A page from the diary of Belgian-Jewish Mozes Sand on which he describes his departure for an Organisation Todt labour camp in France Source: Kazerne Dossin – Diary Mozes Sand, KD_00098
Subsequently, we divided the 1.625 men into 19 subpopulations based on their fate.
These categories will later on allow us to compare the fates of the families of the men between groups, so as to establish whether the actions of the man had an impact on the fate of his family. E.g. Did relatives of men who successfully escaped the OT camps have higher chances of survival than the families of the men that were deported directly from the OT camps to Auschwitz-Birkenau? As it was not possible, time wise, to research the families of all 1.625 Antwerpian OT workers, we created a research sample. This included all men from the 17 smallest categories, and a relevant percentage of the men in the two largest categories. For all further calculations a weighted average was used to sort out the weight of the two largest categories in comparison to the smaller ones. In total, 628 of the Antwerpian men were included in the research sample.
In a next step, we added address information from the summer of 1942 to the data of the men in the sample to be able to determine who had left Antwerp by the time they were claimed by Organisation Todt and where they moved to, on which date. This data can illustrate the social movement away from Antwerp and the precautions taken by some of the families to avoid the forced labour by leaving the city. Based on an extrapolation of the research sample we can state that an estimated 1.528 of the 1.625 Antwerpians were still in Antwerp when taken for Organisation Todt, which is in line with the numbers of 1.518 and 1.526 men taken from Antwerp as mentioned in official OT sources.
The last, and largest step in the project was to identify the relatives of the 628 men from the research sample. Using records such as the municipal Jewish registers, a list was created containing 1.501 family members of the OT men from the research sample. Family members were defined for the project as next of kin living at the same address in Antwerp as the OT worker. For each of these relatives information regarding his or her fate was collected, as well as data on the way in which a person was arrested (if applicable) and if he or she survived deportation. Based on this analysis, we can now explore the timing of
deportation of the slave labourers as well as the timing of the arrest of their family members who remained at home. Also, the deportation numbers of OT relatives can now be compared to the deportation rates for Jews in Belgium and more specifically in Antwerp. Forthcoming publications will elaborate on the specific numbers and place them in context.
THE IMPORTANCE OF MICROSTORIES
Apart from delivering statistical analysis, the Left Behind project seeks to translate macro history, based on the above mentioned data, into micro history, based on personal stories and items, and vice versa. Both elements of research enhance each other and lead to new insights into the lives and fates of Holocaust survivors and victims. For the Left Behind project, on a micro-historical level, Kazerne Dossin has documented personal stories of about 20 Antwerpians to illustrate communication lines between the OT workers and their families. By using documents such as the diary of Mozes Sand, personal letters, photographs and testimonies of relatives of OT workers, relevant data is collected. Furthermore, we try to connect the macro analysis of the deportation and survival rates with these microhistories. Can elements from these microhistories help explain the deportation and survival rates?
Although not expected when starting the research project, it soon became apparent that multiple ways of communication existed between the OT men and their families. These are described in detail in sources such as the diary of Mozes Sand. An in depth study of the document led to the identification of several official and unofficial communication channels, including the shipment of parcels and letters either via censored mail or clandestinely posted by non-Jewish coworkers met at the construction sites, visits to the families in Antwerp by non-Jewish coworkers, the arrival of news via new transports of workers from Antwerp and even (clandestine) visits to the men in the OT camps by their relatives. Most OT workers as well as their families have been deported and wiped out, making it impossible to determine if communication existed and if so, how it influenced the decisions made by the OT men or their families. The remaining traces of these communication lines are therefore of the utmost importance. A series of postcards exchanged between Mathilde Kornitzer, living in Antwerp, and her husband Jacob Klapholz, an OT worker held at the Les Mazures camp, show how they maintained contact after Jacob was taken. The last postcards Mathilde sent him mid-October 1942, were returned to her, indicating that Jacob had left, “destination unknown”. He had been deported and would not survive Auschwitz-Birkenau. Mathilde correctly interpreted the signs and went into hiding. She thus survived.