Chojnacki-Mozelsio family. Collection

Chana Chojnacki was born in Lodz, Poland, on 19 October 1917 as the daughter of Chomja Chojnacki and Hinda Estera Ajsman. She became a hat maker and in 1932 she migrated from Poland to Belgium, where she settled in Brussels. During the war, Chana Chojnacki married Julian Naparstek (born on 7 January 1922 in Warsaw, Poland). The couple lived in Anderlecht, Brussels, where Chana was arrested under unknown circumstances at the end of August 1942. She was interned at the Dossin barracks on 31 August 1942 and did not survive deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau via Transport VIII on 8 September 1942. Joseph Mozelsio was born in Skierniewice, Poland, on 14 November 1896 as the son of Chaim Chil Mozelsio and Breina Luzki. He became an upholsterer and on 30 December 1925 he married Chawa Sura (Eva) Rosenthal, born on 19 December 1902 in Lodz, Poland. Joseph Mozelsio migrated from Poland to Belgium in 1926 and settled in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Brussels. Chawa Sura Rosenthal was allowed to join her husband in Belgium and their three children were all born in Forest, Brussels : Maria on 12 July 1927, Eva on 22 December 1929 and Henri on 10 October 1932. Chawa Sura Rosenthal passed away on 28 July 1939, leaving her husband Joseph Mozelsio with three children. The family lived at Rue des Tanneurs in Brussels when, in the summer of 1942, Joseph Mozelsio received a convocation for forced labour (Arbeitseinsatzbefehl). Joseph reported at the Dossin barracks on 14 August 1942 and did not survive deportation via Transport III on 15 August 1942. Oldest daughter Maria Mozelsio survived the war as a hidden child placed by the Jewish Defence Committee. Youngest children Eva and Henri were first placed at the Jewish orphanage run by Jonas Tiefenbrunner at Rue des Patriottes in Brussels and as of 1943 lived at the Jewish orphanage in Wezembeek-Oppem. Both also survived the war. Donor Charles Chojnacki was born post-war as the son of Eljasz Chojnacki and Eva Mozelsio. He is the grandson of Joseph Mozelsio and the nephew of Chana Chojnacki.

Charles Chojnacki, nephew of Chana Chojnacki and grandson of Joseph Mozelsio, kindly donated copies of the photos of his aunt and maternal grandfather to Kazerne Dossin in 2010.

Charles Chojnacki, nephew of Chana Chojnacki and grandson of Joseph Mozelsio