Updates: Bamberg dynasty of magicians

No supplements will be made of the book (?) PDF (?) of the Bamberg dynasty of magicians.

New findings will be published on this page.

Er worden geen supplementen gemaakt van het boek (?) PDF (?) van de Bamberg-dynastie van goochelaars.

Nieuwe bevindingen worden op deze pagina gepubliceerd.

Names mentioned in new findings are:

      • Bamberg, Abraham Leendert, see item 7;
      • Bamberg, Betje, see item 3;
      • Bamberg, Catarine, see item 32;
      • Bamberg, Colette, see item 25;
      • Bamberg, David Leendert, see items 18, 26;
      • Bamberg, David Samuel, see item 8;
      • Bamberg, David Tobias (“Fu-Manchu”), see item 16;
      • Bamberg, David Tobias (“Papa”), see items 19, 27, 32;
      • Bamberg, Eduard Henri, see item 9;
      • Bamberg, Eduard, see item 2;
      • Bamberg, Eliazer David Bamberg – see item 1;
      • Bamberg, Emanuel, see item 32;
      • Bamberg, Esther, see item 28;
      • Bamberg, Eva, see item 32;
      • Bamberg, Henri Eduard Gijsbert, see item 13;
      • Bamberg, Henri Eduard, see item 29;
      • Bamberg, Henri Eduard, see items 13, 14;
      • Bamberg, Judic, see item 2;
      • Bamberg, Judith, see item 32;
      • Bamberg, Kaatje, see item 32;
      • Bamberg, Liz, see item 17;
      • Bamberg, Margaretha, see item 33;
      • Bamberg, Maurits Samuel, see item 33;
      • Bamberg, Mozes, see item 30;
      • Bamberg, Nachman Nardus, see item 32;
      • Bamberg, Rebecca, see item 24;
      • Bamberg, Rebecca, see item 32;
      • Bamberg, Simon, see item 32;
      • Bamberg, Tobias Leendert, see item 5, 10, 12, 15, 21, 22, 32;
      • Bamberg, Tobias, see items 2, 3, 4, 18.
      • Bamberg, Yvonne, see item 20;
      • Bamberg-Delden, Judic, see items 31, 32;
      • Brugge (van der), Wijnandus Christianus, see item 28;
      • Cámara, Lola, see item 16;
      • Craane, Gerardina Maria Anna Antonetta, see item 13;
      • Delden, Bertha, see item 32;
      • Delden, Judic, see item 31, 32;
      • Delden, Nagman, see item 4;
      • Delden, Simon, see item 32;
      • Fu-Manchu, see items 16, 17;
      • Grohman, Heinrich, see item 25;
      • Grohman, Julie Therese, see item 25;
      • Grohman, Rudolph, see item 25;
      • Houdini, see item 11;
      • Keuls-Bamberg, Yvonne, see items 20, 33;
      • Kinsbergen, Levie, see items 2, 23;
      • Leeuwe (de), Engelina, see item 6;
      • Leeuwe (de), Leo, see item 32;
      • Leeuwe (de), Louis, see item 32;
      • Leeuwe-Bamberg (de), Rebecca, see item 24;
      • Maju, see item 23;
      • Mols-Leeuwe (de), Enny, see item 6;
      • Okita, see item 21;
      • Okito, see items 5, 10, 12, 15, 21, 22, 32;
      • Polak, Juliette, see item 32;
      • Polak-Bamberg, Judith, see item 32.
Update October 2024:

-1- A wooden leg. On page 34 of chapter 3, a drawing showed the magician with the wooden leg, Eliazer David Bamberg. It was black and white. A poem belonged to it. A colored version of this illustration popped up, together with the poem. Now, “D.L.” in the corner of that poem was noticeable, suggesting that it was Eliazer’s son David Leendert, who put this together.

-2- Marriage Kinsbergen-Bamberg. When Judic Bamberg and Levie Kinsbergen married on November 13, 1851, they put their signatures on their marriage certificate. We also see the signatures of Judic’s parents; not every woman could write in those years but mother Mariana Schrijver obviously could. Added are the signatures of the bride’s witnesses, their brothers Eduard and Tobias Bamberg. The signature below the last witness is Marcus Simon Kinsbergen, music master, cousin of the groom. (Also known as Meijer Simon).

-3- A signature. Signature of Tobias David Bamberg, at the birth certificate of his daughter Betje Bamberg.

-4- The house at the Muiderplein.  The residence of Tobias David Bamberg. He lived there with is family and eventually he and his brother-in-law Nagman Delden established their Kollegiekamer (see chapter 6 page 128). It is the building between the Nieuwe Amstelstraat (at right) and the Waterlooplein. The street maps show how the address Joden Amstelstraat was changed into Muiderplein. The adjacent streets then still had their old names: Joden Amstelstraat and Leprozengracht. The latter would become part of today’s Waterlooplein.

-5- An interview with Okito in the Netherlands. In March 1939, the Dutch artists’ magazine Morks Magazijn placed an eleven-page article entitled Okito over Goochelen (Okito about magic). The article begins with the observation that, in these dangerous and difficult times, fortunately childish pleasures are still maintained. Okito, the Chinese conjurer, a Dutchman as Chinese is presented in this article that primarily deals with well-known facts that already were described in our book. Also here, the alternative story was told that it was the impresario Frits van Haarlem, with his famous variety company, who thought tat it was a brilliant idea to introduce a mute magician as a variation on the eloquent magicians, who would radiate something of the mysticism of the Eastern magicians precisely in his silent role. Okito said that his children were born in were born in America (but son David was born in the UK) and that one of his grandsons was born in the Celestial Empire itself. (A new example of Okito’s phantasy stories). During the interview, his faithful helper appeared, who was tidying the dressing room in the fantastic costume of a Chinese beauty (this must have been Marie Dean). Among other far-away countries where he performed, Okito mentioned China and that he visited the Dalai Lama in Tibet with his son David, the South American illusionist Fu-Manchu (father and son never went there). Other stories followed, one more likely than the other: he has performed magic for the American presidents Taft, Roosevelt and Wilson, for King Edward VII of England, King Christian of Denmark, King Alfonso of Spain and for the former Sultan of Turkey. From the King of Siam he received a magnificent diamond ring, which he still wears with understandable pride. Okito mentioned that, in his early youth, he lived next door to the later famous Dutch entertainer Buziau, with whom he remained friends since childhood. “Even now, in Rijswijk, we live close to each other again and often reminisce about our shared childhood memories.” While speaking about the studio in his house, he speaks about the true treasures that he brought home from the Celestial Empire (where he never was). This is only a brief excerpt from the interview with and reporting about Okito.

-6- Enny Mols-de Leeuwe in the limelight. In December 1951, a richly illustrated article appeared on Enny Mols-de Leeuwe. (See chapter 15).  She was the daughter of Rebecca Bamberg, oldest child of David Tobias “Papa” Bamberg.

-7- An early foreign Bamberg performance. Bruce Averbook from Cleveland, who helped with illustrations about Okito and Fu-Manchu (see e.g. chapter 17 page 992), sent in a poster from Abraham Leendert Bamberg (chapter 5, with the text “With the approval of the authorities, on Sunday and Monday, July 13th and 14th, 1823, the student of the famous artist Pinetti A.L. Bamberg will have the honor of producing various physical and mechanical tricks as well as admirable transformations for the second time. The artist does not name the various tricks that he will have the honor of performing today and flatters himself with the hope that every … spectator will leave the venue happy and satisfied; he therefore asks for a kind and numerous responses, at the same time noting that new pieces will be produced at each performance. The venue is in the hall … Berlin … Tickets are only available at the box office, which opens at 7 p.m.; the show begins at 8 p.m. Prices of seats: First rank 8 groschen per person. Second rank 4 groschen per person.

-8- A Bamberg as tutor. In the early twentieth century, David Samuel Bamberg advertised as a tutor in the students’ magazine of the Technical University of Delft. He then lived in nearby The Hague.

-9- Bamberg, the international impresario. In June 1922, Eduard Henri Bamberg advertised in The Vaudeville News as a booking agent for Holland, Belgium, France, Great Britain and Scandinavia. He lived in Amsterdam.

-10- The Tarbell System – a good start for Fu-Manchu. The book Tarbell System was published in 1926. In chapters 17 and 24, this book was mentioned. Okito then lived in Europe but after his return to the USA he and Harlan Tarbell would become friends. Okito is mentioned is that book. Tarbell sent his book to Okito’s son David which was a source of inspiration for David when setting up his Fu-Manchu show in Argentina.

-11- Harry Houdini, Okito’s friend. In 1928, the book Houdini was published on the basis of recollections and documents of his wife Beatrice.Both Harry and Beatrice Houdini were mentioned in chapter 17.

-12- More props made by Okito. In 2021, pictures of props made by Okito were published in The Linking Ring.

-13- Recent Bambergs presented. In October 2000, Henri Eduard Gijsbert Bamberg passed away, at the age of 53. He did not appear before in the genealogy. He was born on May 4, 1947 as a son of Henri Eduard Bamberg. We see that Henri Eduard was married with Gerardina Maria Anna Antonetta Craane, born January 27, 1946 in Den Bosch. They became parents of a twin whose names are not disclosed here for privacy reasons.

-14- A Bamberg’s departure to the UK. On December 28, 1915, Eduard Henri Bamberg was deregistered from his address in Amsterdam (Van Woustraat) to London.

-15- A ship that brought the Bambergs to the USA. Many years, I sat in my local pub right next to a set of posters. Only recently, it hit me that one of these showed the Caronia, the ship of the Cunard Line that brought Okito with his family and his brother to the USA in 1907.

-16- More data about Fu-Manchu. In 1979, Claudinet (Justo Torrecillas Ruiz), the actor who worked with David Tobias Bamberg (Fu-Manchu) for a long time (see chapter 24), published the Origen e Historia de la Magia. Okito is mentioned a few times, about disappeared items (two items of a unique booklet, stored before in Salta, Argentina and various catalogs of the houses “CASA OKITO” and others. Lola Cámara, the widow of David Tobias Bamberg, is thanked for her contribution to Claudinet’s work. Fu-Manchu and Lola are mentioned multiple times. Some facts and names were already part of chapter 24 but much background was added in this document. For example, an artist named José Luís Rodríguez “Macaco”: on one of his tours, he met the famous magician “Fú Manchú” in Havana who recruited him for his show, touring all of Latin America and finally settling in Buenos Aires. When Fú left, he made him enter the Teatro Avenida, where fate would have it that he would find death. Someone saw David in Teatro Súper Cine. When Santer, a great artistic festival was organized for a circus artist, one of the performances was given by Fu-Manchu, the king of magicians. Fu-Manchu consulted the magician Carlos H. Colombi on some occasions to improve his show as much as possible. Dr. Hugo M. Puiggari “Mephisto” had a large collection of authentic Chinese costumes and kimonos belonging to Fu-Manchu (140) in total. Its material is valuable and varied, which allows it to organize shows of all kinds. Eduardo Subirana “Piuman” bought some of Fu-Manchu’s sets, including the front curtain, a real “tapestry” and the presentation book of the Bamberg dynasty (now we know where such items went to); he has a set of devices of great magical and intrinsic value. Most of these devices have been manufactured in Salta by skilled craftsmen under the direction and plans given to him by Fu-Manchu. In 1962, at the Segundo Congreso Mágico Argentino Internacional, a 68-page magazine was published, which contained, in addition to curious facts about magic, dates and the constitution of Magical Entities in the country, a large number of biographies of magicians such as Fu-Manchu. In one of Fu-Manchu’s last performances in Salta, Piuman went to greet him and introduced himself, and in this way a frank friendly current was established between: Fu-Manchu, Alex Mir, and Piuman that was maintained through a fluid correspondence between the three. At the 35th anniversary festival of Fundación del C.M.A., in September 1973, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of its foundation. For this reason, the C.M.A. awarded medals of the Circle to the founding members. The Grand Prize of the C.M.A. was awarded to Mr. David t. Bamberg “Fú Manchú”. Afterwards, a magic festival was held at the Margarita Xirgu Theatre, in which well-known magicians, among whom Colombi, Mephisto, Claudinet and the world-renowned magician Fu-Manchu collaborated with their performances. We know that Fu-Manchu was guest of honor at many occasions and here we see that he was a special guest at congresses in 1971 and 1972 in Mar del Plata. In 1970, a Federation of Magical Entities was found and an Organizing Committee was formed with Fu-Manchu as the honorary president. We know that Fu-Manchu appeared on television. Nicolas “Pipo” Mancera brought magicians of the category of Fu-Manchu to his program, although he was reluctant to appear on television, but Mancera took advantage of his great friendship with him to take him to his “Circular Saturdays”, and once there, he “improvised” a friendly magical competition between the “master and the student”, which was equivalent to several tests with cards carried out by the master and one by the student. On Channel 13, in the program Volver A Vivir from the well-known television program producer Blackie, one was dedicated to Fu-Manchu, and several magicians and friends collaborated on it, among whom Mephisto, Colombi, Yukito, Vernet and Claudinet, all names we see in chapter 24. On the same channel several magic “spectaculars” were made. One was presented and commented by Fu-Manchu. Fu-Manchu always liked to go to the meetings of the C.M.A., on Mondays at Avda. de Mayo 796 and on Fridays at Chacabuco 863. On Av. de Mayo. Before the meeting, he would go to dinner in frank camaraderie at the Restaurant Victoria and at the Casal. After dinner they went to their little theater and did magic. At one of those occasions, The meeting was dedicated to him and we all did something, even Fu-Manchu performed. When it was Claudinet’s turn, he did a test with coins. He was presenting his trick when Fu said to him “Hey, can I ask you a question?” “Yes, of course you can.” “Did you do America?” The question left him a bit perplexed and he said to him: “Why do you ask that?” “I say this because when we just arrived in Argentina you did this same test with copper coins, and now they are gold.” The appearance of Fu-Manchu of course caused some laughter, since Fu, apart from being a great magician, was a witty conversationalist. In October 1979, the Municipal Museum of the city of Buenos Aires opened a Magic Exhibition with the motto: “Magic in Buenos Aires” which was a real success as a large number of visitors passed through its halls. In this exhibition there was a bit of everything, large devices, among them the trunk that the famous magician Fu-Manchu used in his long magic life doing with it “the triple escape”.

-17- A personal token for a descendant. Liz Bamberg, granddaughter of Fu-Manchu, sent a picture of a silver pin with the form of her famous ancestor. It is based on the well-known caricatures of Fu.

-18- Bamberg-made literature. In 1847, the booklet on magic Bambergg (sic) in ieder huisgezin was published. It is not certain if this was on behalf of one of the Bamberg members but if so, that might have been either David Leendert Bamberg or Tobias David Bamberg.

-19- One of the many Bamberg collecions. Bruce Averbook, Cleveland, contributed to the book with several pictures that could be published in it. In his drawers, there are more documents about Okito, Fu-Manchu and relatives. Partly visible are: (1) a letter in Dutch, by David Tobias “Papa” Bamberg, with his printed letter head; (2) a note by or about him in English and (3) a printed note in German (Seinem lieber Talma Bellachini” gewidmet von Papa Bamberg & Sohn – “To his dear Talma Bellachini” dedicated by Papa Bamberg & Son).

-20- Playing with Okito’s Floating Ball. In one of her books, the popular Dutch author Yvonne Keuls-Bamberg, told a story about children who play and perform with the Golden Ball of Okyto (sic).

-21- Okita in Folies-Bergère.  An advertisement in April 1889 of the performance of the magician Okita in the famous Folies-Bergère in Paris, reminds us of the dispute with her about the origin of the name Okito, as described in chapter 17.

-22- Okito in Haarlem. An advertisement of June 1899 for a performance of Okito, the Chinese (sic) magician, in the theater of the city of Haarlem. Remarkable because Okito was performing as a Japanese, long before he converted his act to Chinese. We see names Poons, which also appear in the book.

-23- Levie Kinsbergen – A versatile artist. A thorough study by Dulce da Rocha Gonçalves, Utrecht University, The Netherlands, discusses Levie Kinsbergen (1823-1886), known as Maju. Kinsbergen was married with Judic Bamberg (see chapter 4). It would go too far to repeat the entire article in this context. Maju was mentioned as a science popularizer. The author argues that Maju, who came from the world of entertainment rather than science, played a significant role in the introduction of science and technology to the Netherlands. Levie’s father Meijer Kinsbergen used the stage name Maju before it was adopted by his son. The Kinsbergen family was a Dutch Jewish family with many connections to the entertainment industry, namely itinerant shows in Dutch fairgrounds. During the 1850s, L.K. Maju styled himself as Professor of Sleight-of-Hand and toured the country’s theater venues, coffee houses, and fairgrounds with Soirées Amusantes, which included conjuring acts and experimental physics. Between 1863 and 1864, Maju worked in London. Maju’s association with Polytechnic turned out to be a fruitful and long-lasting endeavor that widened the scope of his performances. Maju exported Polytechnic’s sensational Pepper’s Ghost, which would become known in the Netherlands as De Geest van Maju (The Ghost of Maju) and the cabinet-based illusion The Sphinx. This choice enabled Maju to include the Ghost in a profitable circuit, reaching audiences across the Netherlands, while making use of his family network. Maju skipped the fairground circuit and performed the illusion in permanent indoor theaters throughout the country, following the first very successful performances at the Paleis voor Volksvlijt (the Dutch Crystal Palace). Maju added other acts (such as microscopic and agioscopic, or opaque, projection), offering evening programs which included three to four sections, lasted about 2 hours and which he advertised as scientific performances. Maju devised a new repertoire based on magic lantern lectures and technological innovations, which he signed as Maju, no longer Professor of Sleight of Hand, but Member of Polytechnic. Nineteenth century scientific performance was an active and expansive field. Maju needed more than his stage and conjuring skills, for instance, to be able to flawlessly operate complex instruments such as the oxy-hydrogen microscope. Maju performed the magnification of water droplets, living cheese mites and bacteria samples to appreciative Dutch audiences well into the 1880s. Besides successfully manipulating the oxyhydrogen microscope on stage, Maju also prepared his own microscopic slides. In 1873, in cooperation with the Amsterdam Royal Zoological Society Artis, he submitted an entry to the International Exhibition of Sea and Fisheries in Berlin: a set of nine prepared microscopic slides displaying the development of salmon. Maju was awarded the silver medal at the Berlin Exhibition for these microscopic slides and, in the following year, the National Exhibition’s bronze cross in Amsterdam, for the same slide set. It is relevant to reflect on Maju’s association with Artis: the zoo was a most exclusive society in which the Amsterdam elite could pursue scientific ambitions in natural history, while it was also at the center of the city’s cultural life. So, by collaborating with Artis, Maju expanded his field of business actively from stage performance into natural historical scientific practice. In the following years, Maju included his salmon microscopic slide set in the repertoire of illustrated lectures he delivered across the Netherlands during the winter season. On his winter tours, Maju gave lectures in a range of venues, such as local philanthropic associations, town halls, and permanent indoor theaters, in large cities such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam, but also in small towns. Maju’s delivered his winter lectures for twenty years. In the Netherlands, for the growing infrastructure for popular lectures organized by philanthropic associations since the early 1870s, a popular lecture entailed music, singing, and visual presentations. In the summer season, Maju used the same equipment to provide open-air screenings and festive illumination. Dissolving views in gardens with musical accompaniment was a well received performance which Maju delivered not only in the Netherlands, but also took to Germany, Belgium, and to the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, London. Another example of Maju’s entrepreneurial ingenuity was the transformation of his open-air projection set-up into an advertising projection screen. To captivate and amuse the audience, the advertising slides were interspersed with series of paintings or comic images. In 1878, Maju introduced Edison’s phonograph to the Netherlands (we know that David Tobias Bamberg performed with the same instrument). Maju’s phonograph lecture combined showmanship and entrepreneurial insight: he acquired Edison’s instrument in Paris and transformed it into a touring lecture in which he explained the principles of acoustics and displayed the features of the technology while playing the trumpet and singing. Maju recorded and played back his deliveries, performed duets with pre-recordings and demonstrated pitch changes. Technology as such was the motive for instruction and entertainment. The phonograph took Maju to new settings and gave way to a new cooperation enterprise, notably with famous ophthalmologist and Utrecht University professor F. C. Donders. Maju and Donders presented Edison’s Phonograph to the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences in Amsterdam. For the rest of the winter season, Maju embarked on a series of public lectures fully dedicated to the phonograph, from the north to the south of the country. Maju’s phonograph lecture is the perfect example of a popular science and technology lecture. From the Royal Academy of Sciences to the provincial lecture hall, Maju entertained and informed both experts and laymen with Edison’s technological sensation. In 1880, Maju introduced another novelty to Amsterdam, the telephone. Maju’s polariscope might well be the last surviving object of his collection of instruments: it can still be seen today, displayed in the Teylers Museum. (What a pity that Judic Bamberg could never enjoy the walk of life her husband after her death.)

-24- The fate of Rebecca Bamberg. Additional information about Rebecca Bamberg (chapter 15) was presented by the researcher (Willem Oosterbaan) about the persecution of the Jews in the city of Nijmegen. These facts are derived from the name list of prosecuted Jews and their traitors and prosecutors. After the war, lawsuits were held. These clarify the circumstances around the arrest of Rebecca Bamberg. From January or February to June1943, Rebecca found a hiding place in Nijmegen in the home of reverend Van Iterson. Rebecca’s host had to vacate his house about June. (Van Iterson’s house was claimed by the authorities.) Van Iterson informed with Rebecca’s son-in-law (this must have been Pierre Jean Mols) who advised to contact a certain Peeter because he had already taken in two second-grade cousins in hiding. (Possibly, these were the sisters Elisabeth and Hendrina Seemer, born resp. in 1885 and 1889. So far, no kinship could be determined.) However, Peeters did not want to offer hospitality to Rebecca Bamberg (Peeters played a double role. He hid Jews but also betrayed some. He was a member of the NSB (The Dutch national socialist movement. Peeters was never found after the war.) Van Iterson then found a hiding place for Rebecca in the house of Mrs. Metsch. In February 1944, two men knocked on Van Iterson’s door at his new address. Those agents were the Dutch members of the Sicherheitsdienst (German Security Service) Wiebe and Verstappen (At the interrogations, the former Oberleutnant Verstappen expressed his motives: “Regarding the arrest of Jews in the in general I took the position that Jews in hiding who lived on under a false name and were therefore in possession of a forged identity card were guilty of forgery and I saw that as a pure criminal offense”. If people who offered hiding got the better of it, then I knew no excuse.” One of the many examples of “Befehl ist Befehl”). A group of men, among whom Wiebe, Verstappen and Peeters had gone to several addresses to locate Jews. At one of those addresses they found and arrested the sisters Seemer. Henceforth, they went to Van Iterson, as mentioned above. Verstappen threatened Van Iterson, “who then told the true address of the Jewess we searched.” One of the men was a certain Jonker, who later explained his opinion about the Dutch concentration camp Westerbork: “Westerbork was a camp that was run by the Germans and I found in that camp that they had it reasonably well there. Westerbork entailed a certain degree of restriction of freedom for the Jews.” (Those who were held prisoner there would not have agreed with him. For most of them it was the last place on Dutch soil where they lived.) Van Iterson was prosecuted after the war, based on an accusation by Pierre Jean Mols, Rebecca’s son-in-law. (The above-mentioned name list talks about Engelina Mols-de Leeuwe: “Rebecca’s daughter was initially in hiding with her mother with Reverend Van Iterson and then at another address, which was betrayed by Van Iterson under pressure of violence. Her mother was murdered. It is not entirely clear whether she was in Nijmegen and for how long. Afterwards she was probably hiding in Amsterdam.” No documentation was found so far about Engelina’s whereabouts.)  He declared that his house was requisitioned and that he had sent a telegram to Mols, who mentioned that some Jewish second-grade cousins were in hiding at an address at the address of Peeters. “These people did not want to hide Bamberg. Then Bamberg went to Metsch. After being about three quarters of an hour in desperation and out of fear I have mentioned the whereabouts to the agents. When they knew this, they left immediately”. A later interrogation of Mrs. Metsch brought to light that, two days before Rebecca was arrested, Wiebe had said that Bamberg’s niece (who was then arrested) had mentioned that Bamberg was at Van Iterson’s house. We cannot know if this niece actually had said so. “Wiebe came back the next day and took all jewelry from Bamberg’s closet. ‘This is good for my wife and daughter.’ He also took many clothes.” Rebecca de Leeuwe-Bamberg was deported by the transport from Westerbork to Auschwitz on March 3, 1944.  (Westerbork is the concentration camp in the eastern part of the Netherlands. From there, the prisoners were deported to the German destruction camps. The transport 89 contained 732 deported in eleven wagons. On March 5,732 Jews arrived from Westerbork and, after selection, 179 men and 76 women were admitted to the camp. The remaining 447 persons were murdered in the gas chambers. Elisabeth and Hendrina Seemer were on the same transport.) The lawsuit against F.H.G. van Iterson, emeritus reverend: He had done much work for his occupied country but when the S.D. agents conducted a house search, he could not handle the pressure and mentioned the hiding address. As a result, Mrs. de Leeuwe was deported to Auschwitz and never returned. The prosecutor’s request was three days in prison and a prohibition to ever resume his earlier profession.

Update November 2024:

-25- Tombstone of our beloved mother Colette Bamberg, who passed away on March 25, 1932, widow of Rudolph Grohman since 1899. The children who survived her were Julie Therese, born July 9, 1880 in Rotterdam and Heinrich, born August 28, 1885. Other children died before Colette’s death. Jewish cemetery of Wassenaar.

-26- Tombstone of David Leendert Bamberg, who passed away on January 29, 1869, age 83. Jewish cemetery of Muiderberg. (In reality, he was 81 years old.)

-27- Tombstone of David Tobias Bamberg, who passed away on July 20, 1914, age 70. When he was alive court magician of His Majesty King Willem III. Jewish cemetery of Muiderberg.

-28- Tombstone of Esther Bamberg, who passed away on August 28, 1941, age 53. She was a loving wife for me. Lost bus not forgotten. (Daughter of David Bamberg and Hendrika van Bueren. Her husband was Wijnandus Christianus van der Brugge). Jewish cemetery Toepad, Rotterdam.

-29- Tombstone of our beloved husband and father Henri Eduard Bamberg, who passed away on September 6, 1920. Jewish cemetery Toepad, Rotterdam.

-30- Tombstone. Here rests our husband and father Mozes Bamberg, who passed away on October 10, 1942, age 84. (He was a son of Magnus David Bamberg and Henriëtte Moses Loonstein.) Jewish cemetery Diemen. (He died two days after the deportation of his daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren. Descendant suspected that he died of grief or possibly took his life. His wife was murdered half a year later in Sobibor.)

-31- Tombstone. Here rests the material transcends of Judith Bamberg born Delden, who passed away on September 25, 1921, age 77.  Jewish cemetery of Muiderberg.

-32- A Bamberg wedding party. One more example of unexpected pop-ups of material about the Bamberg dynasty. A great-granddaughter of David Tobias Bamberg and Judic Simon Delden was reorganizing the book collection of her father when an old document fell out from between the pages. It was the program of the 25th wedding anniversary of her great-grandparents. So many more papers may be roaming about. The program dates from November 11, 1893. It contains an extensive set of poems sung by their children and relatives as well as the list of artists who performed at the celebration.

Especially the names of the children and the close relatives shed a warm light upon each of those persons and upon the family. Some of the children (Jacques and Eduard, 6 and 4 years respectively) were too young to perform. Those who did perform were:

      • Bamberg. He must be Emanuel Bamberg, (he performed on his tenth birthday), who probably was called “Mannie”. He performed twice;
      • Bamberg, who will be Nachman Nardus Bamberg, age 14, who also appeared twice for his parents;
      • Bamberg. She was Catarine (Kaatje) Bamberg, 20 years. She was a promising operetta actor. Kaatje died less than two months after this wedding.
      • Bamberg, being Rebecca Bamberg who was called Eva or Eefje (Eufje), the oldest daughter, then 24 years. From her song we learn that her father liked fishing.
      • Bamberg. Simon Bamberg, aged 16. We see that he was planning to become a hairdresser, most likely a stage hairdresser, wig maker and makeup artist like his great-uncle Magnus Bamberg. In his youth, Simon’s father practiced the same profession for a while.
      • Tobias Bamberg, then already performing as Okito, wrote his poem while working in Antwerp.
      • Mrs. J. Polak was Judith Polak-Bamberg, daughter of David’s sister Betje Bamberg. She seems to disclose that the marriage of her uncle and aunt counted some uneasy moments among the many good ones.
      • Mr. Delden was Simon Delden, son of David’s sister Esther Tobias Delden.
      • Miss Bertha Delden was the youngest daughter of Esther Tobias Delden. Se summed up David’s professions, being singer, director, prestidigitator, hairdresser, actor and declamator. Not is that order. Of course.
      • Mr. de Leeuwe must be Leo de Leeuwe. When Kaatje Bamberg died, he places a obituary for his fiancee. He was a well-known opera singer.
      • Juliette Polak, 9 years young, added her good wishes. She was the daughter of the beforementioned Judith Polak-Bamberg.
      • L. de Leeuwe was Louis de Leeuwe, a brother of Leo and Rebecca’s future husband. He confessed that he did not yet belong to the family circle. If Kaatje Bamberg had not died, Louis and Leo might have become brothers-in-law as well.

The long list of performers on the rear side of the program shows names of artists who must be artists who were in one way or the other connected to the Bamberg family. The names of most of them did not survive log enough to be found on internet on our days. But Catharina Biancolelli was in reality Jeannette Heilbron, a gifted actress who was a prominent actress of the Boas & Judels company. That company had close connections with the Bamberg family. But it is hard to believe that she was a member of the Lombardo theater in Milan. Jeannette must have borrowed the name of Caterina Biancolelli who lived a few centuries earlier.

-33- Bamberg testimonies. In the book “Madame K.” by Yvonne Keuls, she wrote:

      • The siblings of her father Maurits Samuel Bamberg (she called him Samuel) were called Leah, Rebecca, Esther, Ruth, Jona, Jozua, Daniël and Job. We know them as mentioned in chapter 14;
      • Her father made caliedoscopes, beautiful precision work;
      • Her father was the principal of the Polytechnical School in The Hague (Haags Polytechnisch Instituut?)
      • During World War II, Yvonne’s sister Greetje (Margaretha Bamberg) was in the resistance. She was a courier, together with her friend Lies, daughter of general Winkelman (the Dutch commander-in-chief at the time of the German invasion in 1940). They committed a raid at the distribution office in the Van Speijkstraat. With pistols and all. They narrowly escaped the bullets; Greetje’s bag was riddled. She married an army officer but divorced. She fell in love and had a relationship with the man (Maurice van Nieuwenhuizen, a jiu jitsu teacher in The Hague) who modeled for the popular comic strip character Dick Bos. Van Nieuwenhuizen was married and abandoned. Greetje became the militant assistant of Dick Bos: the beautiful girl with the long black hair who was too much for all the guys. The strips were drawn by Alfred Mazure. The superhero paired Greetje with Lies, who had already shown herself to be a real general’s daughter and not afraid of the devil. Greetje was ill, suffering from MS. Greetje was beautiful. She established the First Dutch School for Machine Knitting and trained the twelve teachers herself. She established a relationship with fashion designer Jean Louzac and gave fashion shows with him in the Houtrusthallen. Daughters of Margaretha Yvonne Keuls and a handful of nieces walked the catwalk. Greetje died on September 9, 1966, in Zuidwal hospital, after an illness of 15 years.

In the magazine “Libelle” of November 5, 1960, an interview with Margaretha Bamberg was published. She was handicapped by her illness but she began to use a knitting machine to keep her condition as much in order as possible. She established the “Eerste Nederlandse School voor Machine-breien” (First Dutch School for Machine Knitting). In a lengthy article, the reader gets an impression of the way she coped with her illness since .

-34– New Dutch periodicals A lot of the data in the book/PDF is taken from the website www.delpher.nl. The last time this site was consulted was mid-2023. Since then, many new newspapers and magazines have been added. In them, one can always find additional information about, for example, Okito and Bamberg. Especially in regional newspapers, advertisements and reviews about them appeared which make it possible to expand the pertaining timelines. However, searching through delpher will take time, especially because many hits relate to other subjects, such as Okito in the civil war in Congo and the city of Bamberg.