Carl de Brouwer, a Belgian banker manager, and his wife Denise offered refuge to two Jewish children during the Nazi occupation of Belgium. Between late 1942 and September 1944, the de Brouwers sheltered 6-year-old Adrien Sapcaru and 12-year-old Monique Mogoulsky in their private home in St Denis-Westrem, near Ghent, Belgium. Monique was the daughter of Carl's former co-worker at the bank in Ghent; her parents successfully hid in Ghent during the war until liberation in 1944. Adrien was the son of a Jewish Romanian architecture professor at Ghent University; Adrien's parents were deported and his mother killed; his father survived and returned for Adrien and his brother after the end of the war. Adrien assumed the name Adrien Simons and was also known as Dickie. He now lives in Canada as Adrian Sheppard.
The research section at IWM produced a short video to mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2013 using some of this footage and featuring Adrien Sapcaru who, as a child, was hidden by the de Brouwer family:"A Child hiding from the Nazi" - http://www.iwm.org.uk/videos/a-child-in-hiding-from-the-nazis.
Digital transfer made from DigiBeta tape.
Family home movies of the de Brouwer family at their home in St Denis-Westrem, near Ghent, Belgium. The de Brouwer children take a walk in the woods and explore town with Denise. 00:22:15 Christmas 1941 at General van Maldeghem's house at 26 Boulevard General Jacques in Brussels. CUs of the children's maternal grandmother and grandfather. Denise and her mother solve a puzzle. 00:23:38 Annick (present with her children at the Christmas celebration) watches the street from a window.00:23:50 CUs of the butler Eugene in white. Various scenes from the van Maldeghems' home in Brussels; a trolley passes in the snow. 00:24:46 CUs of Jean-Marie smiling at the camera and playing. 00:25:44 Back at home in June 1942, Carl de Brouwer rides a bicycle to retrieve a relative from the train station. 00:26:00 Various scenes from St. Denis-Westrem. Adults sunbathe and talk in garden. Denise waves to the camera; Carl returns on the bike with the relative; adults walk in garden and sit outdoors to talk; a male relative climbs the children's swing set and then jokingly celebrates for the camera. The de Brouwer's barn and a Jersey cow. 00:28:36 Various scenes of the children-including Jewish refugees Adrien Sapcaru and Monique Mogoulsky-at St. Denis-Westrem in the Spring of 1943. The children play outdoors with a cart; pose hand-in-hand for the camera (Adrien is third from the right in the lederhosen; Monique is on the far left) before holding sticks and marching for the camera. 00:29:40 CUs of Jean-Marie playing with a ball. Jacques and Adrien playing catch. 00:30:25 Adrien emerges from a bush with the ball. Various scenes of the children playing; the girls read together (CUs of Monique Mogoulsky reading at 00:31:08); Jean-Marie crying in the garden; the children take tea outdoors; Madame Leger, the family tutor, helps the children on the swing set; children play in an empty grain silo. 00:33:45 In Summer 1943, Madeleine and Elvire, the de Brouwers' hired workers, weed in the garden. Mileke, the gardener's assistant, pushes a wheelbarrow. Fons Verzele, the de Brouwer's neighbor, sharpens a scythe before cutting tall grass. CUs of bees near the de Brouwers' apiary. Carl and a worker in the garden. One of the children does somersaults in the hay. 00:37:33 Various scenes of the de Brouwers and their employees working on St. Denis-Westrem. Denise returns from the station on a bicycle, while Fons continues to work with the scythe; the children carry a bucket of milk. Adrien with Jacques. Colette tries to wear in new wooden clogs (a wartime requirement). CUs of plants and bees. 00:39:00 Denise is greeted by all the children as she rides her bicycle. Elvire churns milk, and other workers pose before drying dishes and dusting a chair. Views of St. Denis-Westrem. Carl stuffs hay into the barn loft. The de Brouwers' workers pause during harvesting and picnic outdoors. CU of the local butcher's assistant.
Jewish children in hiding with a Belgian family