Benjamin "Benny" Behr

Benny, who was born on the 27th of February, 1911, was married to a non-Jewish girl. Because of this, he and others like him, temporarily enjoyed limited freedom, until also all Jews of mixed marriage were arrested. Initially, Benny Behr was incarcerated in March 1944 in a fairly moderate camp near Havelte in the province of Drente. However, after his successful escape from Havelte, he was arrested by two Dutch SD agents and sent to Westerbork were he arrived on 1 August 1944. Upon arrival he was assigned to one of the penal barracks. Begin September, after the last transport had left Westerbork for Poland, the penal barracks were closed and Benny, with fifty eight others, joined the rest of the inmates in the camp. Benny survived Westerbork and was liberated by the Canadian army on 12 April 1945.

Benny Behr was a professional violinist who, before the war, for years had played together with his friend and colleague Sem Nijveen. At Westerbork, Benny continued to play his violin. Even in the penal barrack he entertained young and old.

http://www.holocaust-lestweforget.com/musician-benny-behr.html

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Benny Behr survived the war, but he was still being sent to a concentration camp (Westerbork) after he was captured in his home in Groningen by the Germans. He told me they sent an entire truck with several heavily armed soldiers to capture “the little harmless Benny” and take him away.

-from Micha Nijveen