Feder-Rubner family. Collection

Abraham Hersz Feder, born on 25 October 1899 in Bedzin, Poland, led a significant life intertwined with love, family, and tragedy. He found companionship and married Eva (Chava) Rubner, a woman born in the summer of 1907 in Oświęcim, Poland. Their union brought forth the birth of their son, Jacques David Feder, in May 1938 in Antwerp. Thaliastraat 16 in Antwerp served as their home, where they resided with Eva Rubner's mother, Sara Schnitzer. The warm embrace of their apartment was made possible through their tenancy with Mr. or Mrs. Van Bergen, their landlords residing at the same address. Tragedy struck when Eva Rubner was arrested during the events of the third large anti-Jewish raid in Antwerp, which occurred during the night of 11 to 12 September 1942. Unlike the previous raids, this operation took place in broad daylight, with victims plucked from the streets of Antwerp. Amidst the chaos, Eva Rubner was arrested on Thaliastraat where 24 persons were arrested, with her son Jacques David Feder by her side. In a desperate attempt to protect him, she denied their bond, and Jacques David Feder managed to quickly return home alone. Eva Rubner was registered at the Dossin barracks on 12 September 1942, designated as Nr. 845 on the deportation list for transport X. This train left Mechelen on 15 September 1942 and on 17 September the transport arrived at the Judenrampe between Auschwitz, the German name for Oświęcim, and Birkenau. Eva was once again back so close to her hometown, but the circumstances could not be more different than they were then. Eva Rubner did not survive. Abraham Feder was absent from their home during the raid that led to his wife's arrest. In May and June 1942, the Nazis carried out the deportation of 2,252 able-bodied Jewish men from Belgium to northern France, employing them as workers for subcontractors of Organisation Todt, the German enterprise responsible for constructing the Atlantic Wall. Among these workers was Abraham Feder. He was brought to Boulogne-sur-Mer and later also Isques. He had to do labour for the firms Loth & Bopp as well as Leonard Hanbuch & Sohne. On 29 October 1942, the names of these Todt-workers were added to the deportation lists at the Dossin barracks, although they were still in France. On 31 October 1942, Abraham Feder embarked on Transport XVII, deportee number 321, leaving northern France behind. The train made a brief stop near the Dossin barracks, yet the men were confined within the wagons, unable to disembark. After further prisoners were loaded, the transport left for Auschwitz-Birkenau, reaching its destination on 3 November 1942. There, Abraham Feder was selected as a forced labourer, his left arm marked with the indelible number 72450. The Auschwitz death certificates bear witness to Abraham Feder's passing on 19 January 1943, sealing his fate within the camp. On 19 October 1942, Mrs. Van Bergen, the family’s landlord, reached out to the Feldkommandantur in Antwerp seeking guidance to ask what to do with the child Jacques David Feder. The response from the Feldkommandantur indicates that David was left with Mrs. Van Bergen or was left behind in his parents’ apartment when his mother was arrested where Mrs. Van Bergen found him. Jacques David Feder lived with her for a little time as her adopted child. However, Mrs. Van Bergen panicked and decided subsequently to relinquish the child to the Nazis who placed him at the Linkebeek Jewish orphanage. One night he and other children were rescued by the Belgian resistance and swiftly whisked away to the safety a monastery. As time pressed on and the war continued to unfold, Jacques David Feder's journey took yet another unforeseen twist. He was taken under the care of a resistance family, finding sanctuary on a farm where he could find solace amidst the bucolic landscape.

A few years before his passing, Jacques David Feder took the initiative to put together a folio of what he considered his most important documents from his early life in Belgium. Recognizing the importance of preserving these precious artifacts, he entrusted them to the care of his relative, Jerachmieil Feder, residing in Zurich. In 2023, Jerachmieil’s son Andrew Feder permitted Kazerne Dossin to digitally archive 4 pictures, a wedding certificate and two birth certificates, and to archive 1 doctor’s note, 1 rent booklet, 9 letters and 1 identity card in this collection.

Andrew Feder