Ingrid De Varez. Collection

Kazerne Dossin Research Centre Ingrid De Varez has received from her mother, Monique Debroye, these documents relating to the persecution of Jewish families and the protection of collaborators. During the war Mr. Van Immerseel, the stepgrandfather of Ingrid De Varez, and grandmother of Ingrid, Mathilde Coene, hid two Jewish families in their house at Pr. Boudewijnlaan 57 in Antwerp and protected them from the Sipo-SD. The first Jewish family consisted of the couple Nathan Sommer recte Binik (born on 20 February 1892 in Artsyz), a diamant splitter, and Cynria Friedlander recto Dijm (born on 18 July 1892). Before the war they lived at Van Den Nestlei 29. The second family consisted of the wedded couple Elias (Echaz) Chaim Lipszyc (born on 15 January 1895 in Zdunska Wola), a chief diamond splitter, and Dora Dirdak (born on 1 October 1904 in Antwerp). They had two children together named Jules and Toby, who were also hidden with them in Mr. Van Immerseel's house. After the war their address was Anton Van Dyckstraat 36. These families were protected against the occupying army. The bravery from Mr. Van Immerseel and Mathilde Coene is recognized and remembered through their respective resistance cards, a witness statement and through the memory of Ingrid De Varez. The occupying army also protected its own people. In 1943 Ms. Goffa, wife of VNV-member Armand Leclercq who was a volunteer in the Waffen-SS, had a court order against her from Maria Van Der Meeren, great-grandmother of Ingrid De Varez. However this court order was reversed so Ms. Goffa would not be disadvantaged in any possible way. The family of Ingrid De Varez was also further personally affected by the deportations and camps. Ingrid’s grandaunt Palmyre Coene, born on 24 March 1900 in Antwerp, Belgium, was deported and treated as a political prisoner. She survived the camps and after the war was repatriated. Palmyre Coene died on 3 February 1961 in Berchem, Belgium. Contact Kazerne Dossin Research Centre: archives@kazernedossin.eu This collection contains two letters, two resistance cards and two photos. First is a witness statement signed by members of two families who were hidden by Mr. Van Immerseel: Nathan Sommer recte Binik, Cynria Friedlander recto Dijm, Elias (Echaz) Chaim Lipszyc, Dora Dirdak, Jules Lipszyc and Toby Lipszyc. Second is a letter notifying Maria Van Der Meeren that her court order against Ms. Goffa, wife of VNV-member Armand Leclercq, has been reversed to protect the VNV and not disadvantage any family members of its members. The two present resistance cards belonged to Mr. Van Immerseel and to Mathilde Coene. The two photos show an uncle of Monique Debroye, Eugène Wagemans (1892-1944), who died in Buchenwald, and his wife Palmyra Coene who did survive her deportation to the concentration camps.