us-005578-irn523844
type: RecordSet
archival history: The drawing was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2006 by Henri Bomblat.
biographical history: Henri Bomblat was born in Paris on September 15, 1931. His father, Simon, was from Siedlec, Poland, and his mother was Gitla (Gittle) Stolek from Warsaw. Simon and Gittle’s first daughter, Sarah Rivka, was born in Warsaw in 1919. Simon went to Berlin in 1923, and his wife and daughter eventually joined him. They next moved to Drancy, France. Simon began to work in the leather business. Gittle began making clothes at home to sell. They had two more daughters before Henri was born: Rosette in 1925 and Suzanne (now Noemi) in 1928. In 1937, the Bomblat family bought a clothing store in Paris and moved there the following year. When the Germans entered Paris in 1940, the family fled south to Saint Germain de Fossés. They stayed with the Ferry family for about 3 months, until they could return to Paris. Upon their return, they reopened the store and continued business. In 1941, the Germans began rounding up Jews for deportation to the camps. Henri found out that they were coming for his father and warned him that the French police were looking for him. His father did not go home and escaped to Montsur, near Vichy, where he was hidden by his clients, the Chassaing family. The rest of the family remained in Paris. Henri was forced to wear the yellow Star of David, but he continued going to school. In July 1942, Henri and his sister, Suzanne, left for Montsur, to stay with the Chassaing’s and their father for the summer. They left with Madame Chassaing on July 16, 1942, missing by minutes an action in their neighborhood for the Vélodrome d’Hiver roundups, a mass arrest of Jews in Paris. Henri’s mother and his other sisters were at their apartment when the French police came as part of this action. The women knew the police were coming and Rosette forced their mother to hide in another apartment. Only Sarah and Rosette faced the police when they arrived. Rosette was released, because she had a French passport, as she was born there. But Sarah was considered a foreign national…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Rectangular, white paper with a surrealistic drawing in colored pencil and ink. Describing the work from the bottom of the page to the top, it depicts a brown brick crematorium with a tile roof and brick chimney expelling a cloud of smoke. It has 2 arched openings, with heavy metal doors, with red, orange, and yellow flames extending from the top right of each arch. There is a portrait of a woman with a halo in each arch with a background of Stars of David. Gray and brown smoke rises from the chimney and forms an oval spiraled cloud. In the center hovers a large, closed eye, with Aramaic text of an excerpt from the Kaddish prayer written above, below, and on the eyelid. French text handwritten in red ink is on the bottom of the cloud. front, above, below, and on eyelid, handwritten, black ink : Aramaic text [transliteration: Ve-yithalal Ve-yithadar Ve-yitnase Ve-yitpa'ar Ve-yitromam Ve-yishtabah Ve-yitbarakh [Be Praised / Be Magnified / Be Lofty / Be Glorified / Be Raised / Be Praised / Be Blessed] title, front top, handwritten, red ink : En Leur Mémoire [In Their Memory] front, below image of smoke, handwritten, red ink : Et Foi Mon D... Tu as vu Ça [My Faith and D. .. You have seen it] front, below image of left arch, handwritten, red ink : Sarah Bomblat front, below image of right arch, handwritten, red ink : Rosette Bomblat
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
date: approximately 1942-1943, approximately 2000
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: fra
has or had some members with language: Aramaic
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn523844
record resource extent: overall: Height: 15.250 inches (38.735 cm) | Width: 11.500 inches (29.21 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Drawing created by Henri Bomblat, circa 2000, in memory of his sisters, Sarah and Rosette, who were killed at Auschwitz concentration camp. It depicts a crematorium with smokestacks with portraits of 2 young women. Above is a large closed eye inscribed with excerpts from the Kaddish. Sarah, age 22, was arrested in Paris on July 16, 1942, and deported to Auschwitz on September 23, 1942, where she was killed. Rosette, age 18, was arrested in Paris in 1943 with her colleagues in Colonie Scolaire, a Jewish charitable organization. She was sent to Drancy internment camp, then to Auschwitz on June 23, 1943, where she was killed. Germany occupied Paris in summer 1940. In 1941, 10 year old Henri warned his father about a German round-up of Jews for deportation and his father went into hiding in Montsur. On July 16, 1942, Henri and his sister, Suzanne, age 14, were sent to join him. That same day, French police came to their apartment as part of the Velodrome d'Hiver action. Rosette forced their mother into another apartment and only the two sisters were there to face the police. Sarah was arrested because she had not been born in France, but in Poland. Rosette, who was born in France, was released. Rosette took her mother south to join the rest of the family, but returned to Paris to continue her aid work. The family stayed in Montsur until the area was liberated in September 1944.
title: In Their Memory Colored pencil drawing made postwar by a former hidden child in memory of his sisters' death and cremation at Auschwitz