Overview
- Description
- The copyprint photograph depicts Leon Apfel. Unknown photographer. Leon Apfel was born inPrzemysl, Poland, to Rivka Feuer (b. 1897) and Samson (b. 1899). His sister Lea (b. 1931) was born in Belgium, where the family moved in 1929 or 1930. Following the German invasion of Belgium, Leon attempted to escape to Switzerland but was caught in France. He was deported to Drancy and then to Auschwitz and did not survive. His parents were deported to the Mechelen transit camp in 1942 and then to Auschwitz-Birkenau and did not survive. His sister Lea survived in hiding with a Catholic family.
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Lea Bierlaire-Apfel
Physical Details
- Genre/Form
- Photographs.
- Extent
-
1 folder
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
- Conditions on Use
- Material(s) in this collection may be protected by copyright and/or related rights. You do not require further permission from the Museum to use this material. The user is solely responsible for making a determination as to if and how the material may be used.
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Holocaust victims--Belgium.
- Personal Name
- Apfel, Leon.
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by Lea Bierlaire-Apfel
- Record last modified:
- 2023-02-24 14:22:56
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn523198
Download & Licensing
- In Copyright - Use Permitted
- Terms of Use
- This record is not digitized and cannot be downloaded online.
In-Person Research
- Request 7 Days in Advance of Visit
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- Request in Shapell Center Reading Room
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Also in Leon Apfel collection
The collection consists of a compass and case and a photograph relating to the experiences of Leon Apfel and Lea Apfel-Bierlaire before and during the Holocaust.
Date: 1942
Drawing compass and accessories in a case used by a young girl living in hiding
Object
Compass owned by 17-year-old Leon Apfel, a drawing student in Antwerp, Belgium, before World War II. Leon’s 10-year-old sister, Lea, admired the compass and took it with her in 1942 when she was sent into hiding with a Catholic family as the Germans were rounding up the Jews of Belgium for deportation to concentration camps. The compass was the only family possession that survived with her. Leon had fled Belgium before the round-ups and tried to make his way to Switzerland, but was captured in France, imprisoned in the Drancy transfer camp, and on September 18, 1942, deported to Auschwitz. On October 24 of that year, their parents were deported to Auschwitz from Belgium. All three were killed in the camp.
