Sylvain Paul Zucker. Collection

Sylvain Paul Zucker was born in Berchem, Antwerp, on 3 October 1913, as the son of diamond merchant Naftali Mozes alias Maurice Zucker and his wife Hena alias Helene Mire. Sylvain had two older brothers: Joseph (born on 16 March 1910 in Antwerp) and Adolf Isaac (born on 24 April 1912 in Antwerp). In 1913 the Zucker family moved to the Netherlands where a fourth son, named Jacques Theodoor, was born in Den Haag on 11 April 1915. The family returned to Belgium after the First World War. Sylvain Paul Zucker found employment in the diamond industry and held Belgian nationality. During the Second World War, he was forced to obey the anti-Jewish decrees installed in Belgium. He registered in the municipal Jewish register on 20 December 1940. Sylvain then lived at Cobdenstraat 15 in Antwerp, but later moved to Rue August Delporte 49 in Ixelles, Brussels. Before Spring 1942 he fled to France and then to Spain where he was held at the Miranda de Ebro internment centre. After his release Sylvain joined the Brigade Piron in England, his brother Joseph Zucker already serving there. Sylvain Zucker became a second lieutenant, fighting in the liberation campaign of Europe. Later on he worked for the American army. After Liberation Sylvain Paul Zucker returned to Belgium. He married and built a family, and played an important role in reviving the Antwerp diamond industry. Sylvain Zucker became the president of the Antwerp Diamond Club in 1971.

As of 23 April 1996, the items in this collection have been on loan at the Jewish Museum of Deportation and Resistance and its successor Kazerne Dossin. They remain property of the Zucker family.

Zucker family, 1996