Letter

Held by

Montreal Holocaust Museum via Canadian Jewish Heritage Network (incl. Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives)

Level

item

Extent

Letter : Paper : Beige, blue, red, black ; Ht: 25,4 cm x W: 20,1 cm

Scope & content

Two pages. One side Narrative: In the 1920’s Serge and Sophie Philipson (nee Orbach) left Berlin for Paris due to rising antisemitism. On July 15, 1930 their daughter Rachel was born. Serge, Sophie and Rachel were Polish citizen, they never got either the German or the French citizenship. In Paris, Serge worked for Les Modes Modernes, the hat factory of his brother-in-law, Henri. When an opportunity to expand the business in Ireland arose, Serge moved to Galway. The new factory opened in July 1938. In August 1939, Sophie, Rachel, and 4 other family members (Rachel’s cousin Stéphane, his maternal grandmother Néné, Serge’s sister Esther and Serge’s sister-in-law Choura) left for Cabourg, in Normandy. After the winter 1939-1940 it became difficult to communicate with Ireland but Rachel and Sophie could still send and receive letter from Serge. At the end of winter 1940, the group moved to Néris and in July 1940, after the occupation of France by Germany, they settled in the zone libre in the village of Cauterets, on the border with Spain. They were reunited with Robert, Serge’s brother. In August 1942, 4 family members (Sophie’s sister Ella and her husband Ernest, their daughter Ruth, Serge’s siblings Robert and Esther) were arrested by local police and deported. They were not seen again. At the beginning of 1943, Sophie, her mother Augusta and Rachel moved to Maubourguet. In April 1943, they moved to Cannes in Hotel Victoria with Henri, Stéphane and Néné. Henri, Sophie and Augusta went into hiding together while cousins Stéphane and Rachel were taken care of by Néné and returned to Maubourguet. In January 1944, Henri, Sophie and Augusta were denounced and arrested. They were transferred to Marseille before being sent by train to Drancy transit camp from where they were deported. It is believed they were killed in a Polish killing centre. In 1944, Rachel moved from one place to another – under a non-Jewish identity - and continued to correspond with her father. In June 1945, she reunited with her father Ireland. They had not seen each other for 6 years. In 1951, Rachel got married. In 1954, she immigrated to Montreal.

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textual record

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Application FormBusiness MeetingDocumentFamilyHandwrittenImmigrationJewish CommunityLetterPoliticsSignatureTypewrittenTagged automatically by a vision model; may contain mistakes.

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I should be deeply grateful if you would be so kind asto place the following application before the appropriateauthorities in Switzerland.At the invasion of France Mr. Henri Orbach, my brother-in-law, and my wife, together with their mother and twochildren, were in Paris and moved then to the South of France.I have now information that the parents and grandparent havebeen interned. (See copy No.1 attached). I have furtherinformation that the two children are now with friends inParis. (See copy No.2 attached).I am most anxious that the children should be transferred,as quickly as possible, to the safety of Switzerland and I begof you to do all you possibly can to help me. I am preparedto deposit the sum of £500 in respect of each for theirmaintenance and upkeep until such time as they can come here.They have Irish Permits (see copy No.3 attached) and air ticketsto enable them to travel here. (See copy No.4 attached).May I mention that I have a very good business friendM. Hermany Arnet, Wohlen Argovie, who, I am sure, will be quiteprepared to give any guarantees in respect of these childrenand perhaps the authorities would be good enough to get intouch with him.permission be grated to my wife, Sophie Philipson, her brother,Henri Orbach, who is Managing Director of the above companyRead automatically; may contain mistakes.

Language

English

Harvested

2026-10-19T03:21:16Z · source datestamp n/a · andornot

Digital objects at the source

• imageOpen original at source ↗2002_08_205-1.jpg
• imageOpen original at source ↗2002_08_205-2.jpg