The compass was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by Lea Apfel-Bierlaire, the sister of Leon Apfel.
Lea Apfel was born in October 1931 in Antwerp, Belgium. Her parents were Rivka Feuer, born 1897, and Samson, born 1899. She had one brother, Leon, who was born on March 25, 1925. The family had moved to Belgium from Przemysl, Poland, in 1929 or 1930. In Antwerp, her father had a soda water business. In 1940, Germany invaded Belgium and instituted anti-Jewish measures. Lea’s brother tried to escape to Switzerland, but was caught in France and imprisoned in the Drancy transit camp, then deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. On September 18, 1942, Lea’s parents arranged through a neighbor to have Lea hidden with a Catholic family. Her parents were deported to the Mechelen transit camp on October 24, 1942, and later to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Lea was hidden in a room through the rest of the war. Afterward, she lived in a Jewish home for children. Her parents and brother did not survive. Leon Apfel was born March 25, 1925, in Przemysl, Poland. His parents, Rivka Feuer, born 1897, and Samson, born December 8, 1899, also were born in Przemysl. The family moved to Antwerp, Belgium, in 1929 or 1930, where Leon’s sister, Lea, was born in October 1931. In Antwerp, his father had a soda water/fruit drinks business. In 1940, Germany invaded Belgium and instituted anti-Jewish measures. Leon tried to escape to Switzerland, but was caught in France and imprisoned in the Drancy transit camp, then on September 18, 1942, deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. On October 24, 1942, his parents were deported from Antwerp to the Mechelen transit camp, and later to Auschwitz-Birkenau. His sister was hidden by a Catholic family and survived. Leon and his parents were killed at Auschwitz.
a. Rectangular, wooden case with rounded corners, partially covered with black paper textured to resemble leather. The interior is lined with velvet-like cloth that also acts as the hinge. The interior bottom has 5 grooves, 1 full-length and 3 half-length, to hold the instruments. The metal nail closure slides through a hole in the front right corner, through a ring in the center top to fit into a notch in the center bottom. When the nail is pushed in the case locks. b. Silver-colored, metal compass with 2 moveable, cylindrical legs, connected by a round, thumbscrew hinge, and a cylindrical handle with vertical grooves. Each leg flattens at the top and has a thumbscrew adjustment half way down. The tip of one leg has a sharp point; the other has a bracket to hold a short length of graphite. Both tips have adjusting knobs. One word of text is engraved on the side of the hinge. c. Silver-colored, metal cylinder that separates at a beaded ring in the middle. It contains 2 short lengths of graphite. A number is stamped on the end.
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a: Height: 1.000 inches (2.54 cm) | Width: 7.000 inches (17.78 cm) | Depth: 2.250 inches (5.715 cm) b: Height: 6.120 inches (15.545 cm) | Width: 0.500 inches (1.27 cm) | Depth: 0.500 inches (1.27 cm) c: Height: 1.380 inches (3.505 cm) | Diameter: 0.250 inches (0.635 cm)
Compass owned by 17-year-old Leon Apfel, a drawing student in Antwerp, Belgium, before World War II. Leon’s 10-year-old sister, Lea, admired the compass and took it with her in 1942 when she was sent into hiding with a Catholic family as the Germans were rounding up the Jews of Belgium for deportation to concentration camps. The compass was the only family possession that survived with her. Leon had fled Belgium before the round-ups and tried to make his way to Switzerland, but was captured in France, imprisoned in the Drancy transfer camp, and on September 18, 1942, deported to Auschwitz. On October 24 of that year, their parents were deported to Auschwitz from Belgium. All three were killed in the camp.
Drawing compass and accessories in a case used by a young girl living in hiding