License Plates of Dutch Jewish Children Discovered at Sobibor Nazi Camp

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(CNN) --

Relatives of four Dutch children killed by the Nazis expressed their sadness after being told their identity tags were found in the ruins of a concentration camp.

The Sobibor extermination camp in Nazi-occupied Poland was established in March 1942 and closed at the end of 1943 following an uprising of prisoners.

Some 250,000 Jews died there, according to the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center.

Following Germany's invasion of the Netherlands in 1940, some 107,000 Jews were deported from the country, most to Auschwitz and Sobibor, where they were murdered.

According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), less than 25% of Dutch Jews survived.

Archaeologists spent 10 years excavating the demolished remains of Sobibor.

Among the dead were two uncles of Yoram Haimi, the Israeli archaeologist who spent 10 years excavating the Sobibor site alongside his colleagues Wojciech Mazurek from Poland and Ivar Schute from the Netherlands.

Together they discovered metal identity tags belonging to four Jewish children.

The discovery made headlines last year, as the plates appeared to have been made not by authorities, but by relatives worried they might be separated.

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Deddie Zak was 8 years old when he was killed in Sobibor.

His identity tag is one of four excavated at the site.

The plaques, now in the Majdanek State Museum in Poland, bore the names, dates of birth and addresses of Deddie Zak, Annie Kapper, David Van Der Velde and Lea Judith De La Penha.

Deddie and Lea's relatives were located before the discoveries were publicly announced last January.

But, no trace of Annie and David's families had been found, until now.

Deddie Zak's badly burned plaque was found in one of the death camp's crematoria.

This month, researchers at the genealogy site MyHeritage located his closest living relatives in the United States.

Roi Mandel, director of research for MyHeritage, used archives and family trees to connect the dots.

Mandel told CNN: "I felt it was my duty to find the living relatives of Annie and David, to tell them what was found in the cursed land of Sobibor and to hear from them the story of their almost extinct family. They are the only ones remaining branches of the huge family trees and will have a duty to tell the story of these children to future generations.

Polish archaeologist Wojciech Mazurek (left) with his Israeli colleague Yoram Haimi (right) at Sobibor.

"It makes him a real person"

Siblings Sheryl and Rick Kool are David's second cousins: their grandmother was their great-grandfather's sister.

The Kools, whose parents were born in the Netherlands, knew that many of their relatives perished, but were unaware of David, who died at the age of 10.

Siblings Sheryl and Rick Kool lost many family members in the Holocaust, in addition to David Van Der Velde.

Only one person in this image survived.

Sheryl, who lives in Seattle, told CNN: "I was really surprised because I didn't know anything about David and that part of the family."

He added: "The Holocaust was so dehumanizing. So having a specific name and a specific symbol of his life makes him a real person."

"Obviously it's sad but rewarding to have more information and to put more pieces of the puzzle together."

There are no photos of David Van Der Velde, as far as his second cousins ​​know.

His brother, who lives in Canada, told CNN: "David's nameplate has reminded me of the pain that my grandmother and so many others, who by luck or intention managed to avoid the fate of their murdered relatives, must have carried with them. until the end of his days."

"A Voice from Beyond"

Annie's aluminum plate was found near a mass grave.

Her family was sent to Sobibor on March 30, 1943. When the train arrived three days later, all 1,255 passengers were sent to the gas chambers.

Annie was 12 years old.

Marc Draisen has just learned about his cousin Annie, whose plaque was discovered at the dig.

MyHeritage located Annie's second cousin, Marc Draisen, in Boston.

Annie's father, Meijer, was a first cousin of her mother Tilly.

"It was like having a voice from beyond the grave," Draisen told CNN.

Draisen, who has never seen a photo of Annie, said: "The parents, by creating this name plate, were desperately trying to maintain their daughter's identity and some hope of survival which, of course, was not achieved."

The moment Mandel made contact was eerily moving, Draisen said.

"My wife did some research and she soon learned that Annie's birthday was January 9, the same day MyHeritage contacted me. She would have been 91."

Annie's great-grandmother, Judith, also died in the Holocaust in 1943, aged 87.

Following the 1943 uprising, the Germans dismantled the camp.

The site was plowed and planted with a pine forest, according to the USHMM.

Haimi told CNN that the excavation, which began in 2007, revealed the location of the gas chambers.

"There were eight rooms, 350 square meters of carnage: between 800 and 900 victims in six or seven minutes," he said.

The excavation revealed 80,000 artifacts, including shoes, jewelry, teeth, handbags and cutlery, Haimi added.

Haimi welcomed the revelations: "If there are relatives still living they may have some information about these children. We want their stories told."

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"Deddie is my angel"

Cousins ​​Deddie and Lies photographed shortly before being deported to Sobibor.

Lies Caransa traveled to Sobibor with her son in 2013, after being told about her first cousin Deddie's plaque.

They were close as they spent a lot of time together at their grandparents' house.

Less than 4 years old, Caransa was placed in a nursery when her family was rounded up in 1943. Her mother survived Auschwitz, but she never saw Deddie, then 8, her uncles or grandparents again.

Now 82 and living in Amsterdam, Caransa told CNN: "Because I don't have anything from him, it was a shock, but also a sign from heaven."

Deddie and Lies spent a lot of time with their grandmother Sara, who also died on Sobibor.

"I always thought I had a guardian angel on my shoulder because many times I was dangerously ill but I always recovered. I think Deddie is my angel."

Caransa received a replica of the plaque, as Polish law dictates that all archaeological finds belong to the state.

However, he has been fighting for the original for years, without success.

"I have no brothers, no sisters, no aunts, no uncles, and my mother died a long time ago. So I hope to get it back before I die," he said.

Deddie with her parents Simon and Judith Zak, who also perished on Sobibor.

"Absolutely shocking"

Lea was just six years old when she was deported and killed in Sobibor.

Lea lived with her mother Judith and her father David in Amsterdam.

In June 1943 the family was deported to the Westerbork transit camp and finally to Sobibor.

She died at 6 years old.

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Suzanna Flora Munnikendam is Lea's second cousin, her grandmothers were sisters.

She knew that her grandmother had died in Sobibor, but she had never heard of Lea.

"It's absolutely shocking," he told CNN.

A Majdanek museum spokeswoman said the plaques "offer a rare opportunity to identify" some of the victims.

"The tangible evidence of their lives that were brutally ended upon their arrival at the Sobibor unloading ramp allows us not only to uncover their story, but also to pass it on to the next generation and keep the memory of the victims alive."

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