United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Peter Feigl was born Klaus Feigl in 1929 in Berlin to mechanical engineer Ernst Feigl (1888-1942) and Agnes Feigl (nee Bornstein, 1904-1942). The Feigls moved to Prague in 1936, Vienna in 1937, and then Brussels in 1938. Ernst was arrested following the German invasion of Belgium, and Peter and his mother left for France with Agnes’ stepmother, Flora Bornstein. They were briefly interned at Gurs, tried to escape to Spain, and ended up at Auch (Gers). Meanwhile Ernst had been interned at St. Cyprien and Gurs but was released on medical leave. While Peter was attending a summer camp at Château Montéléone in Condom (Gers) in 1942, his parents were deported via Le Vernet and Drancy to Auschwitz and killed. Peter’s caregivers arranged to send him to the United States, but the children’s transport was cancelled following the Allied landing in North Africa. In January 1943 he was moved to the Les Grillons children’s home in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon (Haute-Loire) under the guidance of Daniel Trocmé. In September he was moved to College Champollion, a boarding school in Figeac (Lot). In May 1944, the Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants (OSE) arranged for his escape into Switzerland. He immigrated to the United States in July 1946 with the help of relatives who had escaped in 1941.
Copyright Holder: Mr. Peter Feigl
box 1
The Peter Feigl papers are arranged as five series: I. Correspondence, 1944-1953 II. Diaries, approximately 1942-1995 III. Identification papers, 1945-1946 IV. Photographs, 1930-1945 V. Printed materials about Drancy memorials, approximately 1986-1994 VI. Reference materials from the Archives of the American Friends Service Committee, approximately 1993
The Peter Feigl papers consist of correspondence, diaries, identification papers, photographs, printed materials, and photocopies documenting Feigl’s wartime experiences in summer camps, children’s homes, and schools in Condom (Gers), Le Chambon‐sur‐Lignon (Haute‐Loire) and Figeac (Lot), his teachers and classmates there, his escape to Switzerland, immigration to the United States, memorials to the deportations of Jews from France at Drancy, and the work of the American Friends Service Committee with Jewish refugees in France. Correspondence includes letters from Peter and his parents in France to his mother’s stepmother, Flora Bornstein, in New York dated 1941 and 1942 describing their efforts to escape Europe, Peter’s life in children’s homes in France, and their concerns about food. This series also includes later correspondence addressed to Peter from Flora (signed “Alala”), Anneli and Joseph Blumberg (Flora’s daughter and her husband), Siegmund Kleczewer (Peter’s uncle in London), and S.E. Gersone, with whom Peter lived in Switzerland after his arrival in 1944, as well as correspondence from aid agencies that helped Peter emigrate after the war. The collection includes two diaries kept by Peter Feigl, the first at a summer camp in Condom (Gers) and at the Les Grillons children’s home in Le Chambon‐sur‐Lignon, and the second at the College Champollion boarding school in Figeac. He began the first diary upon learning that his parents had been deported, dedicated the diary to them, and included a photograph of each of them. The diaries describe his daily life in France, a failed attempt to send him to the United States, his reactions to learning news about the war, and his escape to Switzerland. Identification papers include two Swiss identification documents for Peter Feigl, one documenting his refugee status and one documenting his identity. Photographs depict Peter Feigl, his classmates and teachers, and his surroundings in Berlin, Brussels, France, and Switzerland. Locations include Auch, Marseille, Château Montéléone, Condom, Talloires, and Lötschental. The series includes a portrait of Daniel Trocmé and photographs of a visit André Trocmé made to Les Grillons. Printed materials include photocopied and original documentation about Jean Patrick Lebel’s film Cite de la Muette, the Drancy Camp Historic Museum, and the Conservatoire Historique du Camp de Drancy. Reference materials from the Archives of the American Friends Service Committee consist of photocopies Peter Feigl made of 1942 documents held by the Archives of the American Friends Service Committee. The documents include telegrams, reports, letters, memoranda, and a diary entry recording the Friends’ work with Jewish refugees in France, deportations, Andre Trocmé, Marc Boegner, Pierre‐Marie Théas, Ross McClelland, Donald A. Lowrie, Burritt M. Hiatt, children’s colonies, and Rivesaltes.
Peter Feigl papers