us-005578-irn520495-irn520500
record resource extent: overall: Height: 8.500 inches (21.59 cm) | Width: 6.500 inches (16.51 cm)
title: Two-sided colored drawings of a young boy, a river, and animals created by Simon Jeruchim while in hiding
has record set type: Item
has or had holder: us-005578
history: Simon Jeruchim was born on December 25, 1929, in Paris, France, to Samuel and Alice Szpiro Jeruchim. Samuel was born on December 24, 1898, in Ostrow, Poland, and Sonia, on August 18, 1899, in Garwolin, Poland. They left Poland because of antisemitism. He had two siblings, Alice, born on February 18, 1928, and Michel, on April 4, 1937, both in Paris. The family lived in Montreuil, a suburb of Paris, and Samuel worked as a watchmaker in Paris. They were not religious and Simon did not know he was Jewish. When World War II started on September 1, 1939, the family was vacationing in Richebourg in Normandy. Simon and Alice stayed there and to attend school; Michel returned to Montreuil with their parents. Samuel returned on December 24, 1939, and brought Simon and Alice home. Germany invaded France in May 1940. School aged children, including Simon and Alice, were evacuated to the south of Paris. Samuel arrived shortly after to collect the children and go further south to St. Savinien, where Sonia and Michel were to meet them. After 2 months, Sonia and Michel had not arrived; they had returned to Paris and Samuel and the children followed. In November 1940, the family was ordered to report and register for identification cards stamped Juif [Jew] in red that all Jews were required to carry. Jews, primarily foreign born, were being rounded up and put in internment camps. Food was scarce and Simon was sent to Richebourg to obtain provisions. By the end of 1941, Simon had to wear a yellow star and, for the first time, became aware of his Jewish identity. On July 14, 1942, during a visit from friends with a young son, Joseph, they heard a rumor that all Parisian Jews were to be arrested. Both families hid with the Jeruchim’s gentile cleaning woman. On July 16-17, the mass arrests of the Vel d’Hiv roundup occurred. Samuel and Sonia arranged for the children, including Joseph, to go into hiding. They were sent to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Bonneau, members of the underground who …
history: The drawing was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2001 by Simon Jeruchim.
identifier: irn520500
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
scope and content: Small double-sided watercolor drawings done by Simon Jeruchim while a hidden child in Normandy, France, from 1942 to 1945. He began painting after a schoolteacher gave him a painting kit in 1943. There are 2 scenes on each side: on the front are imaginary scenes: on top, four wild animals; below, robbers at night pursued by a police car; on the reverse is a portrait of another hidden child from Paris; the adjacent image is a view of a winding river near the village. Germany occupied France in June 1940. Simon, age 11, his parents, Samuel and Sonia, and his siblings, Alice, age 14, and Michel, age 5, remained in the Paris suburbs until summer 1942. In July, Sonia heard of the Vel d'Hiv roundup, when thousands of Jews were arrested. The family hid with their gentile housekeeper and then arranged for the Bonneaus, members of the underground, to hide the children in Normandy. Simon often posed as a Catholic and worked as a farmhand, moving often. After the area was liberated on August 6, 1944, Simon returned to Paris and lived with the Bonneaus; his siblings returned after the war ended in May 1945. Their parents had been deported in fall 1942 to Auschwitz and murdered. Simon, Alice, and Michel emigrated to the United States in 1949.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
has end date: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/dates/1944-12-31
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn520495-irn520500/alternateIDs/1
is or was included in: us-005578-irn520495
physical characterisitics and technical requirements: Small double-sided drawings on light brown rectangular paper. The front has 2 drawings, both landscape orientation. The top depicts a green cliff with a giraffe in the foreground, then a monkey and a snake in a tree, and a deer near evergreens at the cliff’s edge with brown mountains in the background and French captions below. The image below is a night street scene with a man on a bicycle being pursued by a car with headlights; they are heading toward a house with a person standing in an open doorway. In the background is a cityscape with a figure standing near a street lamp. The reverse has 2 drawings: on the right is a green landscape with a blue winding river, with a split rail fence and 3 birch trees. It is in landscape orientation and the top side is adjacent to the right side of the adjacent portrait which is in portrait orientation. The portrait depicts a young boy wearing a cap, brown jacket over a plaid collared shirt, and blue shorts and socks. French text is in the lower right. The corners are torn on one side. front, under top painting, handwritten, black ink : GirAFE SINGE BOA CErF [Giraffe Monkey Boa Deer] reverse, lower right corner, handwritten, black ink : René BErCOWICZ
type: RecordSet
has or had some members with language: fra
has beginning date: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/dates/1943-01-01
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn520495-irn520500/acquisitions/1