Hans Peeper (* 1939) grew up in Amsterdam as the son of Dora and Simon Peeper. In June 1943, the family was first deported to the Westerbork transit camp and, in March 1944, to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Upon arrival, Dora Peeper was placed in the women’s camp. She died three months before liberation from exhaustion and malnutrition. Simon Peeper was forced to perform heavy physical labor and was regularly abused. When he fell ill, he was transferred to the infirmary barracks; little Hans was allowed to stay with his father. During the evacuation of the camp, the National Socialists did not include them. Thus, father and son experienced the liberation by British troops, who found more than 10,000 bodies in Bergen-Belsen.
Simon Peeper was taken to a hospital in Eindhoven to recover; during this time, the Spies family took Hans into their home. Because he had contracted the tuberculosis virus in the concentration camp, Hans initially had to remain in bed for nine months. He then spent another nine months in a children’s sanatorium. After his recovery, Hans lived with his father and stepmother. Almost all of his family members were murdered during the war—yet Hans managed to preserve a positive outlook on life. As a contemporary witness, he shares his personal story with school classes.
