Martha Roscam. Collection

Martha Roscam was born in Antwerp on 31 May 1897. In 1940, she lived at Dolfijnstraat 33 in Antwerp. She and her husband Georges Hicguet were divorced, but Martha lived together with her three sons - Roger (born in 1923), Georges (born c. 1928) and Eddy (born c. 1933) - and her elderly mother. In the course of 1943, Martha took in Jewish siblings Josef and Suron Frymeta Piepsz, Suron’s husband Icek Wilczyk, and Aron Rosenfeld. It remains unclear why and how the four Jewish persons hidden in the attic of her house ended up with Martha as they were not acquaintances. On 21 May 1943, Martha’s home was invaded by two Flemish SS men. One of them was the infamous Felix Lauterborn, a Jew hunter renown for abusing the people he arrested. When confronted with the accusation of hiding Jews, Martha denied being involved. However, the two SS men quickly discovered the hiding place in the attic of the house. Martha Roscam, Suron Piepsz, Josef Piepsz, Icek Wilczyk and Aron Rosenfeld were arrested on the spot and were taken to the prison at Begijnenstraat in Antwerp. On 18 June 1943 the four Jewish arrestees were transferred from the prison to the SS-Sammellager Mecheln (Dossin barracks) from where they were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau via transport XXI on 31 July 1943. All were murdered. At the Begijnenstraat prison, Martha was initially kept in isolation. To pass time, she wrote in her diary, and crafted a set of playing cards and a handkerchief. Martha was convicted and received as punishment a six-month jail term and a fine of 10 000 Belgian francs. After six weeks at the prison, Martha finally received cellmates. In her diary she wrote down everything that happened around her. 20 June 1943 was a particularly hard day for her, as her youngest son Eddy had to celebrate his Holy Communion without her. Eddy would carry this trauma for the rest of his life. Martha was released from the Begijnenstraat prison on 19 October 1943, a month early, due to illness. She rejoined her mother and sons at their house at Dolfijnstraat, and, in July 1944, received a reminder from the local German Feldkommandantur to pay the fine. Liberation would prevent Martha from having to pay more than the first monthly instalment of 1 000 francs. In June 1945, Martha filed a complaint against Felix Lauterborn, who would receive the death penalty for his actions during the war, but who died in the Leuven prison in 1956. Martha continued to care for her family. Her eldest son Roger married Clemence Melaerts, with whom he would have three children: Pol, born in 1950, Lutgarde, born in 1952, and Felix, born in 1956. Martha’s two other sons, Georges and Eddy, remained childless. Martha passed away in the 1970s.

The diary in this collection was kept by Martha Roscam during her incarceration in the Begijnenstraat prison in Antwerp in 1943-1944. The other pieces in this collection are related to her imprisonment and release. Martha kept the items until her death in the 1970s, after which they passed to her youngest son Eddy Hicguet. Eddy added some of his own notes to the documents in this collection. After Eddy's death (c. 2010), his nephew Pol Hicguet inherited the items. Pol shared his grandmother Martha's story with the MAS and donated the original documents, photos, newspaper clippings and objects to Kazerne Dossin in 2024.

Pol Hicguet, grandson of Martha Roscam, 2024