"Mijn leven in Frankrijk, bezet en onbezet. Dwangarbeid voor O.T." (diary) by Mozes Isaak (Maurice) Sand. Collection

Mozes Isaak Sand was born in Jaworów, Poland, on 2 May 1923 as the son of Abraham Sand (b. 18/02/1894 in Jaworów, Poland) and Regina Flichtenfeld (b. 07/09/1895 in Jaworów, Poland). Mozes Isaak Sand had an older sister, Lea Sand, who was born in Jaworów, Poland, on 15 November 1921. In October 1927, father Abraham Sand made his way to Belgium via Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His wife and both children followed him from Poland to Belgium in November 1928. The family settled in Borgerhout, Antwerp, where Abraham earned a living as a diamond cutter. Son Mozes Isaak Sand became a fur processor. The Sand family still lived in Antwerp when Nazi-Germany invaded Belgium in May 1940. On 26 May 1942, Lea Sand married Mojsze (Max) Bialogura (b. 27/10/1919 in Warsaw, Poland). Two and a half months later, on 5 August 1942, Mozes Isaak Sand and his brother-in-law Mojsze (Max) Bialogura were deported to the north of France where they were detained as forced labourers for Organisation Todt at the Dannes et Condette camp. Mozes Isaak Sand started a diary which he continued until liberation in 1944. In it, he recounts the treatment of prisoners at the camp. The name of his brother-in-law Mojsze (Max) occurs often in the notes as the men would stay together for the next two years. Due to rumours about deportations and the fate of Jews, Mozes Isaak Sand and Mojsze (Max) Bialogura escaped from the Dannes et Condette labour camp on 12 October 1942 and made their way back to Antwerp. Upon arrival, they discovered that Abraham Sand, Regina Flichtenfeld and Lea Sand all had reported at the Dossin barracks on 19 August 1942 after having received a convocation for forced labour (Arbeitseinsatzbefehl). All three were killed after deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau via Transport VI on 29 August 1942. Mozes Isaak Sand and his brother-in-law Mojsze (Max) Bialogura then returned to France. Both men took on work at French farms near Lyon and Bordeaux, pretending to be non-Jewish seasonal workers. In 1943, they joined the armed French resistance (Maquis). After liberation in 1944, Mozes Isaak Sand and Mojsze (Max) Bialogura returned to Antwerp. Mojsze remarried Germaine Maria Robion in 1952. The couple would have three children. Mojsze Bialogura passed away in Brussels. Mozes Isaak Sand married Sabine Steinberger and had a son. He passed away in 2006. Contact Kazerne Dossin Documentation Centre: archives@kazernedossin.eu In this diary Mozes Isaak (Maurice) Sand recounts daily life as a forced labourer in an Organisation Todt camp in France (August-October 1942), as a refugee in France (winter 1942) and as a member of the French resistance (1943-1944). The notes include detailed reports on the treatment of Jews in the French camps, Mozes Isaak Sand’s return to Belgium in 1942, his personal life and international politics.