Benjamin Koklin

Benjamin Koklin was born on 12 October 1891 in Latvia. He came to Norway in 1910. He married Ida Becker, b. 1887 in Latvia. The couple had five children; Charles (b. 1914), Gitel (b. 1916), Ruth (b. 1919), Julius (b. 1922) and Emil Georg (b. 1925).

The family lived in Tønsberg, where Benjamin ran Benjamin Koklin's knitwear shop.

Benjamin was arrested on 26 October 1942 during a visit to Oslo and held captive at Berg outside Tønsberg for a month before being deported on the prisoner ship DS Donau. Also on the ship were his wife Ida and the two youngest sons. On arrival at Auschwitz, both Benjamin, Julius and Emil Georg were taken out for forced labour, while Ida was sent directly to the gas chamber. Benjamin was killed in December 1942, the exact date is unknown.

Emil Georg also perished sometime in January 1943. Julius was gassed to death on 14 January, after having been ill in the hospital (infirmary) for some time.

The eldest brother Charles had already fled to Sweden in 1941. He had then been dismissed from his position in the municipality because he was Jewish. Charles had also run relief work for Jewish refugees. Ruth was married to Willy Rubinstein (b. 1911) who fled to Sweden in the autumn of 1941. Ruth came after the summer of 1942. Just before Ida was arrested at home on 26 November 1942, she pushed her daughter Gitel (married Aasen) out the kitchen door. Gitel fled to Sweden with her husband after being in hiding for some time.