Abraham Charles Rozental. Collection

Abraham Charles Rozental was born on 19 June 1931 in Brussels as the son of the Polish merchant Heneck Rozental (born on 1 July 1876 in Radomsk, Poland) and his wife Pessa Choch (born on 13 June 1895 in Warsaw, Poland). Abraham’s parents had emigrated from Poland to Belgium in 1930, and had settled in Brussels. During the war, the Rozental-Choch family lived at Rue Emile Feron 67 in Saint-Gilles. Abraham’s parents were forced to obey the anti-Jewish decrees. They registered in the municipal Jewish register at the end of 1940 and became members of the Association of Jews in Belgium in Spring 1942. Abraham Charles Rozenthal was housed in various institutions run by the Association of Jews in Belgium, such as the Aische-en-Refail children’s home, and survived the war, as did his parents Heneck and Pessa Rozental-Choch. Several of their friends, including the Gerszman-Rutmanowicz family, were deported. In Summer 1942 Izrael Gerszman (born on 4 December 1900 in Warsaw), was sent to Northern France to work on the Atlantic Wall as a slave labourer for the German construction company Organisation Todt. Izrael was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau via transport XVI on 31 October 1942 and was murdered. Izrael’s wife Ruchla Rutmanowicz (born on 4 May 1911 in Wierzbnik, Poland), and their daughter, Marie Gerszman (born on 1 October 1933 in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Belgium), were deported from the SS-Sammellager Mecheln (Dossin barracks) to Auschwitz-Birkenau via Transport VIII on 8 September 1942 and were also killed.

On 16 April 1997, Abraham Charles Rozental kindly donated an original photograph (P001650) and a reproduction of a photograph (P001652) to the Jewish Museum of Deportation and Resistance, predecessor of Kazerne Dossin.

Abraham Charles Rozental, 1997