Two books on persecution of Jews in Nijmegen published

Photo: Remembrance center camp Westerbork

Months of fear and horror

Accounting for a downfall

On Sunday, November 20, a double book presentation took place in the House of Nijmegen History on the Mariënburg in Nijmegen. These were Months of Fear and Terror by Fritz Tauber and Accounts of a Downfall by Leo van den Munkhof and Willem Oosterbaan.

To commemorate the great razzia of November 17-18, 1942, Stichting Stolpersteine Nijmegen is republishing Fritz Tauber's eyewitness account. The book appeared in 2004 under the title Rondom Westerbork. Fritz Tauber and his wife Helene Tauber-Büks had come to Nijmegen from Austria in 1938. They lived at Mariënburg 70. Fritz worked as a structural engineer-draftsman at Willem Smit & Co's Transformers Factory. On the night of November 17, 1942, they were arrested. While in hiding, Fritz poignantly described their fate from November 1942 to summer 1943. The first copy of Months of Fear and Horror was presented to Rebecca Bateman, a niece of Helene Tauber-Büks.

In Boekhouding van een ondergang, Willem Oosterbaan and Leo van den Munkhof describe how the systematic process of the persecution of the Jews took place, how the Nijmegen police were closely involved in the execution, and how the municipality of Nijmegen and the Nazi regime recorded the course to death in a virtually closed bookkeeping system. The first copy of Boekhouding van een ondergang was presented to Tobias van Elferen, alderman of the municipality of Nijmegen.

Fritz Tauber
Months of Fear and Horror;
Eyewitness Account Nijmegen Westerbork, Amsterdam, Rotsterhaule 1942-1943.
Stichting Stolpersteine Nijmegen, 2022. Isbn 978 90 832 9560 2, € 15.00, 88 pp.

Leo van den Munkhof & Willem Oosterbaan
Accounting for a downfall;
The razzia of November 17, 1942 in Nijmegen.
Foundation Stolpersteine Nijmegen, 2022. Isbn 978 90 832 9561 9, € 15.00, 84 pp.