Paul Marcel Italie. Collection

Paul Marcel Italie was born in The Hague, the Netherlands, on 24 September 1922. He was the oldest son of ancient languages teacher Gabriël Italie (b. 13/12/1895 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands) and Sara Rose Hausdorff, an well-to-do orthodox couple. Paul Marcel had two siblings : Ida (b. 1921) and Raphaël (b. 1929). As of the 1930s until his death, father Gabriël Italie kept a diary in which he also documented the evolution of the war and the fate of his oldest son Paul Marcel Italie. During the war, Paul got engaged to Julia Wilhelmine Woudstra. In 1942, Paul, Julia, Julia’s sister Henna Schoontje Woudstra and several of their friends decided to try to flee to Switzerland. However, the group was caught in Belgium. Paul Italie and Julia and Henna Woudstra were interned at the Dossin barracks on 21 August 1942. None of them survived deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau via Transport V on 25 August 1942. Paul’s parents, sister and brother survived the war. Father Gabriël Italie got his family into the De Schaffelaar castle in Barneveld, where about 700 privileged Jews were housed after exemption from deportation thanks to their social status and personal connections. On 29 September 1943 the Italie family was transferred from Barneveld to camp Westerbork, where Gabriël taught at the school. He, his family and the other members of the privileged Barneveld group were deported to Theresienstadt on 4 September 1944, where they received a special status which led most of the group members to survive the war. The Italie family was among those to be repatriated to the Netherlands in 1945. Gabriël Italie passed away in 1956, his wife Sara Rose Hausdorff in 1986, their daughter Ida Italie in 1990. Raphael (Ralph) Italie emigrated to the United States. He got married, had children and grandchildren.

In 2013, Dutch researcher Wally de Lang and Henny Troostwijk, niece of Julia and Henna Woudstra, brought Raphaël Italie in contact with Kazerne Dossin. Upon request, he provided several digital copies of photos of his brother Paul Marcel Italie, whose portrait was at the time missing on the commemoration wall at Kazerne Dossin.

Raphaël (Ralph) Italie, 2013