Josef Bloemendal was born in Bad Kissingen on November 15, 1912 as the youngest son of Siegfried Bloemendal and Fanny Neustadt. He attended Kissingen Realschule and for 16 years lived with his family in Grabengasse 8, before he went to Halberstadt/ Harz – presumable for his training – for half a year. After that he returned to Bad Kissingen. After his commercial training, Josef Bloemendal ran a newsagent’s business in Bad Kissingen together with his brother Manfred. 

As they sold books and newspapers that were not approved by the Nazi authorities, Josef Bloemendal was temporarily arrested in 1933. After that, at the end of July 1933 he moved to Hamburg, his mother’s hometown. From there he wrote a letter to his father Siegfried that got into the hands of the Nazis because they monitored all mail. The letter dealt with the deliverance of literature to Studienprofessor (Professor of Studies = outdated title for teacher at a Grammar School) Emil Held in Bad Kissingen. As the Bloemendals’ newspaper shop only sold printed matters the Nazis objected to, a temporary ban of the delivery of mail to Emil Held was ordered by the Town Commissioner of Bad Kissingen. All mail - including the telegrams - was confiscated. This measure shows how bad the situation of the Bloemendals was under the new government when even their customers had to expect repressions.

Like the rest of the family, Josef Bloemendal also emigrated to the Netherlands, where he worked as a “handels-reiziger” (travelling tradesman). On September 2, 1941, he married Anna Hamburg, a nurse from Arnheim who was one year his junior. The young couple lived with Josef’s parents Siegfried and Fanny in Driekoningenwarsstraat 87 in Arnheim. Josef Bloemendal was deported to Auschwitz Concentration Camp, presumably via the collective camp of Westerbork. There he died on March 31, 1944.

(Andreas Reuter)