Henri Maizels photograph collection

Henri Maizels was born in Paris, France on December 4, 1939 to Charles Maizels (b.1913 or 1914, in Kraschnik, Poland) and Sarah Kirshenblatt (Sura Kiersenblat, b. 1918 in Pulawy, Poland). They lived in France and in 1941 or 1942 the family applied for emigration to Switzerland, but were denied. When Henri was two years old his father contracted tuberculosis and was hospitalized. He was deported from the hospital. When Germany took control of northern France, Sarah and Henri moved to Avignon in southern France in 1943. Sarah contracted Typhus and died. Henri was placed with a Catholic family and then a Catholic orphanage. After the war Henri was placed in a Jewish orphanage near Paris. His aunt, Miriam Maizels, and uncle, Nathan Maizels, found him and raised him along with their own son Max Maizels. In 1947 Henri was sent to the United States aboard the MS Gripsholm to live with his aunt and uncle in New York City.