Jewish orphanage in Wezembeek (Belgium)

Wezembeek Jewish orphanage
Wezembeek Jewish orphanage
General information
Location	Wezembeek-Oppem, Belgium

During the Nazi German occupation in the Second World War, the Wezembeek Jewish orphanage was the home of an orphanage set up by the Association of Belgian Jews (AJB), a Judenrat-like authority forcibly organised by the German occupational force and collaborating with the Nazis. The orphanage was for Jewish children. In most cases, their parents had been deported to death camps, had fallen ill, or were unable to care for the child.

The orphanage

The Wezembeek Jewish orphanage was located in the Belgian municipality of Wezembeek-Oppem. In the book 'From the Children's Home to the Gas Chamber: And how some avoided their fate' by Reinier Heinsman, many former children of the Wezembeek orphanage tell about their experiences.

Children in the Wezembeek orphanage.

Children in the Wezembeek orphanage.

Children in the Wezembeek orphanage.

Children in the Wezembeek orphanage.

'Wezembeek was set up and recognized as a Jewish home by the German occupying forces. I, like all the children, wore a yellow Jewish star on our cape whenever we were outside the home, we received an education that included Jewish learning. We even adhered to Sabbath observances. I don’t recall meals we had, except Sunday anchovy salad, which was a “special treat.” One item we had a lot of was marmalade jam, which to this day I cannot stand nor even allow in the house. I do remember sometimes my friend Henri Wolff (after adoption Henri Wolfe) and I would climb out of the window during the night and into an orchard tree, whose branches reached over the wall. We would gorge ourselves on fruit, which I recall were little pears.' — Michael Hartogs (born as Max Kohn), ″From the Children's Home to the Gas Chamber: And how some avoided their fate.″ (2021)

'There were animals on the property such as chickens, roosters and goats, as well as vegetation.' — Alfred Friedman, ″From the Children's Home to the Gas Chamber: And how some avoided their fate.″ (2021)

'I remember I was very happy in Wezembeek, because I was the youngest and everybody made a fuss of me. It doesn’t really matter who the mother is or who isn’t, as long as you have people loving you. I really felt loved there. First of all, by the head woman in charge, Madame Blum. I felt like I was her child. Wherever she went she carried this little two-year-old thing with her and when she was busy, she put me on to one of the associate helpers. There were a lot of people looking after us there. Eventually we got to about a hundred and something children there. I didn’t know any better. It felt like home with all the noise, fun and the kids running around. I have a couple of memories – one very strong one is looking out the window of the assembly hall and seeing soldiers creeping along the back fence. It recurs. I used to have nightmares about that often. Another one was when the sirens went off and the bombs could be heard. We used to be rushed down into a cellar underneath the home. I remember the smell of cooked cabbage as we went down. It was such a strong feeling that something was about to happen. Subsequently until today if I smell cooked cabbage this is what I remember. When we had meal in Wezembeek, you had to sit straight up and wait and then the bell would be rung and everybody could start eating. I remember the gardener because I used to follow him around. Some of the children of the orphanage went to school and had a uniform. I was too young so I stayed at the orphanage. During the last year there I joined them.' — Roni Wolf (born as Reizel Warman), ″From the Children's Home to the Gas Chamber: And how some avoided their fate.″ (2021)

'The food in Wezembeek was fine, I don’t remember ever being really hungry. We had lots of fruit trees in the backyard, such as apple trees and pear trees. When I was sick with the mumps the staff took good care of me. We all slept in one big room. I remember one instance when a kid woke up in the middle of the night with an appendicitis attack. After the war we found a lot of German helmets in our backyard, and we used to piss in them. I also remember Jewish soldiers visiting us. I always felt very secure when they were at the orphanage. Our director was Madame Marie Albert Blum. She was the only person from Wezembeek who I didn’t like. She once beat me so hard for some small rule infraction that I nearly peed in my pants. I remember her as mean and very strict. From my perspective, she was not a loveable person. I was so glad when she left in 1945 and a new director replaced her. Everything changed for the good.

My only bad memories from that time onwards are about going to school and being persecuted by the Flemish kids. Every day we walked around twenty or thirty minutes to school. On the way, Flemish kids would make fun of us and spit at us. We went to a public school that also had non-Jewish kids. At school, the Flemish kids did not like the Jewish kids, so all the kids from Wezembeek stuck together for safety. The Flemish kids were very rough and would often pick fights and hit the Jewish children when we were on the playground. It was during recess when they used to attack us. The teachers at the school were very strict but nice to the Jewish kids. I had many friends in Wezembeek, but my three best friends were Albert Rotszpan, Maxi (Max Kohn, after adoption Michael Hartogs) and Mozes Englander (after adoption Marvin Schwartz).'

— Henri Wolfe (born as Henri Wolff), ″From the Children's Home to the Gas Chamber: And how some avoided their fate.″ (2021)

The raid on October 30, 1942 in Wezembeek

On 30 October 1942, the 58 Jewish children of Wezembeek were arrested by the German Sicherheitspolizei. They were taken to the Dossin barrakcs in Mechelen, from where they would be deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. At the Dossin barracks, several individuals of the group of 58 children encountered 6 of the children who came from the Meisjeshuis (Antwerp) orphanage. All were saved from the transit camp just hours before they would have been deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Rescued children in the Wezembeek orphanage shortly after the rescue, early November 1942.

Rescued children in the Wezembeek orphanage shortly after the rescue, early November 1942.

'When the Germans came, we were at school. We had a teacher who was a student in poetry. He was very romantic, he was saying: ‘Waterloo, Waterloo.’ Leon Schipper laughed about it and was sent out of school. After a few minutes, Leon came back and said: ‘The Germans are here.’ Then the Germans came into the classroom. They took all the children and they sent us to Mechelen. They asked our names and put a chord with a number for the transport around our neck. Then they sent us to a dormitory.' — Isabelle Pinkas Eisenman, ″From the Children's Home to the Gas Chamber: And how some avoided their fate.″ (2021)

'Towards the end of the evening, German guards came and collected our assigned shipping numbers (the aforementioned yellow-greenish cards). After this, we instantly knew that we were not part of the two forming convoys. This news was obviously received with great enthusiasm by the children of the home. We, the children of Wezembeek, knew that we were to be spared. We were now directed towards the vestibule (main entrance hall) of the casern Dossin. As we approached the vestibule, we ran across a dark room where six cribs, each with a child, were left alone. Seeing no German guards, and being one of the older of the children, I told and encouraged five other children to each grab a child and to take them with us. We were approximately fifty to sixty children, including the six youngsters, with about five supervisory personnel waiting to be shipped back to the home. Our directrice, Mme Blum, joined us with an additional child and was very happy to find us with six more children. The Germans provided us with a small truck for our return trip to the home. The truck was too small. Two trips were required to complete the return, so the younger children went first. The older ones had a moment of anxiety while still in the camp, because the truck experienced a breakdown of long duration during the return from the first trip. The net outcome of this event was that the Jewish children of Wezembeek, including me, were saved from certain death, and that seven additional children escaped the grasp of the German authorities. The child I saved was only four years old, spoke only Flemish (Dutch) and was naturally very much attracted to me; I was all that he had left in the world. I had to feed him, wash him, take him to the toilet, and put him to bed. These activities were not suited for a 14-year-old boy, so I slowly transferred these activities to the girls of the home.' — Leon Schipper, ″From the Children's Home to the Gas Chamber: And how some avoided their fate.″ (2021)

After the war

Most of the children who were housed in the Wezembeek Jewish orphanage had lost both parents. After the war, the orphanage remained in function for those who had no family members to care for them. Slowly, the orphanage saw more and more children leaving. Many children were adopted by Jewish families from the United States and Canada. Others went to Israel on Youth Aliyah.

'Some of the children of Wezembeek were reunited with a family member, either mothers, fathers, uncles and aunts. Around one third were reunited fairly quickly, and many others received correspondence from relatives, who wrote that they come for them as soon as they could. In the meantime, we started our routine going to public school during the week going on field trips, or being driven to the beach or walks in the woods. I do remember enjoying playing with my friends, especially Mozes Englander and Henri Wolff. Playing with marbles was something we really enjoyed. I recall the first movie we saw was Bambi and I remember being scared during the forest fire scene. Life for me was always being with a bunch of kids. Slowly over time, the orphanage was seeing more kids leaving. I remember Mozes Englander and his sister, Fanny Englander, leaving for New York. They were adopted by a famous actor in the Yiddish theater, Maurice Schwartz.' — Michael Hartogs (born as Max Kohn), ″From the Children's Home to the Gas Chamber: And how some avoided their fate.″ (2021)

'Whenever a child left the orphanage to get adopted, all the children of the orphanage sang Auld Lang Syne, which is often sung at New Year. We would all stand in a big circle elbow to elbow and sang for the child that was leaving. They also did it for me when I left.' — Henri Wolfe (born as Henri Wolff), ″From the Children's Home to the Gas Chamber: And how some avoided their fate.″ (2021)

In January 2021, several of the surviving children of the Wezembeek Jewish orphanage were reunited through Zoom, among them retired pediatric neurologist Fred J. Kader and Neodance creator Alfred Friedman.

External links

• Brownstein: Holocaust child survivors reconnect seven decades after arriving in Montreal
• Orphaned in Holocaust, Belgian survivors reunite over 70 years later
• Holocaust Memorial Day: They were rescued from deportation. Now, Jewish orphans reunite.

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