be-002157-kd 00496
type: RecordSet
archival history: Debora alias Dolly Kanner and her daughter Michal Gebert kindly donated digital copies of a selection of family photographs to Kazerne Dossin in 2018. The donation also included the testimony of Debora alias Dolly Kanner and an interview with Betty Jakobovits or Jakubowicz, which were added to the Kazerne Dossin library, and a family tree.
biographical history: Tauba (called Toni) Schnitzer, was born in Dembitze, Poland, on 17 August 1904, as the daughter of Moshe Eliezer Schnitzer (born on 4 September 1880 in Oswiecim, Poland) and Genendel Weindling (born on 4 November 1879 in Debica, Poland). Tauba was the oldest of 13 children. The Schnitzer family emigrated from Poland to Cologne, Germany, around 1910 and spent the First World War in Scheveningen, the Netherlands, before emigrating to Belgium in 1922. They settled in Antwerp where most family members earned a living as diamond polishers in the workshop on the first floor of the family home. On 26 May 1925 Tauba Schnitzer married Samuel (Sam) Kanner, a diamond merchant, born on 22 March 1897 in Sokolow, Poland. Tauba and Samuel would have three children: Wolf Leib alias Wolfy (born on 25 January 1927 in Antwerp), Deborah alias Dolly (born on 27 May 1929 in Antwerp) and Isidore alias Isi (born on 10 November 1932 in Antwerp). The Kanner-Schnitzer family was religious and well-to-do. After Samuel Kanner suffered a stroke in 1938, Tauba became the breadwinner of the family, working in the diamond business. Samuel Kanner passed away in Antwerp on 6 September 1939. Upon the German invasion of Belgium on 10 May 1940, Tauba Schnitzer tried to flee south with her children, but she decided to return to Antwerp after the Belgian capitulation. Tauba then joined the resistance together with her brother Salomon and the Sohet sisters, including Olivia and Mathilde, which Tauba had befriended. The group smuggled Jews from Belgium to southern France where one of the four sisters lived. In August 1942, Tauba also sent her oldest children Wolfy and Dolly to Olivia Sohet and her husband René Minet, who lived in Agimont, a small village in Wallonia. When Mathilde Sohet went to collect Tauba and Isi in Antwerp the following day, on 29 August 1942, mother and son had been arrested during the second large raid that was organized in Antwerp during the previous night. Although Mathilde was able…
location of copies: Digital copy available as collection KD_00496 at Kazerne Dossin
location of originals: Debora alias Dolly Kanner, Private collection, Israel
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Digitally stored at Kazerne Dossin
publication note: A copy of Debora alias Dolly Kanner's memoires entitled"Fragments - The Story of Debor", an interview with Betty Jakobovits or Jakubowicz and a Schnitzer family tree are available at the Kazerne Dossin reading room.
related material: The included photos of Marcus Schnitzer, Izak Schnitzer, Anna Schnitzer and Judith Schnitzer were used to complete the"Give them a Fac" portrait collection (KD_00017) and the commemoration wall at the Kazerne Dossin museum. The Wolf-Schnitzer collection (KD_00539) contains photos of Ella Schnitzer and her husband Sender Wolf.
accruals: No further accruals are to be expected
conditions of access: Contact Kazerne Dossin Documentation Centre: archives@kazernedossin.eu
conditions of use: Contact Kazerne Dossin Documentation Centre: archives@kazernedossin.eu
date: 1903-post-war
has or had holder: be-002157
has or had some members with language: heb
has or had subject: 519
has or had subject: 112
has record set type: Collection
identifier: KD_00496
record resource extent: 14 digitised images (12 photos and 1 newspaper article)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: This collection consists of a newspaper article regarding rescue work by Betty Jakobovits or Jakubowicz, and twelve photos of Schnitzer family members, including vacation photos, passport photos and studio portraits.
title: Kanner-Schnitzer family. Collection