Szyf family. Collection

Born on 16 October, 1903, in Chelm, Poland, Moszko Szyf grew up at Poeztowa/Potchtova 28, the cherished son of Mordka Josef Szyf and Ruchla Gitla Zygiel. Mordka studied in a Talmud school with rabbi Abraham Fink, while Ruchla kept open a shop. In Chelm there was a small synagogue, built in the years 1912-1914, on the corner of Kopernika and Krzywa Streets. Moszko had two older sisters Gaja (born in 1901) and Rivka (born in 1902), and three younger brothers: Gerszon (born in 1906), Leiba Ber (born on 12 May 1910) an Joël (born in 1912). Moszko Szyf was a very lively healthy boy who loved animals. At school, Moszko was thought in Russian and Polish. In 1916 he performed his Bar Mitzvah. He did not like studying a lot but was very handy and good at woodworking. He pursued doing trade, even when young he already helped selling surplus produced eggs to people. Afraid for the pogroms in his home country, Moszko Szyf arrived in Belgium on December 28, 1927, adopting the name Maurice. However, his early days in the country were marked by adversity, as he was imprisoned in the prison of Forest for "vagabondage" shortly after his arrival, in Anderlecht at Brogniezstraat 126. Following his release from a refugee center in Hoogstraten in February 1928, Moszko took on various jobs, including working as a machinist at S/S Katherine in Antwerp. His addresses were at Somerstraat 12 and Vestingsstraat 37. On 25 May 1928 he moved from Antwerp to Ghent. Notably, he found employment as an egg sorter for Rabbi Vicius Jocubas at the Behr Mathew firm, located at Hangar 5 in Ghent's dock area, earning 300 BF per week. Moszko has addresses at Dokplaats 20, Geldmunt 15 and Tolhuislaan 49. Meanwhile, Sluwa Guss, a skilled seamstress from Chelm and the daughter of Pinchas Guss and Sura Krajs, arrived in Belgium on 28 May, 1931. She married Moszko a month later on 18 July 1931. Their union was blessed with the arrival of their first child, Marie (Annie) Szyf, on 14 December 1933 in Kortrijkschestraat 106, followed by their son Paul (Polydore) Szyf on 18 July 1936 in Berouwspoort 118. Moszko provided for them. Moszko's commitment extended beyond his family, as he registered himself as a blood donor with the Red Cross on September 22, 1939. With the onset of the Second World War, Moszko, his wife, and their children resided at Sint Lievenspoortstraat 135, where they managed a poultry and dairy products trade. Sluwa dedicated herself to serving customers in the shop. Fleeing to France at the outbreak of the war, the family faced the turmoil of displacement as they took their car to France. In Paris, Moszko joined the Polish army, while Sluwa, Marie, and Paul found temporary shelter with a clog maker in Locminé / Morbihan, Bretagne. However, the family eventually returned home in August. Moszko Szyf had been in Luchon in the Pyrenees, but he did not stay there. The situation took a dire turn in August 1942, as Sluwa, Marie, and Paul were forced to sleep in separate homes. Sluwa and Marie with a barber named Richard in Ottergemsesteenweg, Ghent, whereas Paul slept in the home of the neighbours across the street of his own home, Achilles & Mariette Vercammen. Meanwhile, Moszko continued to reside for sleeping at their residence alone, while also having the dissolution of his trade in May 1942. Tragedy struck on 25 September when Moszko was forcefully taken from his house and arrested. Moszko had told Paul that if the Germans came in the early morning, he would flee over the wall of the inner courtyard and escape to the adjacent monastery. But instead he did open the door for the Germans thinking it would make them leave his family alone. Alongside Moszko was his brother Leiba Ber (Robert) Szyf (12/05/1910), who arrived in Belgium on 10 August 1929. He first lived at Somerrsstraat 37 in Antwerp before moving to Ghent as well in Lage Schipgracht 42 and Kraanlei 14 in the same year. In 1939 Leiba Ber moved to Sint Lievenspoortraat 135 as well before going to Torhoutschesteenweg 55 in Ostend, Belgium, on 8 August 1939. There in Ostend he was apprehended on the same day as Moszko. Both of them were transported to the Gent-Sint-Pieters railway station and subsequently to Mechelen. In Gent-Sint-Pieters, Moszko managed to get into a toilet, and write on a piece of paper in Yiddish about his capture in the hope to save his family, and that he threw all the money he still had on the flat roof at home. Moszko managed to give this note to the toilet lady, together with the address of the neighbours across the street. Following his registration as number 2351 of Transport XI at the Dossin barracks, Moszko was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau on September 26, 1942. The train journey ended at the Judenrampe on September 28, where a devastating fate awaited the majority of the men and boys, likely including Moszko. Leiba Ber Szyf, however, was assigned to an Arbeitskommando, enduring the internment, including a transfer to the Jawisowitz camp to work as a miner. He eventually participated in a death march to Buchenwald, where he found liberation in 1945 before being repatriated to Belgium on 10 May. Following Moszko's deportation, the family home fell victim to German looting, its contents loaded onto trucks. Sluwa, Marie, and Paul found refuge in neighbouring houses on 26 September 1942, with Paul frequently separated from Sluwa and Marie. In an attempt to blend in, Marie adopted the more Flemish name "Annie," while the entire family adopted the surname De Smakker. Paul ended up in the house of Alice Diericks, her husband Jean Baro and her son Julien Torcq/Torck in Ghent in the Jacob Van Maerlantstraat. In April 1943, Achilles Vercammen moved Paul to Ernest and Alice Lippens-Sambaere in Ghent in Schoonmeersstraat 27. Meanwhile Sluwa and Marie were with the family Loontjens on Brittaniëlaan 20. Marie was also moved to Céline Meire in Ostend in Torhoutsesteenweg 55, as well as Céline’s mother at Nieuwpoortsesteenweg. During summer holiday, Paul and his sister Marie were also hidden on the countryside with farmers. Paul also stayed with the Van Bockstaele family in Gontrode at Meerstraat 9, with whom he always had to go to church on Sundays to keep up appearances. One time in Schoonmeersstraat 27, towards the end of the war, Paul and Marie had to run back inside when an angry shouting group of German soldiers was walking around, and they had to be very silent, albeit luckily the soldiers went away. This house was not far from the flight square of Sint Denijs-Westrem, from where Paul heard loud motor noises a lot and one night also heavy explosions as it was being bombed. Despite the dangers, all three managed to survive the war while in hiding. In the aftermath of the conflict, Sluwa attempted to rebuild her life by operating a small store selling dairy products. For weeks she went to Gent-Sint-Pieters station every afternoon in the hopes of seeing Moszko return. However, the challenges remained daunting, and her health further declined, leading to a nine-month hospitalization at De Bijloke in Gent starting in the summer of 1946, where she underwent a critical operation. Meanwhile Paul stayed with the farmer family De Wulf in Nazareth and with August and Julienne De Waegeneire-Hanssens in Ghent in Meibloemstraat 72, the parents of Alice De Jans where Marie was hidden for a while in the Maaltebruggestraat, who Paul always kept calling Mé and Pé. Sluwa passed away on 17 August 1969 in a home at Rue de la Glacière in St-Gilles in Brussels, Belgium. In the post-war years, Leiba Ber Szyf persevered as a hairdresser/barber, raising a daughter named Sally Szyf (20 May 1951), who in turn became a mother to two sons, Patrice (16/01/1987) and Thibault Viaene (11 August 1989). Leiba Ber Szyf died at the age of 82. Meanwhile, Marie Szyf (14 December 1933) went on to have two sons, Philippe (14 October 1958) and Michel Noah (29 January 1961). Philippe, in turn, welcomed two daughters, Dinah (3 May 1985) and Thessa Noah (29 June 1989), into the world. Paul Szyf later married Alice Mortier and became a father to Maxime Szyf, born 1 July 1964. Maxime, in his own right, later became the father of Nina Szyf, born 4 May 1999.

On XX April 2024, Maxime Szyf kindly permitted Kazerne Dossin to digitally archive 71 photographs, 1 letter, 2 identity cards, 2 notices, 1 weeding booklet and three drawings in this collection.

Maxime Szyf, grandson of Moszko Szyf