Yellow Star of David badge with the letter J worn by a Belgian Jewish boy

Francois Zygielman (later Frank Siegel) was born on October 7, 1933, in Antwerp, Belgium, to Cudyk and Rozia Schreiber Zygielman. Cudyk was born on January 29, 1901, in Lublin, Poland, where his family had lived since at least 1740. Rozia was born on June 5, 1905, in Lemberg, Austro-Hungary. In 1918, it was known as Lwow and was part of Poland (present day L’viv, Ukraine). Circa 1928, Cudyk and Rozia immigrated to Belgium. They married on September 25, 1929.

In May 1940, Nazi Germany invaded Belgium. Francois and his family tried to escape to Great Britain during the evacuations from Dunkirk, but had to return to Belgium. The German military administration immediately enacted anti-Jewish policies. Jews were banned from many professions and their property was confiscated. In 1942, all Jews over age six had to wear Star of David badges at all times. Many were made to perform forced labor. Deportations to concentration and slave labor camps in the east also began in 1942. Rozia had to be taken to the hospital in 1942. German authorities then sent her to Mechen (Malines) transit camp. She was deported in October to eastern Europe. Cudyk and Francois went into hiding in separate locations soon after that. That September, Francois had been given the name Henri Teugends, using the certificates of a child who had died. Cudyk took Francois to Madame Pierlot, who cared for and also hid orphaned children. Cudyk then decided to find a more secure place for Francois to hide and placed him in a Catholic orphanage in Namur. Francois did not like it there, as one the nuns would tell him and the other children that "You Jews suffer because you crucified Christ." In late 1943, he was moved to a home in Ciney, with the help of Abbe Joseph Andre. Cudyk lived in hiding in Brussels. Belgium was liberated in September 1944. Cudyk came to get Francois two days after liberation.

The war did not end until May 1945 when Germany surrendered. Cudyk and Francois were reunited. They learned that Rozia had been sent to Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland and killed. All of Rozia and Cudyk’s family in Poland perished. Cudyk sought visas for them to go to the United States. Francois was on the Belgian quota and received one quickly. Cudyk was on the Polish quota and had to wait two years. Francois lived in a series of orphanages run by Aid to Jewish Victims of the War. Cudyk and Francois emigrated to the United States in 1949. Cudyk married Erna Bialer in 1951. Erna was born on February 11, 1941, to Boruch and Gisia Rois Bialer in Warsaw, Poland. She was a survivor of Majdanek, Auschwitz, and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps. She had relocated to Belgium in 1946 and emigrated to the United States in 1951. The family settled in Brooklyn. Francois Americanized his name to Frank Siegel. He became a teacher, married, and had two children. Cudyk, 78, died in 1979. Erna passed away on May 22, 2000.