David, Nicole (Oral history)

Belgian Jewish child in Antwerp and Profondeville, Belgium, 1940-1942; in hiding in Saint Servais, Besinne and Malonne, Belgium, 10/1942-9/1944

REEL 1 Recollections of background in Antwerp, Belgium, 1936-1940: family circumstances and Polish origins; family's stateless condition; awareness of Jewish identity. Recollections of German invasion of Belgium and France, 5/1940: family's journey on foot from Antwerp towards Dunkirk; stay in small village near Dunkirk; sharing accommodation with other Jewish refugees; story of how she was befriended by two German soldiers and their attitude to taking orders. Recollections of period as child in Profondeville, Belgium, 1940-1942: affects of increasing restrictions on father's work; reasons for removal from kindergarten at convent school; introduction of Star of David for Belgian Jews; hearing of first family deportations from Antwerp, 7/1942. REEL 2 Continues: story of how family members were sent to Malines Transit Camp prior to deportation to Auschwitz Concentration Camp; father's narrow escape from deportation; reaction to period in orphanage in Saint Servais; return to family due to ill health; arrest of mother by Gestapo; move by resistance to hiding place. Recollections of period in hiding with Champagne family in Saint Servais, Namur, Belgium, 1942-1944: method family used to disguise her presence; change of name to Nicole Brasseur and adoption of first name post-war; question of identity; food situation. REEL 3 Continues: visit by father and importance of outings with Aryan-looking Jewish friend; nature of existence in hiding; risks to Belgians who hid Jews; coping with mother's disappearance and closeness to father. Recollections of period in hiding in Besinne and Malonne, Belgium, 1944: reasons for leaving Champagne family; reasons for moving from first hiding place; food situation in countryside; aid given to Jews by Belgian Resistance; sight of Allied bombing of Namur. REEL 4 Continues: liberation of Malonne by American troops, 5/9/1944; reaction to approach of American soldier with bar of chocolate; continuing German resistance in area. Recollections of period as schoolchild in Belgium, 1944-1952: reunion with father in Besinne; move towards France during Battle of the Bulge, 12/1944-1/1945; decision to move to Brussels; conditions in convent in Brussels; question of trust/resentment at being sent away from parents; lack of memories of VE Day, 8/5/1945; meeting with survivor of Auschwitz Concentration Camp after end of war in Besinne, summer 1945. REEL 5 Continues: question of pessimism about chances of mother's survival; contact with family survivors; her aunt's experiences in post-war Poland; obtaining Belgian nationality; reasons for asking her father not to remarry; father's financial situation during war; supply of death certificate for mother by Red Cross; meeting with women who thought she had known her mother in Auschwitz Concentration Camp; fabricated German death certificates; question of Belgian collaboration and their support of Jewish community. Aspects of involvement with Hidden Child organisation, 1991-1997: decision to found organisation, 1991. REEL 6 Continues: importance of mutual support within organisation; aid given by Abraham Foxman and Jane Marks who wrote book 'The Hidden Children'; success of meeting in Belgium, 1995; importance of organisation to hidden children.