Identification card

Held by

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

Dates

June 27, 1952 (indexed as 1952)

Level

item

Extent

Identification card : Paper : Ink : beige, black ; Ht: 8 cm x W: 12 cm

Scope & content

1 page. Two-sided document issued by the "Ministère des anciens combattant et victimes de la guerre". On the l. is a picture of woman (Marianne, allegory of the French Republic) down on one knee extending her arms toward two children with the inscription "Pupilles de la Nation", or warden of the State, under the image. On the verso are the details about the 1917-07-27 law concerning children affected by war. After the Second World War, Jewish children were adopted by the French Nation as they received help and protection if needed. Narrative: Jacques Kasma was born Jacques Kaszemacher on 1935-09-04 in the 10th arrondissement of Paris (France). His father was Uszer Hersz Kaszemacher, also known as Henric Kasmacher, born on 1913-04-05 in Parczew (Poland). His mother was Chaja Sura Bajwelcwajg, born 1915-05-19 in Warsaw (Poland). Jacques had a younger sister, Jeannine, born in 1937. In 1940, Henri Kasmacher was a driver in the French army. He was captured by the German armed forces in Saint-Die-des-Vosges (France) and was deported to the forced labour camp of Brunswiek, a subcamp of Neuengamme concentration camp ( Germany). In 1943, Chaja Bajwelcwajg was arrested and interned at the Drancy transit camp (France). She died in Drancy on 1943-09-02. Jacques was hidden in Normandy (France) during the war. After Liberation, he spent time in an orphanage ran by the OSE in Le Vésinet. He met Marcel Marceau, a famous French mime, who taught him his art. Henri Kasmacher survived the war and came back to France and remarried to Ida Wolnowicz. In 1956, Jacques Kasma settled in Montreal (Canada) where he pursued an artistic career. He acted as a mime named Tit-Bo on the children's television program "La Boîte à Surprise". He worked at the National Film Board as an editor and director. He also worked with the filmmaker Gilles Groulx. He went back to France to fulfill his military service obligations and moved back to Montreal in 1960. He was part of the Douglas hospital psychiatric research team for 20 years.

Location

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Genre / form

textual record

Format

Document

In the picture

ChildDocumentGovernmentHandwrittenIdentity CardPrintedSculptureSealSignatureStampWarTagged automatically by a vision model; may contain mistakes.

Text in the image

MINISTÈREDES ANCIENS COMBATTANTSET VICTIMES DE LA GUERRECARTE d'IDENTITÉG. 1939-1945PUPILLE DE LA NATIONOFFICE NATIONAL DESAnciens CombattantsNom KASZEMACHERPrénoms JacquesA Paris Dépt 10 eDomicile 50 Bd de Strasbourgcomme PUPILLE de la NATIONFils de KASZEMACHERLe Préfet, Président de l'Office Départemental des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de la GuerrePour le Préfet, Le Secrétaire AdjointSIGNATURE DU PUPILLE :PUPILLES DE LA NATIONNé le 1-9-35Read automatically; may contain mistakes.

Language

French

Harvested

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

Digital objects at the source

• imageOpen original at source ↗2014_24_14a.jpg
• imageOpen original at source ↗2014_24_14b.jpg