Zaffern-Noskowicz family. Collection

Identifier
KD_00068
Language of Description
English
Dates
1 Jan 1937 - 31 Dec 1937
Level of Description
Collection
Source
EHRI Partner

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Israel Zaffern was born in Lazansky, Czechoslovakia, on 14 June 1905. He became a warehouse clerk and emigrated to Belgium in 1929, where he settled in Antwerp. On 25 April 1937, Israel Zaffner, then a butcher’s apprentice, married Gitla Noskowicz, born in Lask, Poland, on 1st October 1907. She had emigrated to Belgium in March 1937 to marry Israel. The couple relocated to Brussels, where they opened a restaurant at Place Anneessens. On 13 August 1938, Gitla gave birth to a son, Nathan. Daughter Lisa was born on 2 October 1939. In 1942, Nathan and Lisa Zaffern were placed in hiding in Schaerbeek, Brussels, at the home of Theodore and Celina Debroek, friends of Israel Zaffern and Gitla Noskowicz. Their only son Georges Debroek had been deported to Germany upon refusing to become a forced labourer for the Nazis. Nathan Zaffern was later on transferred to the home of Henri and Irma Van Horenbeck, also in Brussels. Both Nathan and Lisa Zaffern survived the war. In 1946, a maternal family member located the children in Belgium and, after a judicial battle involving the Vaad Hahatzala, took them to the United Kingdom with her. Lisa remained in England, while Nathan Zaffern emigrated to Israel. Nathan and Lisa’s parents did not survive the war. Gitla Noskowicz and her sister Hinda Noskowicz were arrested in August 1943 and deported from the Dossin barracks via transport XXII A on 20 September 1943. Israel Zaffern was arrested in November 1943 and was deported from the Dossin barracks via Transport XXIII on 15 January 1944. Although he was selected as a forced labourer upon arrival (tattoo number 172435), he did not survive.

Acquisition

Nathan Zaffern

Scope and Content

This collection contains six photocopied photos : a wedding photo of Israel Zaffern and Gitla Noskowicz ; a photo of Gitla's sister Hinda Noskowicz ; several war-time and post-war photos of Lisa Zaffern and the Debroek family which hid her at their home in Schaerbeek, Brussels, in 1942-1944.

Accruals

No further accruals are to be expected.

Conditions Governing Access

Contact Kazerne Dossin Documentation Centre: archives@kazernedossin.eu

Conditions Governing Reproduction

Contact Kazerne Dossin Documentation Centre: archives@kazernedossin.eu

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Digitally stored at Kazerne Dossin

Existence and Location of Originals

  • Nathan Zaffern, Private collection

Subjects

Places

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.