be-002157-kd 00523
type: RecordSet
archival history: The nine books in the Mozes Schenker collection were discovered during construction work done in 2018 by Cindy Doolaege and her husband Farouk El Afi, current owners of the house adjacent to the building where the Schenker family rented their appartment in 1934-1942. The book collection was hidden - probably in 1942 - under the wooden floor in the attic of the neighbouring house. While researching the fate of the owner of the books, the El Afi-Doolaege family contacted Kazerne Dossin and kindly entrusted the books to the museum.
biographical history: Mozes Schenker was born in Belz, Poland, on 10 November 1896 as the son of Hersz Schenker and Have Fischer. On 28 February 1925, Mozes travelled to Lemberg to collect his passport at the local police prefecture. Two months later he visited Czechoslovakia. The Belgian delegation in Prague provided him with a visa valid for 15 days. Upon Mozes’ arrival in Brussels on 5 May 1925, he stated he was a travelling merchant in need of a permanent residence permit. Mozes also declared he migrated to Belgium to work in the leather workshop of his sister Sali Schenker (born in Belz on 3 November 1894) and his brother-in-law Mayer Leib Kunstler (born in Przegrzany, Poland, on 12 September 1888). Initially, Mozes moved in with his relatives at 258 Chaussée de Mons in Anderlecht, Brussels. However, he then quickly got a job in the leather factory of N. Eilenberg. In June 1926, Mozes relocated to Aarschot, but by the end of the year he settled in Borgerhout, Antwerp. The following years he moved quite a lot within the city perimeter while earning a living as a worker in the diamond industry. In 1931, Mozes travelled to Salford, United Kingdom, where on 4 June he married Rivka alias Rebecca Sufrin (born in Manchester, United Kingdom, on 23 January 1901 as the daughter of the Romanian couple Isidor Sufrin and Adela Apfelbaum). However, Rebecca had to await the arrival of her papers and was only able to join Mozes in Belgium in November 1933. Because of her marriage, she lost her British nationality and took on Mozes’ Polish nationality. The couple was very religious. Apart from working as a diamond clover, Mozes also became a private teacher in Hebrew languages. In 1934 the Schenker-Sufrin family moved to a rental apartment at Karel de Preterlei 168 in Borgerhout, Antwerp, where on 23 October 1934 their first child, a son named Naftali, was born. Rebecca gave birth to three more children: a daughter named Zelia on 13 June 1936, a second son named Israel Samuel on 2 June 1938 and a th…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: The books were hidden underneath a wooden floorboard for over 75 years. The items are therefore very fragile and show signs of water and mold damage.
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: pre-war-1942
has or had holder: be-002157
has or had some members with language: heb
has or had subject: 726
has record set type: Collection
identifier: KD_00523
record resource extent: 9 books
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: This collection consists of 9 religious books in Hebrew, with annotations made by owner Mozes Schenker.
title: Religious books of Mozes Schenker. Collection