1942 Payments record to Antwerp Gas Company

This simple document is the monthly payment scheme form of the Antwerp Gas Company (Antwerpsche Gasmaatschappij) for the year 1942. It refers to the gas consumption of "Kahan 71 Lange Kievit". The Lange Kievitstraat is a recurring street name in these files.

The payment scheme is documented from January till August 5th 1942. We know that there were 3 razzias in Antwerp in 1942 on August 15th and 16th, and on September 11th.

The empty lines on this document are the exponent of the annihilation of a family.

 

The fact of going and paying your gas bills like any other citizen and being deported just two or six weeks later (I do not have yet the exact date of Eisik, Sura and children's deportation). What a system has admitted this ?

This may be a detail, but one thing struck me. If we compare m³ consumption (3rd column) we see for instance : December  52m³, January 36 m³, February 36 m³... June 60m³, July and August 40.

I would have expected the winter months to be sensibly higher in consumption if it was for heating purposes. Here in fact the consumption is rather stable so I deduct that heating was done with coal (as in many houses at that time) and that gas was just used for cooking.