Transcribing my Dad's Story from pencil...

Happy New Year 2020! On this blog I have often posted excerpts from my dad's story "In His Own Words." 

Sometime in the late 1990's, my dad completed writing his memoir, more than 150 pages handwritten in pencil.   When he first handed me his manuscript, he watched as I inspected it.  One of the entries in his Table of Contents was "experience".  I turned to the page and began reading. I was not expecting that "experience" referred to his first sexual experience, his visit to a brothel! 

I knew I needed to preserve his story, electronically on my computer. So I began the process of transcribing and entering his words into Word Perfect.   I did some wordsmithing and editing to tweak his English.  In one chapter he describes the increasingly threatening conditions in Paris 1942 as "titanium".  It took me a while to realize he was referring to the state of chaos, or "pandemonium."

To this day I refer back to details in his story to help me track our family tree.  My dad diligently  detailed names of cousins, their occupations, locations in Poland, street addresses in Paris.  The street addresses were a key clue in connecting a name in a database as a cousin.

My dad wrote that cousins Albert and Maurice Binstock moved into his parents' apartment on Rue Fessart.  For many years I tried to track down these two cousins in documents online. During my 2011 visit to the USHMM research floor I copied all ITS records for Binstock of Bedzin or Paris.  Finally I discovered a Mordka Binstock with the same address listed for Rue Fessart & immediately I knew I had found my "Maurice."  It wasn't till 2014 that I connected with his living descendant, Remy, through Twitter.

I could write an entire miniseries just from the stories that were passed down. The survivor witnesses, each with their own unique story of survival: my mom, my aunts, my uncle, my cousins.

My next step is to get my dad's story published in a book, to share with the world.   My dad would want his name as the writer. I can put my name as editor. Not sure how to begin the process.

my Facebook for Genealogy workshop -past, present, future - IAJGS '17

My proposal to present Facebook for Genealogy was accepted, again. This time I will be presenting at the International Assoc for Jewish Genealogy in July.  I have presented this workshop several times before, for Bergen Community, NJEdge, and my local genealogy group jgsnj.org In searching for materials to reuse I found a video online of my first 45-minute session for NJEdge 2013.

This 1-minute video clip describes how finding a single document from US Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) helped me discover a key missing piece of my family tree.

The Righteous Medal Ceremony - Yad Vashem

I was thrilled and honored to represent my family at this special ceremony in Ceyroux on 12/4/2016. Yad Vashem honors righteous gentiles who risked their lives to save Jews during the Shoah.

My father always talked about the good people of Ceyroux.  The story of Ceyroux was imprinted upon my brain from a young age as a special place of refuge.

My dad was a hero for fleeing Paris in June 1942, at the beginning of "La Grand Rafle", and for saving our family by leading them to Ceyroux.  My dad described how the kindness of strangers restored his faith in humanity. I am grateful to my niece Danielle for making the trip to Ceyroux 6 years ago in 2010, with my nephew Carl. Their visit facilitated the process of submitting the names of the righteous with Yad Vashem.  I am thankful to Mayor Daquet and the Simonnet and Parcelier families for protecting my family, giving them a new life in hiding on the farm for 2 years during the Shoah. Now, we are not strangers, we share a special bond, like family.

At the ceremony I met members of the families from Ceyroux,  many, many generations of  descendants. It was interesting to me the various levels present: There were 3 people who were original - alive during those 2 years:

• Madame Alice Meillassoux, Leontine's niece.  She knew my parents.
• Mr. Simonnet 
• Daniel Daquet, grandson of Mayor Leon Daquet
• Henri Gaujal who was 10 when my grandfather made him a suit for his communion. He remembered seeing my dad hiding in the woods. He kept it a secret until my niece & nephew visited 6 years ago.

I met the daughter of Mr. Merigot, Vieilleville pharmacist who was also the coach of my dad's Sunday soccer team.  He warned my dad when he saw buses coming to collect Jews in Ceyroux.  I met Bernadette, granddaughter of Mr. Albert Mayne who was active in the Maqui. I learned that Mr. Mayne was the owner of the house that hid 8 members of my family in 3 small rooms.  He also warned my dad when my dad got called into Gueret. Bernadette still lives in that very same house.

my dad's 2 identity cards:
on the left from Ceyroux issued by Mayor Daquet, without the Juif stamp,
the one from Paris on the right with the Juif stamp in red

Bernadette of Mayne family

Daughter of Coach Merigot, the little girl in the Team photo

Twitter Follower turns out to be long lost cousin!

another connection….This one through TWITTER:

When people follow me on Twitter, I often wonder why. Sept 17, 2014 Twitter alerted me to a new follower: Remy. After checking Remy's profile I saw we shared a surname & PARIS.  I had been searching for my dad's French cousins Maurice and Albert for 20+ years and my Twitter follower turns out to be their nephew!

May 2015 Remy connects me to his cousin Nathalie Simonne, or rather she emails me.   Nathalie is the niece of Albert & Maurice.  She shares some valuable family tree info, adding names of extended family I did not know existed.  We exchange details of our families.
Originally I had thought that the 2 brothers had perished in the Holocaust.  I had discovered that Maurice's 8 year old son Robert was deported from Paris and murdered. Here is a link to a picture of him I found on the Serge Klarsfeld's website. Caption: Robert  Binsztock with Lucienne & Fanny Lerner:  http://www.holocaust-history.org/klarsfeld/French%20Children/html&graphics/T0951.shtml   Now I know that the 2 girls in the photo with him were also cousins: Fanny & Lucienne.  The 3 of them were deported from France and murdered in the Holocaust.

La Conscience des Francais - book authored by Rene Duschler

Like a detective, I often search  back through my old Genealogical email correspondence for clues I may have missed.  I also repeat prior google searches to see if something new is posted about a specific person.

Last week I googled "Rene Duschler" as I have many times before.  But this time,  I had an exact match on his name,  a book he authored was listed for sale:  "La conscience des Français".  Although it was published in 1987, this was the first time I noticed it in my search results.  I immediately placed my order.

I believe the author, Rene Duschler, was my dad's best friend and neighbor growing up in Paris. In 1939 Rene was a year older than my dad and Rene was enlisted in the French army.  Rene was captured by the Germans and somehow escaped. When Rene returned home to his apartment in Paris, his dad was concerned that the Germans would come looking for him.  My dad's family hid Rene in their apartment for several weeks.  My dad described this unique scenario of his family as "Jews hiding a Gentile".  

In June 1942  my dad and his family were forced to wear the  yellow star of David that identified them as  "Juif" Jewish.   My dad described the panic in the Jewish community, the pandemonium.  Jews became hunted animals, desperate for an escape route.  

Rene Duschler's dad was a peddlar with many connections.  When the time came, Mr. Duschler provided the name and address of a "cheminot", a railroad worker in Vierzon.  The railroad station in Vierzon was one of the largest in France, strategically located on the boundary between zones.  At the time France was divided into a Northern Nazi-occupied zone and a Southern free zone.

This Cheminot became my family's courageous savior.  He smuggled members of my family, and other desperate Jews, onto railroad cars headed south, all while German soldiers patrolled the area.  My dad could not recall this cheminot's name, but often talked about him.  He was eventually captured by the Germans and killed.    

When I came across Rene Duschler's book on Amazon, I felt that this book could provide  answers and details from my dad's story. Who was this cheminot? What was his full name? Wouldn't it be something extraordinary if Rene mentioned my dad in his book?  I am trying not to hold impossible expectations as I anticipate the precious content that this book may hold.  



 

In My Dad's Own Words: Roundups in Paris 1941

In 1941 I had a deviated septum operation on my nose at a clinic in Belleville. I had to stay a couple days there. My father, David, came to visit me. When he arrived he was very shook up and out of breath. He had taken the Metro from Paris two stops and got off at the Belleville station. The clinic was at Boulevard de Belleville and he had to walk a few hundred yards from the station. When he exited the Metro car there were four exits, one on each of the four corners of the Boulevard. Somehow he went out a different exit than his usual. Upon arriving at street level he looked around him and could not believe his eyes. The other three exits were completed surrounded by Police with Germans. Busses were waiting to fill up with all the Jews they could find. My father, by pure luck, had taken the one exit that was not surrounded and avoided being captured.
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In my dad's own words: Escape from Paris

My parents had hid Mr. Duschler's son after he had escaped from Germany as a Prisoner of War at the beginning of the war in early 1940. Mr. Duschler was a peddlar and knew his way around and knew many people in many places. He really came through for me, and also for my family later on. He had contact with a "chemino", a man who worked for the railroad. This "chemino" lived and worked in Vierzon.
Vierzon, at the time, was one of the largest railroad stations in France and was located strategically on the boundary line between zones. But Vierzon was in German occupied territory. Vierzon had only 3 or 4 passenger train lines, but dozens of railroad lines for freight and cattle cars. These freight cars came loaded with food or freight equipment from the South and were discharged ( in Vierzon) and headed North to the occupied Zone and returning empty to the free zone going South.
Mr. Duschler gave me the name of the "chemino" and his address along with the hours that he would return home from work so I could wait for him. I also was instructed how much money I was to give him for helping to cross me over the border. I had no idea how this was to work. I was very reluctant and scared to take the train directly from Paris to Vierzon. Police and Germans were always all around the railroad stations looking for those who were forbidden to ride the train. Many Jews were caught at the station or riding on the train after they were asked to see their identity card.

In My Dad's Own Words: Wearing the Star 1942

In December 1941 the US entered the war. For a short time we felt reassured, but it was only a false sense of security. In early 1942 the newspapers announced that all Jews under occupied territories must report to Police to pick up a star of David with the word "JEW" printed on it. The Star was a 3x3" piece of yellow fabric that we had to cut and sew ourselves with black thread onto our clothes over our left breast. Any Jew caught not wearing it would be arrested.

This caused pandemonium, like a bomb shell. Every Jew, now, was involved. I now realized fully that being a French Jew was of no help to me. My country had betrayed me and was completely working with the Germans. I cannot describe the way I felt at that time having to wear the Star of David in the street. I felt humiliated, degraded, branded like an animal. The hurt inside me was killing me and I knew right then and there I could not take it anymore. I would have to do something. The due date to attach the star was June 6, 1942.

...Finished was the sense of security that I had for being a French citizen. I learned and realized the hard way that I was a Jew, and nothing else. By wearing the Star of David we were sitting ducks. Wherever we went they could spot us a mile away. I decided I would leave the German-occupied zone and go to the Free Zone which was under the Vichy Government, but not German rule.

In My Dad's Own Words: Rene Duschler - neighbor & friend

My dad's story in his own words as a teenager in Paris, France 1930's - © Beverly Margolies

The period between 1934 and 1939 up to early 1940 was for me a happy life. I was young with little responsibilities making good money and no worries. I had friends, especially one very good, close friend living in my apartment building on the second floor. His name was Rene Duschler. He was 2 years older than me. When the war started in September 1939 he was old enough to be drafted and I was not. Rene lived with his father who was a divorced man. He was a peddlar who sold ties and various items from a suitcase, traveling to cafes and restaurants to sell his goods...

Rene Duschler had to report to the military authorities and was sent to the front line in France by the Maginot line where he was taken prisoner by the Germans a few months later..... Somehow he escaped from Germany as a Prisoner of War and returned to his apartment in Paris in early 1940. His father was afraid the Germans would come looking for him, so my parents hid Rene in our apartment, which was on the fourth floor, 31 Rue Fessart, 19th arrondissement.