Lehrer-Geldzahler family. Collection

Kalman Lehrer was born in Ustrzyki Dolne, Poland, on 20 June 1898. He married Rosa Schaja (b. 24/03/1897 in Radomyśl, Poland) on 2 August 1926 and emigrated to Antwerp, Belgium, via Dresden, Germany, in February 1928. It is unclear whether the couple divorced or if Kalman Lehrer was widowed. His mother, Etty Lehrer, also moved to Belgium. In Antwerp, Kalman Lehrer met Tauba Rachel Geldzahler. She was born in Kolbuszowa, Poland, in 1895, and emigrated to Belgium with her parents in January 1929. Kalman and Tauba were probably married religiously. Their daughter Jenny Geldzahler was born in Antwerp on 29 February 1932. In 1935 the family moved to Kroonstraat 205 in Borgerhout, where they still lived when Nazi-Germany invaded Belgium on 10 May 1940. In the summer of 1942, Kalman Lehrer was arrested and sent to the north of France to work as a forced labourer for subcontractors of the German enterprise Organsiation Todt. Therefore, he was not at home when the Nazis organized the first large anti-Jewish raid in Antwerp in the night of 15 on 16 August 1942. Tauba Geldzahler and her daughter Jenny were arrested and taken to the Dossin barracks. Neither survived deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau via Transport IV on 18 August 1942. Kalman Lehrer was killed after deportation from France via the Dossin barracks to Auschwitz-Birkenau via Transport XVI on 31 October 1942. It is unclear if Kalman Lehrer’s mother, Etty Lehrer, was in Belgium during the occupation. Donor Daniel Lehrer confirmed that she survived the war.

Daniel Lehrer offered digital copies of the photos in this collection to Kazerne Dossin in 2011, after requesting information regarding the deportation of other family members.

Daniel Lehrer, 2011