us-005578-irn522824-irn517347
type: RecordSet
archival history: The drawing was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by Issachar Ilan, the brother of Meir Baum.
biographical history: Issachar Ilan (Bernhard Baum ) was born in Gailenkirchen, Germany, near the Dutch border, on November 20, 1926. His father, Leo, was also born in Gailenkirchen, on March 14, 1896. His mother, Erna Roos, was born on December 28, 1899, in Holzhausen, Germany. His younger brother, Otto (Meir), was born on November 18, 1927. His parents had a business distributing agriculture machinery and fertilizer. The family originally came from the Netherlands and had been settled in Germany for generations. There was a large Jewish community in the city; his paternal grandfather was the treasurer of the synagogue which would be destroyed during Kristallnacht. But in his early years, Issachar attended a Catholic kindergarten and a school administered by the Evangelical Church in Gailenkirchen. In the early 1930s, the family moved to Aachen, Germany, to join an uncle who had a textile business. However, as the Nazi Party gained more power after Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor in 1933, anti-Jewish regulations and anti-Semitism caused the business to falter, as customers began telling them that they could not deal with them anymore. Leo was arrested and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp for several weeks after Kristallnacht in November 1938. Because he had been a soldier in World War I, he was released, on the condition that he leave Germany immediately. He crossed the border and reached Belgium, where he was interned in a Belgian refugee camp. Erna succeeded in selling the textile business; the uncle had left Germany earlier. She received permission to move her household to Brussels, Belgium, where she worked for a Jewish family as a cook. Leo received permission to live with them, but he was promptly deported to the south of France and, as an enemy alien, sent to Gurs detention camp, and then to St. Cyprien. His wife and two sons eventually moved to Marseilles, France, hoping to be near him. Leo was able to leave camp and visit them in the small hotel where they lived from th…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Rectangular paper calling card. On the front is the name stamp; above the stamp, a handwritten inscription. On the back is a pencil drawing of the exterior of a large multilevel house with turrets, nestled in a grove of several species of trees. A driveway crosses the middle ground in front of the house. In the foreground is a fountain, near a large tree in the lawn. front, top, handwritten in pencil : le ointeu e ref il n y en a plus que 99 artes! [there are more than 99 edges!]
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: Restrictions on use
has beginning date: 1942-01-01
has end date: 1943-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: fra
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn517347
is or was included in: us-005578-irn522824
record resource extent: overall: Height: 2.000 inches (5.08 cm) | Width: 3.500 inches (8.89 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Drawing created by 15-year-old Otto (Meir) Baum depicitng the Chateau Montintin, a home for refugee children where Otto and his 16-year-old brother, Bernhard (Issachar Ilan), were placed in early 1943. Montinin was run by the Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants (OSE), [Children’s Aid Society], which was able to get the boys released from Les Milles internment camp in France because they were not yet 16. The Baum family, Erna and Leo, and their 2 sons, had been imprisoned because they were Jewish refugees from Germany. Before OSE would take custody of the boys, their parents had to give up all parental rights. The boys said their goodbyes and boarded a bus; it was the last time they would see their parents. Both Erna and Leo died in Auschwitz concentration camp. Bernhard became quite ill and was hidden with a peasant family for a while, though he later returned to Montintin. Otto was sent first to Majolier, then, in late 1943, was smuggled to Switzerland, where he had an aunt. Bernhard had to keep moving from place to place, but in April 1944, he managed to cross the border to safety in Switzerland. An uncle would find both boys after the war and offer to take them to the United States. However, in honor of their parents, who had been dedicated Zionists, they chose to emigrate to Palestine in September 1945.
title: Drawing of Chateau Montintin OSE orphanage during World War II