Lucy Sara Mandelbaum-Lipiner. Collection
Extent and Medium
1 interview (1 Part - 1h10) and 4 digitised images (4 photos)
Creator(s)
- Lucy Sara Mandelbaum-Lipiner
Biographical History
Lucy Sara Mandelbaum, married Lipiner, was six years old when the Nazis invaded Poland on 1 September 1939. With her parents and her older sister, she fled her hometown Sucha to Russian territory and survived the war in Siberia and Tajikistan in Central Asia. After the war, the Lipiner family lived in a DP camp in Germany. Lucy and her sister were sent to the Jewish orphanage in the Generaal Drubbelstraat in Antwerp from February 1947 until 1948. The family then migrated to the USA. Lucy's aunt Lotti Mandelbaum lived in Antwerp before and during the war. Lotti’s husband Meyer Teitelbaum and her father-in-law Mozes Teitelbaum were deported from the Dossin barracks to Auschwitz-Birkenau via Transport XIII and did not survive. Lotti Mandelbaum and her 3 children escaped to Switzerland and returned to Antwerp after the war.
Archival History
Upon reading Lucy Sara Mandelbaum-Lipiners memoir "Long Jouney Home - A Young Girl's Memoir of Surviving the Holocaust", Kazerne Dossin interviewed her concerning her life at the Antwerp orphanage in 1947-1948. The interview was conducted by Veerle Vanden Daelen via Zoom on Friday 19 June 2020.
Acquisition
Lucy Sara Mandelbaum-Lipiner, 2020
Scope and Content
This collection contains an interview with Lucy Sara Mandelbaum-Lipiner. During the interview Lucy recounts her journey from the DP camp to the orphanage in Antwerp and the arrival there. She also describes the atmosphere and facilities at the home, the staff members and other children, the food and religious holidays, activities such as lectures on Zionism and the bi-weekly Shabbat celebration at the home of her aunt Lotti Mandelbaum, the language challenge, the visits from the women’s committee, Lucy’s visits to the movie theatre with her sister to watch movies with Steward Granger, the two month summer holidays at the Belgian coast in Oostduinkerke… . This collection further contains four photographs showing Lucy Sara Mandelbaum-Lipiner herself before and after the war as well as her sister Frydzia Mandelbaum, her father Abraham Mandelbaum as well as uncles and aunts and other children.
Accruals
Documents and photos might be added upon digitisation.
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Contact Kazerne Dossin Documentation Centre: archives@kazernedossin.eu
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Digitally stored at Kazerne Dossin as collection KD_00596
Existence and Location of Copies
Digital copy available as collection KD_00596 at Kazerne Dossin
Subjects
- Postwar Jewish life
- Switzerland
- Refugees
- Reconstruction
- Postwar research
- Migration
- Jewish organisations
- Holocaust survivors
- Family life
- Daily life