Rosette Hammer. Collection

Rosie Mirjam alias Rosette Hammer was born in Berlin, Germany, on 29 November 1927 as the daughter of Schaje Hersch alias Siegmund Hammer (born on 4 April 1897 in Lodz, Poland) and Lina Charlotte Glucksmann (born on 3 November 1903 in Berlin, Germany). Rosette had two younger siblings: Leopold David who was born on 15 February 1932 and Bertha Dorothea who was born on 3 January 1938. In January 1939 father Schaje Hammer fled Leipzig, Germany. Upon arrival in Belgium he settled at Rue Terre-Neuve 112 in Brussels. Before leaving Germany, he had earned a living as a wine sales representative, but in Belgium he was forbidden to work. In April 1939 the rest of the family was able to join Schaje in Brussels. Although threatened to be expelled from the country multiple times, Schaje, Charlotte and their three children stayed in Belgium and relocated to Rue d’Or 44 (today Boulevard de l'Empereur) in Brussels. In order to survive, they accepted financial support from Charlotte’s sister Leni Glucksmann who lived in Copenhagen, Denmark. In January 1940 the Hammer-Glucksmann family moved to Rue de l'Arbre Bénit 41 in Ixelles, where they still resided when Nazi-Germany invaded Belgium on 10 May 1940. The family obeyed the anti-Jewish decrees, registering in the municipal Jewish register in December 1940 and becoming members of the Association of Jews in Belgium in Spring 1942. Later in 1942, Schaje and Charlotte placed their children in hiding. Rosette, Leopold and Berta were initially hidden at the Orphelinat in Tervuren. The girls were then sent to the Heilig Graf institute in Turnhout, while Leopold was taken in by a family in Aarschot, where he became Leopold Havelange. In Aarschot he was baptized and he made his solemn communion. All three siblings survived the war in hiding and were sent to live with their aunt in Denmark after Liberation as they had become war orphans. After placing their children in hiding, Schaje and Charlotte took on the false identities of Belgian nationals Séraphin De Potter and Rosalie Ceuppens. However, their falsified papers could not protect them. Schaje and Charlotte were arrested under unknown circumstances. They were registered at the Dossin barracks on 4 March 1943, and were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau via Transport XX on 19 March 1943. However, they found themselves in the same wagon as Jewish resistance fighters who had smuggled in tools to open the cart from inside out in order to escape. Schaje and Charlotte jumped from the train when it reached Vertrijk. However, Charlotte was shot and killed by the guards on the train during the escape attempt and was subsequently buried at the cemetery in Roosbeek. Schaje was arrested again and was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau via Transport XXVI on 31 July 1944. He did not survive.

In 2005 the Jewish Museum of Deportation and Resistance, predecessor of Kazerne Dossin, obtained digital copies of the items in this collection.