The story in English
The Jewish Family Meijer
Jozef and Regina Meijer lived in Bedum at 13 Boterdiep Westzijde (West side of a waterway called Boterdiep). Jozef Meijer was businessman in livestock specialising in trading sheep. Some inhabitants of Bedum still remember him as a quiet gentleman riding his bicycle through the village in search for business. From a distance one could recognise him. He sat straight on the saddle looking out over the fields and his cane was fastened to his bike with a leather strap.
One villager can still remember how he had to look after Jozef Meijer’s sheep one afternoon. There was a slight possibility that one of them could fall into the ditch! This story is indicative of Jozef Meijer’s care for his animals. As a ‘thank you’, the obliging villager received a brand new silver quarter from Jozef. The other quarter Jozef had was worn and he put it back into his large brown leather wallet. The silver quarter has never been spent and has been preserved up until the present day Regina Meijer was an admirer of the Dutch Royal family. As a young woman she had travelled to Amsterdam to witness the coronation of Queen Wilhelmina. This was in the year 1898. Regina was standing at the front of the sidewalk to have a good view. But when the Queen passed, one of the horses reared and hit Regina. She was hurt and the injury would bother her for the rest of her life. The young Queen was very concerned and kind to Regina..
A daughter was born to Jozef and Regina Meijer on October 20th 1909. Her name was Charlotte Julia (in daily life she was called Lotty). She was their only child. Like many Jewish youngsters, she did not stay on to live in the village. After having worked in the laboratory of the local dairy factory in Bedum, she married Joseph Cohen in 1934 and moved to the city of Groningen. Her husband had a fine job at a textile firm in the W.A. Scholten street. But tragedy struck and Lotty became severely ill with an - at that time – incurable disease. She passed away on March 25th 1936. She is buried in the Jewish cemetery ‘Selwerderhof’ in Groningen.
