Holocaust survivor killed in crash
By Elizabeth Hume -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 9:25 am PDT Wednesday, April 26, 2006
[Updated at 12:55 p.m. Wednesday] A Sacramento woman who survived a Nazi concentration camp was killed in a car crash Tuesday, the date designated Holocaust Remembrance Day around the world.
Julia Bos, 88, was the passenger in a 1990 Lexus ES250 eastbound on Alta Arden Expressway. Her husband of 53 years, Johannes Bos, 88, was driving. He started to make a left turn onto northbound Wright Street. As he turned the Lexus was in the path of a 1998 Honda Accord headed westbound on Alta Arden Expressway, California Highway Patrol Officer Lizz Dutton said.
The driver of the Honda was unable to stop, hitting the passenger's side of the Lexus, Dutton said. Julia Bos was transported to UC Davis Medical Center where she died. Johannes Bos also was transported to UC Davis with cuts on his head, arms and leg. He is listed in stable condition, Dutton said.
The driver of the Honda had complaint of pain. The 1:58 p.m. accident is under investigation, said Dutton, who noted all occupants were wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident.
Rabbi Nancy Wechsler-Azen announced Bos's death Tuesday night during a service at Congregation Beth Shalom in Carmichael. Just a year ago, Julia Bos attended a remembrance event at the Mondavi Center in Davis where quotes of her recollections were read aloud to a packed audience.
"She gave courage a whole new meaning. You think that you know what courage is and bravery is until you meet someone like Julia and she takes it to another level," longtime friend Louise Bourne said.
Earlier this week Julia Bos was at the state Capital where she was one of more than 80 Holocaust survivors recognized. The survivors' stories, written by high school students, were included in a book that will be sent to Holocaust museums in Washington, D.C. and Israel.
Hannah Broad, 15, a Rio Americano student, wrote the story of Bos's arrest in her hometown of Utrecht, Netherlands, and her survival in concentration camps.
"I was incredibly moved by her stories," Broad wrote. "I suddenly realized that the most important thing is that we keep telling and re-telling the 'other stories' to which Mrs. Bos referred. It is only in this manner that our collective memory will enable us to say with true conviction: Never Again."
Bos's encounters with the Nazi regime began in her 20s in Utrecht. Her father, a tool and die maker, was deported to a concentration camp at Auschwitz along with several family members. Julia Bos later learned he was killed immediately after his arrival at the camp.
Her mother, who was not Jewish, was left behind. During the war, her mother hid other Jewish family members from the Nazis. Eventually their need for more food sent Bos to the Dutch Underground network for help.
In 1944, a friend in the underground was arrested and gave Bos's name to the Germans. Mother and daughter were both arrested. Her mother was questioned and released.
Bos was taken to a local prison and then transported to Westerbork on the Dutch-German border. After a year, Bos was transferred to Theresienstadt concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. There she was forced to work 12-hour days in miserable conditions.
Years later, sitting at her monthly Trivial Pursuit game, she would retell stories of the camp to her friends.
"They had to assemble some sort of tiny pieces of machinery. They would sit around this big table and they couldn't talk so they would sing," Bourne said.
Singing remained in a large part of Bos's life. Her alto voice in Beth Shalom's choir was "sonorous," Bourne said.
Bos was confined until May 1945 when the Soviets liberated the camp. Several weeks later she returned home to her mother's embrace. For the rest of her life, nightmares of memories at the concentration camp continued to haunt her, Bourne said.
About five years after returning home, Bos left Utrecht after her mother died of cancer. She immigrated to the U.S., moving to Sacramento where she had an uncle. In 1954, Johannes Bos, an old flame from Utrecht, flew to Sacramento. A day later the couple went to Reno and were married on Feb. 26, 1953.
"He adored her. Every time he looked at her he glowed," said Carol Choate, co-president of Congregation Beth Shalom.
The death is particularly hard for the congregation. Only two months ago, they mourned Sima Spector, 73, who died March 1 in a car accident. On Tuesday, Nikita Page, the driver who allegedly hit Spector was arraigned on charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while under the influence, driving while under the influence and hit and run
By Elizabeth Hume -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 9:25 am PDT Wednesday, April 26, 2006
[Updated at 12:55 p.m. Wednesday] A Sacramento woman who survived a Nazi concentration camp was killed in a car crash Tuesday, the date designated Holocaust Remembrance Day around the world.
Julia Bos, 88, was the passenger in a 1990 Lexus ES250 eastbound on Alta Arden Expressway. Her husband of 53 years, Johannes Bos, 88, was driving. He started to make a left turn onto northbound Wright Street. As he turned the Lexus was in the path of a 1998 Honda Accord headed westbound on Alta Arden Expressway, California Highway Patrol Officer Lizz Dutton said.
The driver of the Honda was unable to stop, hitting the passenger's side of the Lexus, Dutton said. Julia Bos was transported to UC Davis Medical Center where she died. Johannes Bos also was transported to UC Davis with cuts on his head, arms and leg. He is listed in stable condition, Dutton said.
The driver of the Honda had complaint of pain. The 1:58 p.m. accident is under investigation, said Dutton, who noted all occupants were wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident.
Rabbi Nancy Wechsler-Azen announced Bos's death Tuesday night during a service at Congregation Beth Shalom in Carmichael. Just a year ago, Julia Bos attended a remembrance event at the Mondavi Center in Davis where quotes of her recollections were read aloud to a packed audience.
"She gave courage a whole new meaning. You think that you know what courage is and bravery is until you meet someone like Julia and she takes it to another level," longtime friend Louise Bourne said.
Earlier this week Julia Bos was at the state Capital where she was one of more than 80 Holocaust survivors recognized. The survivors' stories, written by high school students, were included in a book that will be sent to Holocaust museums in Washington, D.C. and Israel.
Hannah Broad, 15, a Rio Americano student, wrote the story of Bos's arrest in her hometown of Utrecht, Netherlands, and her survival in concentration camps.
"I was incredibly moved by her stories," Broad wrote. "I suddenly realized that the most important thing is that we keep telling and re-telling the 'other stories' to which Mrs. Bos referred. It is only in this manner that our collective memory will enable us to say with true conviction: Never Again."
Bos's encounters with the Nazi regime began in her 20s in Utrecht. Her father, a tool and die maker, was deported to a concentration camp at Auschwitz along with several family members. Julia Bos later learned he was killed immediately after his arrival at the camp.
Her mother, who was not Jewish, was left behind. During the war, her mother hid other Jewish family members from the Nazis. Eventually their need for more food sent Bos to the Dutch Underground network for help.
In 1944, a friend in the underground was arrested and gave Bos's name to the Germans. Mother and daughter were both arrested. Her mother was questioned and released.
Bos was taken to a local prison and then transported to Westerbork on the Dutch-German border. After a year, Bos was transferred to Theresienstadt concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. There she was forced to work 12-hour days in miserable conditions.
Years later, sitting at her monthly Trivial Pursuit game, she would retell stories of the camp to her friends.
"They had to assemble some sort of tiny pieces of machinery. They would sit around this big table and they couldn't talk so they would sing," Bourne said.
Singing remained in a large part of Bos's life. Her alto voice in Beth Shalom's choir was "sonorous," Bourne said.
Bos was confined until May 1945 when the Soviets liberated the camp. Several weeks later she returned home to her mother's embrace. For the rest of her life, nightmares of memories at the concentration camp continued to haunt her, Bourne said.
About five years after returning home, Bos left Utrecht after her mother died of cancer. She immigrated to the U.S., moving to Sacramento where she had an uncle. In 1954, Johannes Bos, an old flame from Utrecht, flew to Sacramento. A day later the couple went to Reno and were married on Feb. 26, 1953.
"He adored her. Every time he looked at her he glowed," said Carol Choate, co-president of Congregation Beth Shalom.
The death is particularly hard for the congregation. Only two months ago, they mourned Sima Spector, 73, who died March 1 in a car accident. On Tuesday, Nikita Page, the driver who allegedly hit Spector was arraigned on charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while under the influence, driving while under the influence and hit and run
Holocaust survivor killed in crash
By Elizabeth Hume -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 9:25 am PDT Wednesday, April 26, 2006
[Updated at 12:55 p.m. Wednesday] A Sacramento woman who survived a Nazi concentration camp was killed in a car crash Tuesday, the date designated Holocaust Remembrance Day around the world.
Julia Bos, 88, was the passenger in a 1990 Lexus ES250 eastbound on Alta Arden Expressway. Her husband of 53 years, Johannes Bos, 88, was driving. He started to make a left turn onto northbound Wright Street. As he turned the Lexus was in the path of a 1998 Honda Accord headed westbound on Alta Arden Expressway, California Highway Patrol Officer Lizz Dutton said.
The driver of the Honda was unable to stop, hitting the passenger's side of the Lexus, Dutton said. Julia Bos was transported to UC Davis Medical Center where she died. Johannes Bos also was transported to UC Davis with cuts on his head, arms and leg. He is listed in stable condition, Dutton said.
The driver of the Honda had complaint of pain. The 1:58 p.m. accident is under investigation, said Dutton, who noted all occupants were wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident.
Rabbi Nancy Wechsler-Azen announced Bos's death Tuesday night during a service at Congregation Beth Shalom in Carmichael. Just a year ago, Julia Bos attended a remembrance event at the Mondavi Center in Davis where quotes of her recollections were read aloud to a packed audience.
"She gave courage a whole new meaning. You think that you know what courage is and bravery is until you meet someone like Julia and she takes it to another level," longtime friend Louise Bourne said.
Earlier this week Julia Bos was at the state Capital where she was one of more than 80 Holocaust survivors recognized. The survivors' stories, written by high school students, were included in a book that will be sent to Holocaust museums in Washington, D.C. and Israel.
Hannah Broad, 15, a Rio Americano student, wrote the story of Bos's arrest in her hometown of Utrecht, Netherlands, and her survival in concentration camps.
"I was incredibly moved by her stories," Broad wrote. "I suddenly realized that the most important thing is that we keep telling and re-telling the 'other stories' to which Mrs. Bos referred. It is only in this manner that our collective memory will enable us to say with true conviction: Never Again."
Bos's encounters with the Nazi regime began in her 20s in Utrecht. Her father, a tool and die maker, was deported to a concentration camp at Auschwitz along with several family members. Julia Bos later learned he was killed immediately after his arrival at the camp.
Her mother, who was not Jewish, was left behind. During the war, her mother hid other Jewish family members from the Nazis. Eventually their need for more food sent Bos to the Dutch Underground network for help.
In 1944, a friend in the underground was arrested and gave Bos's name to the Germans. Mother and daughter were both arrested. Her mother was questioned and released.
Bos was taken to a local prison and then transported to Westerbork on the Dutch-German border. After a year, Bos was transferred to Theresienstadt concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. There she was forced to work 12-hour days in miserable conditions.
Years later, sitting at her monthly Trivial Pursuit game, she would retell stories of the camp to her friends.
"They had to assemble some sort of tiny pieces of machinery. They would sit around this big table and they couldn't talk so they would sing," Bourne said.
Singing remained in a large part of Bos's life. Her alto voice in Beth Shalom's choir was "sonorous," Bourne said.
Bos was confined until May 1945 when the Soviets liberated the camp. Several weeks later she returned home to her mother's embrace. For the rest of her life, nightmares of memories at the concentration camp continued to haunt her, Bourne said.
About five years after returning home, Bos left Utrecht after her mother died of cancer. She immigrated to the U.S., moving to Sacramento where she had an uncle. In 1954, Johannes Bos, an old flame from Utrecht, flew to Sacramento. A day later the couple went to Reno and were married on Feb. 26, 1953.
"He adored her. Every time he looked at her he glowed," said Carol Choate, co-president of Congregation Beth Shalom.
The death is particularly hard for the congregation. Only two months ago, they mourned Sima Spector, 73, who died March 1 in a car accident. On Tuesday, Nikita Page, the driver who allegedly hit Spector was arraigned on charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while under the influence, driving while under the influence and hit and run
By Elizabeth Hume -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 9:25 am PDT Wednesday, April 26, 2006
[Updated at 12:55 p.m. Wednesday] A Sacramento woman who survived a Nazi concentration camp was killed in a car crash Tuesday, the date designated Holocaust Remembrance Day around the world.
Julia Bos, 88, was the passenger in a 1990 Lexus ES250 eastbound on Alta Arden Expressway. Her husband of 53 years, Johannes Bos, 88, was driving. He started to make a left turn onto northbound Wright Street. As he turned the Lexus was in the path of a 1998 Honda Accord headed westbound on Alta Arden Expressway, California Highway Patrol Officer Lizz Dutton said.
The driver of the Honda was unable to stop, hitting the passenger's side of the Lexus, Dutton said. Julia Bos was transported to UC Davis Medical Center where she died. Johannes Bos also was transported to UC Davis with cuts on his head, arms and leg. He is listed in stable condition, Dutton said.
The driver of the Honda had complaint of pain. The 1:58 p.m. accident is under investigation, said Dutton, who noted all occupants were wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident.
Rabbi Nancy Wechsler-Azen announced Bos's death Tuesday night during a service at Congregation Beth Shalom in Carmichael. Just a year ago, Julia Bos attended a remembrance event at the Mondavi Center in Davis where quotes of her recollections were read aloud to a packed audience.
"She gave courage a whole new meaning. You think that you know what courage is and bravery is until you meet someone like Julia and she takes it to another level," longtime friend Louise Bourne said.
Earlier this week Julia Bos was at the state Capital where she was one of more than 80 Holocaust survivors recognized. The survivors' stories, written by high school students, were included in a book that will be sent to Holocaust museums in Washington, D.C. and Israel.
Hannah Broad, 15, a Rio Americano student, wrote the story of Bos's arrest in her hometown of Utrecht, Netherlands, and her survival in concentration camps.
"I was incredibly moved by her stories," Broad wrote. "I suddenly realized that the most important thing is that we keep telling and re-telling the 'other stories' to which Mrs. Bos referred. It is only in this manner that our collective memory will enable us to say with true conviction: Never Again."
Bos's encounters with the Nazi regime began in her 20s in Utrecht. Her father, a tool and die maker, was deported to a concentration camp at Auschwitz along with several family members. Julia Bos later learned he was killed immediately after his arrival at the camp.
Her mother, who was not Jewish, was left behind. During the war, her mother hid other Jewish family members from the Nazis. Eventually their need for more food sent Bos to the Dutch Underground network for help.
In 1944, a friend in the underground was arrested and gave Bos's name to the Germans. Mother and daughter were both arrested. Her mother was questioned and released.
Bos was taken to a local prison and then transported to Westerbork on the Dutch-German border. After a year, Bos was transferred to Theresienstadt concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. There she was forced to work 12-hour days in miserable conditions.
Years later, sitting at her monthly Trivial Pursuit game, she would retell stories of the camp to her friends.
"They had to assemble some sort of tiny pieces of machinery. They would sit around this big table and they couldn't talk so they would sing," Bourne said.
Singing remained in a large part of Bos's life. Her alto voice in Beth Shalom's choir was "sonorous," Bourne said.
Bos was confined until May 1945 when the Soviets liberated the camp. Several weeks later she returned home to her mother's embrace. For the rest of her life, nightmares of memories at the concentration camp continued to haunt her, Bourne said.
About five years after returning home, Bos left Utrecht after her mother died of cancer. She immigrated to the U.S., moving to Sacramento where she had an uncle. In 1954, Johannes Bos, an old flame from Utrecht, flew to Sacramento. A day later the couple went to Reno and were married on Feb. 26, 1953.
"He adored her. Every time he looked at her he glowed," said Carol Choate, co-president of Congregation Beth Shalom.
The death is particularly hard for the congregation. Only two months ago, they mourned Sima Spector, 73, who died March 1 in a car accident. On Tuesday, Nikita Page, the driver who allegedly hit Spector was arraigned on charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while under the influence, driving while under the influence and hit and run
