related people. The oldest trace goes back almost three hundred years to the town Gendringen, situated in the province of Gelderland. About two hundred years ago some of the members of the Van Gelder family moved from the Dutch village Terborg to the Dutch city Groningen.Described is the life of this family as researched in old papers, manuscripts and interviews. The book describes not only the history of Van Gelder but also of Goldsmit, Swartberg, Koekkoek, Vissel and Turksma. The Second World War brought great tragedy to the family. More than one hundred members were deported-young and old, big and small. Most went to the concentration camp Auschwitz (Oswiecim) or they were executed in Holland. There must have been more, but the information has not been saved. It is the wish of the author to bring the names of these family members back to our remembrance that he set out to perform the research and wrote down the findings as well as he possibly could do.
The research revealed roughly 7700 blood-related people. The oldest trace goes back almost three hundred years to the town Gendringen, situated in the province of Gelderland. About two hundred years ago some of the members of the Van Gelder family moved from the Dutch village Terborg to the Dutch city Groningen.Described is the life of this family as researched in old papers, manuscripts and interviews. The book describes not only the history of Van Gelder but also of Goldsmit, Swartberg, Koekkoek, Vissel and Turksma. The Second World War brought great tragedy to the family. More than one hundred members were deported-young and old, big and small. Most went to the concentration camp Auschwitz (Oswiecim) or they were executed in Holland. There must have been more, but the information has not been saved. It is the wish of the author to bring the names of these family members back to our remembrance that he set out to perform the research and wrote down the findings as well as he possibly could do.
