Personal identification tags bearing the names of four Jewish children deported to the Sobibor extermination camp in Poland were retrieved in an archaeological excavation at the site. The metal tags worn around the neck, carry the names of young Dutch Jews Lea Judith de la Penha, Deddie Zak, Annie Kapper, and David Juda van der Velde — all from Amsterdam — who ranged in age from 5 to 12 years.     

          According to Jewish News Service (JNS), Annie Kapper was 12. She was sent on a train with a total of 1,255 Jews. The moment the train arrived, all of the passengers were immediately sent to gas chambers; Kapper’s tag was found in a mass grave.

Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist Yoram Haimi, who ran the dig in conjunction with colleagues from Poland and the Netherlands, said that ID tags bearing the names of children had been found only at Sobibor. “The hardest thing is to hear that one of the kids whose tag you’re holding in your hand arrived…on a train full of children…sent to die alone,” Haimi said. “I’ve been digging at Sobibor for 10 years. This was the most difficult day.”