Frajda Mantel. Collection

Frajda Mantel was born in Praszka, Poland, on 1 May 1899. She became a seamstress. Around 1923, Frajda emigrated to Belgium where she religiously married leather worker Isaak Turczynski, (born in Zgierz, Poland, on 27 February 1897). The couple was religious and held Zionist beliefs. Frajda would give birth to two children: a daughter named Sonia Turczynski, who was born in Etterbeek on 5 April 1924, and a son named Norbert Mantel who was born in Brussels on 30 April 1930. During the war, the Turczynski-Mantel family lived at Rue Transvaal 16 in Anderlecht. Frajda and her husband Isaak obeyed the anti-Jewish laws installed in Belgium. They registered in the municipal Jewish register in December 1940, they became members of the Association of Jews in Belgium in Spring 1942, and, as of June 1942, they wore the yellow Star of David. Frajda Mantel was arrested at her family home on 15 September 1943, and was transferred to the SS-Sammellager Mecheln (Dossin barracks) the same day. She was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau via transport XXIIA on 20 September 1943. Frajda did not survive. Her husband Isaak and her children Sonia and Norbert went into hiding. Norbert was hidden by Mrs. Moens and at the college de Chimay. All three of them survived the war. This collection contains : a pre-war census certificate issued to Frajda Mantel (married Turczynski), 1939 ; the wartime identity card of Frajda Mantel, stamped "Jood-Juif". Contact Kazerne Dossin Research Centre: archives@kazernedossin.eu