A Belgian Jewish girl leans against an intricate railing.
Overview
- Caption
- A Belgian Jewish girl leans against an intricate railing.
Pictured is Adele Bogner (later Judas). - Date
-
1946 - 1948
- Locale
- Antwerp, Belgium?
- Variant Locale
- Anvers
Antwerpen - Photo Credit
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Kurt Judas
Rights & Restrictions
- Photo Source
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumProvenance: Kurt JudasSecond Provenance: Adele Judas
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Biography
- Adele Bogner was born on November 9, 1936 in Antwerp, Belgium to parents Simcha (b. April 16, 1899 in Tarnow, Poland) and Gitel Rika Meth Bogner (b. January 8, 1903 in Wielpole, Poland.) Adele had two siblings, Hennie (b. August 22, 1929 in Tarnow) and Max (b. July 16, 1931 in Antwerp). Adele’s father worked as a carpenter.
In May 1940, the German army invaded Belgium and the Bogner family tried to escape to Switzerland, where Gitel’s brother held citizenship. Instead, their train was routed to the south of France, where the family was imprisoned. For the next several years, the family members moved between Gurs, Rivesaltes, and Brens. Adele, who was only three, recalls being with her mother at times, and at other times being taken to various children’s homes, one located in Beaulieux. Her parents were both able to find work in the camps, Simcha as a supervisor of forty other carpenters, and Gitel in the camp kitchens, where she was able to get a little extra food.
The family lived with the constant threat of deportation. One day while in Rivesaltes Adele and her mother were selected for a transport to Auschwitz during an early morning roll call, and forced to board the train. Before the train left, a guard came through to check names. He could not find their names on the list, and they were told to leave the train. On another occasion, Adele’s father managed to avoid selection for transport by cutting a small hole in the ceiling of their barrack, and hiding on the rafters for two weeks.
In June 1943, the Ouevres au Secour des Enfants (O.S.E.) arranged for Adele and her siblings to escape to Switzerland. They travelled by train for two days to the border town of Annemasse, France, where they met fifteen other children traveling with an adult. For the next two days, the children were briefed on how the border crossing was to transpire, and coached on how to respond in case they were caught. After this preparation, Adele, Hennie, and Max were taken by trolley to the outskirts of town, ending up in a forest, where they were to meet a guide who would help them cross. They waited that night, hidden under a tree, until the other fifteen children joined them. The group then crossed over rolls of barbed wire and through a stream, older children helping the younger children, though receiving cuts and injuries, until they reached a high barbed wire fence. Max soon climbed to the top, but jumped back and hid with Adele and Hennie when they heard a guard. After being reassured by their guide that the guards were on the Swiss side, the children crossed over. They were taken for interrogation, then locked up for the night in a room with only straw mattresses and no food. The next morning, they were given rolls of bread to eat, interrogated once more, and then sent to detention camps for three months of quarantine. They soon learned that their aunt and uncle in Zurich were not able to care for them. They were instead sent to a children’s home in Heiden, Switzerland, where they lived for three years.
In June 1946, Adele and her siblings learned though the Red Cross that their parents had survived the camps and had returned to Antwerp. They boarded a train with 1500 other children who had taken refuge in Switzerland, and were taken to Brussels where they were reunited with their parents. Adele, then nine years old, had not seen her mother in three years and did not initially recognize her. Adele immigrated to the United States with her parents in 1958. She married Kurt Judas in New York City in 1959.
- Record last modified:
- 2020-04-16 00:00:00
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1185625
