Papierbuch-Oppenheimer family. Collection

Nachman Papierbuch was born in 1903 in Warsaw, Poland. He migrated to Belgium in 1923 and became a leather worker, later on a diamond merchant. In 1938 Nachman married Ruth Oppenheimer, born in 1907 in Freistett, Germany. In 1939, their son José Papierbuch was born. In July 1942, Nachman was claimed by the Nazis as a forced labourer. He was taken to the North of France where he was housed in the Les Mazures camp. He worked for the companies Vaisset and Scholzen, subcontractors of Organisation Todt, the German enterprise responsible for the built of the Atlantic Wall. On 21 October 1942, Nachman was sent to the Dossin barracks from where, three days later, he was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau via transport XV. Although Nachman Papierbuch did not survive, his wife Ruth and son José, together with Félicie Gruszow, the daughter of Ruth's sister, survived the war in hiding in Petit-Han. José Papierbuch later migrated to Israel, Félicie Gruszow still lives in Belgium.

The originals of the documents in this collection were guarded by Ruth Oppenheimer while in hiding. The copies were provided by José Papierbuch, son of Nachman Papierbuch and Ruth Oppenheimer.

José (Josaphat) Papierbuch, 2014