Hubert Preiser. Collection

Kazerne Dossin Research Centre Hubert Preiser was born in Havana in 1927 and moved with his family to Brussels in 1929, where they settled in the Saint-Gilles neighborhood. His parents were what he later described as "embarrassed Jews." They distanced themselves from Jewish cultural circles, with little contact with other Jewish families in the area. Hubert's father, a self-taught man with a passion for politics and culture, lacked a critical approach to his views and often kept his family isolated from broader Jewish communities. As the German occupation of Belgium began, the family made the difficult decision to flee. Hubert and his mother embarked on a journey to Calais, where they had arranged to meet his father. However, they failed to meet up, and while his father journeyed toward Spain, Portugal, and eventually the Belgian Congo, Hubert and his mother moved between locations, including Bergues-Plages and De Panne. During this time, Hubert discovered a hidden truth in his mother’s papers: their original name was Preiserowicz, a revelation of their Jewish identity that came as a shock to him. His father, who continued his escape, would remain in Congo for the duration of the war, and Hubert would not see him again until 1946. Upon their return to Brussels, Hubert’s mother arranged for both of them to be baptized by the priest in Saint-Gilles, a step intended to protect them from the growing dangers. Hubert returned to school that September, initially attending an atheneum. However, when a teacher called him "Preiserstein" in front of others, his mother became concerned that his Jewish identity might be exposed. Although it was later revealed that the teacher had been a Freemason and had opposed Nazi policies, Hubert transferred to the Jesuit-run Saint-Jean Berchmans College. In 1942, as the threat of deportation increased with Nazi raids, Hubert's mother sent him to a boarding school in La Louvière. However, he was expelled over a minor disciplinary issue. Deeply concerned, his mother pleaded with the school’s principal, revealing their dire circumstances as Jews at risk. Moved by their plight, the principal directed her to Monsignor Pierre Carlier, the head of Saint-Augustin College in Enghien. Carlier, aware of the danger, offered Hubert shelter at the college, risking his own safety. Unable to return home due to the Nazi roundups, Hubert had to stay at the college during weekends and holidays. Left alone in the large, empty boarding school, he often felt isolated and lonely, but Monsignor Carlier took special care of him. Carlier would invite Hubert to his office in the evenings, providing a comforting presence and engaging him in fatherly conversations that gave him the strength to endure his isolation. Carlier, who took extraordinary measures to protect Hubert and others, refused to submit a list of students to the German authorities. His defiance led to his arrest in 1943, and again in 1944 after another refusal, when he was imprisoned for three months until the liberation. His courage saved Hubert and several other Jewish children from deportation. In recognition of his bravery, Yad Vashem later honored Monsignor Carlier as Righteous Among the Nations in 2001. After the war, Hubert and his mother sought temporary refuge in the Ardennes, where they endured the dangerous Von Rundstedt Offensive. When the war ended, Hubert's education continued. After being expelled from Saint-Augustin College by a new principal for causing a disturbance in the study hall, he was able to complete his education at Collège Saint-Vincent in Zinnik. In 1946, he traveled to Congo to reunite with his father, spending holidays there in 1947 and 1948. However, tensions arose, and Hubert returned to Belgium, where he enrolled at the Facultés universitaires Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix in Namur as a boarding student. Throughout these turbulent years, Hubert Preiser's life was shaped by loss, identity struggles, and the extraordinary risks taken by his mother and individuals like Monsignor Carlier to ensure his survival. This collection contains one photo of Hubert Preiser while in Edingen during wartime. Hubert Preiser was a Jewish boy born in Havana in 1927 who grew up in Brussels and, during the Nazi occupation of Belgium, was hidden in a Catholic school by Monsignor Pierre Carlier, a priest who risked his life to protect him. Preiser’s early life was marked by isolation from Jewish culture, and he discovered his Jewish heritage only during the war, after finding out his family’s original name, Preiserowicz. Contact Kazerne Dossin Research Centre: archives@kazernedossin.eu