be-002157-kd 00384
has or had some members with language: eng
has or had some members with language: pol
identifier: KD_00384
archival history: From 1996 onwards Norbert Vos-Obstfeld kindly permitted the Jewish Museum of Deportation and Resistance, as well as its successor Kazerne Dossin, to digitise items from his family archive. These digitised items include his complete family photo album as well as lose photos of deported family members and friends. Norbert also donated original items to the museum collection. These include a REX pin, several family photos such as the wedding photo of his parents Abraham alias Albert Obstfeld and Lea Zwaaf, their wedding dinner menu, Lea’s false ID, post-war ID cards of Norbert’s stepfather Emiel Vos, the teddy bear given to Norbert by his"hiding siste" Mona Verhage, a suit and the wedding suit worn by Norbert's father Abraham Obstfeld, the handbag of his maternal grandmother Sara Vos and a dagger with the inscription"Meine Ehre heisst Treu" given to Norbert by an acquaintance. The teddy bear is on permanent display at the Kazerne Dossin museum.
related material: Norbert Vos-Obstfeld's"hiding siste" Mona Verhage donated to Kazerne Dossin the button box with which Norbert played while in hiding at the Verhage family home (KD_00550).
biographical history: Norbert Obstfeld was born on 19 July 1941 in Pau, France, as the son of Abraham alias Albert Obstfeld (born on 11 July 1903 in Mielec, Poland) and Lea Zwaaf (born on 21 June 1920 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands). Albert was a textile merchant who had migrated from Poland to Belgium in 1929. He married Lea Zwaaf in Berchem, Antwerp, on 25 July 1939. Lea was the daughter of Marcus Zwaaf, the well-to-do owner of an international import and export business that dealt mainly with firms in India. The Zwaaf family had migrated from the Netherlands to Belgium in 1934 where Lea became a corset maker. After her marriage to Albert she took care of her own household. Upon the invasion of Belgium by Nazi-Germany on 10 May 1940 Albert and Lea fled to France in an attempt to catch a boat to the United Kingdom. However, they were forced to return to Belgium and then decided to flee to southern France. Their son Norbert was born in Pau a year later. Albert’s plan was to reach Spain and flee oversees. However, Lea did not want to leave her parents Marcus Zwaaf and Sara Vos who had stayed behind in Antwerp. She together with Albert and Norbert therefore returned to Belgium in April 1942. The Obstfeld-Zwaaf family first settled at 39 Rue Vandenbussche in Schaerbeek, Brussels, and then at Avenue Brugmann 510 in Uccle, Brussels. In the night of 28 on 29 August 1942, Lea was staying at the house of her parents Marcus Zwaaf and Sara Vos at Marsstraat in Antwerp. That same night the Zwaaf-Vos family home was raided during an anti-Jewish raid organised in the city of Antwerp by the German authorities with the help of the local police. Lea, who was not registered at the address, pretended to be the maid and thus escaped arrest. After her parents, her younger sister Emilie Zwaaf and her niece Jacqueline Da Cunha (whose parents Maurice Da Cunha and Lily Zwaaf were in India) were taken, Lea hurried over to the school at Grotehondstraat where the arrested Jews were gathered. Although Lea was able t…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: The family photo album is digitally available at Kazerne Dossin. The teddy bear is on permanent display at the Kazerne Dossin museum.
has or had subject: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/vocabularies/ehri-terms/904
title: Norbert Vos-Obstfeld. Collection
conditions of use: Norbert Vos-Obstfeld, Private collection, Belgium ; Contact Kazerne Dossin Documentation Centre: archives@kazernedossin.eu
has beginning date: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/dates/1900-01-01
has or had some members with language: fra
has or had holder: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/institutions/be-002157
publication note: DE WEVER Bruno, VAN ASCH Martine & VAN DOORSLAER Rudi, Gekleurd Verleden : Familie in oorlog, Tielt, 2010, pp. 88-101.
scope and content: This collection contains: the French ID card of Chuma Rajzel Galant-Holcman ; pre-war family photos of the extended Obstfeld-Fleischer and Zwaaf-Vos families, including childhood, wedding and vacation photos ; photos of the Obstfeld-Zwaaf family after fleeing to France during the war; photos of Norbert Vos and his mother Lea Zwaaf while hiding in Kortrijk with the Verhage family ; photos of Elisabeth alias Lilly Zwaaf and her husband Maurice Da Cunha living in India during the war ; post-war photos of Norbert, his mother Lea Zwaaf and his stepfather Emiel Vos ; photos of Emiel Vos’s deported family members and friends ; Abraham alias Albert Obstfeld and Lea Zwaaf’s wedding menu ; documents regarding the rescue of Norbert Vos-Obstfeld by the Verhage family ; the goodbye letter sent by Albert Obstfeld to his family while detained at the Dossin barracks in 1942 ; documents regarding the repatriation of camp survivor Emiel Vos, stepfather of Norbert Vos-Obstfeld ; the fake ID of Lea Zwaaf ; a published collection of drawings on Buchenwald by Henri Pieck ; a REX pin ; a teddy bear given to Norbert by his “hiding sister” Mona Verhag ; a documentary on Norbert Vos-Obstfeld created in 2021 by the municipality of Menen and Wereldraad Menen in colleboration with local schools ; a suit worn by Abraham Obstfeld ; the wedding suit worn by Abraham Obstfeld ; a handbag which belonged to Sara Vos ; a dagger with the inscription Meine Ehre heisst Treue; documents of the Frenchie Stichting (Frenchie Foundation), an Israeli burial association, of which Norbert Vos was part; photos of lectures at peace days in GITOK; photo past the synagogue of Heide; two interviews (Dutch and English) meant for the EHRI Podcast Series featuring Norbert Vos-Obstfeld highlighting his life story and the gift of a teddy bear and also him reading aloud the poem or prayer he wrote for his father.
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/be-002157-kd_00384/acquisitions/1
has record set type: Collection
has or had some members with language: heb
has or had subject: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/vocabularies/ehri-terms/519
location of originals: Norbert Vos-Obstfeld, Private collection, Belgium ; Kazerne Dossin, Mechelen, Belgium
has end date: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/dates/2022-12-31
type: RecordSet
has or had subject: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/vocabularies/ehri-terms/112
has or had some members with language: nld
location of copies: Digital copy available as collection KD_00384 at Kazerne Dossin
conditions of access: Contact Kazerne Dossin Documentation Centre: archives@kazernedossin.eu
record resource extent: 612 digitised images (413 photos, 113 documents, 6 objects, 1 precious print and 1 documentary) and 2 digital audio files (2 interviews)
has or had subject: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/vocabularies/ehri-terms/304
accruals: New items will be added to the collection upon digitisation or donation