us-005578-irn723246-irn510504
record resource extent: folder 1
archival history: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
title: Chaja Donner identification card
has or had holder: us-005578
identifier: irn510504
has or had some members with language: Flemish
scope and content: Consist of a Belgian identification card issued to Chaja Donner.
has or had some members with language: fra
has record set type: Item
type: RecordSet
date: 1942 April 27
is or was included in: us-005578-irn723246
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn723246-irn510504/alternateIDs/1
biographical history: Henri Donner (later Zvi Amiram) was the son of Arie and Sabine (Reinert) Donner. He was born on May 23, 1933, in Antwerp, Belgium, where his father was a diamond cutter and polisher. Henri had four older siblings who were born in Sokol, Poland, before the family immigrated to Belgium: Clara (b. 1918), David (b. 1920), Israel (b. 1922), and Regine (b. 1928). Henri's brothers were active in the Hashomer Hatzair Zionist youth movement. The boys attended Jewish schools, and the girls went to public schools. After the German invasion of Belgium in May 1940, the family fled towards France, but only got as far as Dunkirk before returning home. During the German occupation the family became separated from one another. Clara, who was married, was deported with her husband to Auschwitz. Israel was detained in a round-up and sent to the Malines transit camp. From there he was deported to Auschwitz and subsequently, to Buchenwald. David, who was a member of the Jewish resistance, became involved in efforts to smuggle Jews out of the country. Ultimately, he himself crossed into France and then into Switzerland. Regine joined a Hashomer Hatzair agriculture school and later went into hiding with the Hanquet family in Grez-Doiceau. Henri remained with his parents. In the summer of 1942, Henri and his parents attempted to flee to Switzerland via France. They first boarded a train for France, but Sabine became nervous and they returned to Belgium. Soon after their return, Arie was arrested and interrogated. As soon as he was released, they decided to flee immediately and hired a guide to assist them. However, while the Donners were en route to Paris, the Germans arrested their guide, leaving the family with neither an escort nor valid papers. David, who was then in Lyons, hired a new guide, but when the guide arrived in Paris, he refused to take Sabine and Henri with him. Arie decided to go alone with the guide, but only reached as far as Grenoble. He spent the rest of the war in hid…
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn723246-irn510504/acquisitions/1