Original Painting on Wood by David Sealtiel.
Amsterdam 1886 – 1942 Auschwitz.
One of the most famous Jewish Painter of the 20th century.
David Sealtiel was a son of Samuel Sealtiel and Roza (Roosje) Lever. He grew up in a large family with two sisters, Saartje and Frederika, who died in 1928 at the age of 44, and three brothers: Jacob, Hartog and Israel.
wedding
David married Aaltje Cohen. They had six children together: Roosje, Frederika, Rachel, David, Samuel and Maurits. David Sealtiel was a versatile and agile man. The family moved many times and lived at different addresses throughout Amsterdam.
butcher and painter
David was a butcher and painter. From 1906 to 1926, he had his own butcher’s shop.
In 1926 he sold the business and started to focus on the art of painting, which was a hobby of his before. He practiced this profession in a basement on the Waterlooplein in Amsterdam.
He mainly made things like paintings and mirrors. He also painted lampshades. Initially that went well, but gradually it deteriorated.
bankrupt
He was able to survive for a long time because some of his children were married and he could borrow money from them. He went bankrupt in early 1929. However, thanks to support from various agencies, he was able to continue his work.
invention
In 1932 David made an invention to make dentures in such a way that they stuck almost like normal teeth. He had a contract with a dentist to market these teeth. When this collaboration failed, he made dentures at his own expense, in addition to his activities as a painter.
nerve patient
In 1933 he again rented a butcher shop, but because the income was nil, he was taken up in an overwrought condition. He was considered a “serious nerve patient”. After a few months, David Sealtiel started working again. He now made commercials for shops and lottery tickets, but had little success with this.
David’s wife Aaltje died in April 1940.
second marriage
After the death of his wife Aaltje, David settled in Nijmegen in December 1940.
Two days after his arrival, he married on December 13, 1940 to 58-year-old Marianne van Raap. She was previously divorced in 1914.
passing away
In October 1942, David Sealtiel, Marianne van Raap and all six children were arrested and deported to Auschwitz via Westerbork and murdered there.
His brothers Jacob and Israel and sister Saartje were murdered in Sobibor in 1943 and David’s brother Hartog was murdered in 1943 in Fürstengrube concentration camp, one of the larger outer camps of Auschwitz concentration camp.