Harry ROZENDAAL

ROZENDAAL, Harry - It is with profound sadness that we announce that on Wednesday April 22, 2026 Harry Rozendaal passed away peacefully in Warsaw, Poland just days after participating in the Canadian March of the Living delegation and MOTL ceremonies. He was 95 years old. He had wanted to participate on the March to honour his mother, Catherina, who was captured by the Germans in the fall of 1943, deported to Auschwitz, where she was murdered. Harry had the opportunity to fulfill his goal of speaking in Auschwitz to over 800 young people and adults to share his testimony and experiences during the war. He had a deep impact on many participants especially the young people who quoted his words and wrote songs and poems based on his testimony. Harry was born on September 1, 1930, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands to Catherina and Yossef Yaacov (Joop) Rozendaal. The war began for him in May 1940 when the Germans bombed Rotterdam. His father joined the Netherlands Militia resistance fighters. In 1942 he was captured, imprisoned, tortured, and executed on December 29, 1942, in the concentration camp at Amersfoort, in The Netherlands at the age of 39. On January 1, 1943, the family went into hiding. Harry, his brother Dov, and his sister Lieselotte initially hid together in a suburb of Rotterdam. But it was considered too risky to hide three children in one place, so they were sent to three different locations. Between 1943 and 1945, Harry was relocated 21 times by resistance fighters across the Netherlands, including in Friesland. To reach Friesland, he crossed the Ijsselmeer by boat escorted by resistance fighter Andres van der Meer. The boat was filled with German soldiers, and Harry had to remain calm so as not to arouse suspicion. Years later, Andres van der Meer was honored in the Garden of the Righteous at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Harry's mother went into hiding separately and joined the Keizer Resistance Group in Utrecht. Harry saw her again for one week in 1943 at a hiding place. That was the last time he saw her. One of the last times he saw his mother, she showed him the final letter his father had written, where he expressed the wish that, if they survived, Harry and his siblings should receive a Jewish education. After the war, Harry lived in a boys' orphanage in Amsterdam until, in 1947, he traveled illegally to Palestine and joined the Haganah as a Machal volunteer fighter, witnessing the formation of the State of Israel. In 1950, he returned to the Netherlands where he met his future wife, Lotty, at a New Year's Eve party. In 1958, they immigrated to Canada and settled in Montreal, where they raised two children, Eddy and Betty before moving to Toronto in 1977. Harry worked for most of his career for Simpson's and later on Sears/The Bay, selling men's clothing in downtown Montreal, Point Claire , Toronto, Fairview Mall and Cedarbrae Mall. Beloved husband of the late Lotty Rozendaal, and deeply loved by his daughter Betty Rozendaal and son-in-law Sonny Goldstein. Lovingly remembered by his son and daughter- in-law Ed and Genia Rozendaal and his grandchildren Peter, Andrew and Alexander, his great-grandchildren and nieces Joyce, Marja, and Efrat and his nephew Yaron. He is predeceased by his brother Dov and sister Lieselotte. Memorial donations may be made to Beit Halochem Canada, Aid To Disabled Veterans Of Israel www.beithalochem.ca 905-695-0611.