De Groot, Abraham

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Description de l'interview extraite du site US Fortunoff / Biographie à venir

Abraham De Groot was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1907, one of three children. He recounts his father's profession as a master diamond cutter; the family moving to Amsterdam in 1907; their assimilated lifestyle; returning to Antwerp in 1928; training with his father as a diamond cutter; joining Maccabi and a non-sectarian sport club; marriage; the birth of a son; his wife's death from illness in 1939; living with his parents so his mother could care for his son; German invasion in 1940; obtaining papers as non-Jews; his parents going into hiding; moving to Brussels where no one knew him; arrest with his brother in April 1943; their imprisonment in St. Gilles; transfer to Malines; never identifying themselves as Jews; deportation about four weeks later; escaping with his brother and three others from the train; returning to Brussels via Louvain; joining his parents; a non-Jewish neighbor, to whom they had given their business, bringing them money weekly; learning after the war that his sister, her children, and most of his extended family had been killed; marriage to his second wife; and the births of two daughters. Mr. D. attributes his, his brother's, and parents' survival to luck and notes not believing in God due to seeing such misery.

(Copyright : Fortunoff Video Archives for Holocaust Testimonies – Yale)

Ressources

Fiche interview

Code interview : YA/FA/216
Date interview : 03/12/2002
Lieu interview : Domicile du témoin (1950 Kraainem)
Durée interview : 1h35
Langue interview : Néerlandais
Interviewers : Rik Hemmerijckx
Cameraman : Philipp Kaufhold
Consultation : Autorisée
Indexation thématique : Non
Séquençage interview : Non

Mots-clés du témoignage :
Dossin / Malines/Mechelen | Juif / Juive | Saint Gilles (prison)