THE CHILDREN’S CARERS

Antonie Hölzel

Antonie Hölzel, known as Anton, was born on 7 May 1909 in Deventer in the Netherlands. He was the child of a social-democratic working-class family. As a young man he went to live in The Hague, where he set up a family and worked as a truck driver and as a waiter in a coffeehouse. Anton Hölzel was a member of the Communist Party. On 10 September 1941 he was arrested by security forces of the police because he had acquired a newspaper banned by the German occupying force.

From Amersfoort interim camp he was deported to Buchenwald Concentration Camp as a political prisoner, where he arrived on 31 March 1942. His prisoner’s number was 2195. He was put to work in the sickbay as a prisoners’ orderly. On 6 June 1944 he and Dirk Deutekom were transferred to Neuengamme Concentration Camp. He also worked as a prisoners’ orderly in the sickbay. In November 1944 he was detailed to care for the 20 children on whom Dr. Kurt Heißmeyer was carrying out medical experiments.