On Yom HaShoah please remember the life of Esther Ferstenfeld.  Esther died at Birkenau in the fall of 1942.   She was only 16 years old.  May her life be bound for eternity with the bonds of life she created in her own time and in our time as we remember her.  May her memory always be a blessing.

Esther Ferstenfeld (1926-1942)

Esther was born in France to Jewish parents from Poland.  Her mother and father, Solomon and Dvorah Fersztenfeld, immigrated to France from Poland around 1923 with their older daughter, Malke (Marie) who was born around 1910.  Esther was naturalized in 1927 and thus a French citizen even though her parents were Polish and considered “foreign Jews.”  In 1930, Esther’s older sister married and moved to London where Esther often visited in the summers as a young girl.  Marie Ferstenfeld Magar survived the war in London.

Esther was an excellent student, earning high grades and honors in French and mathematics.  Family members spoke of her as having been an especially sweet child who dearly loved her little nieces, Rachele and Rosette, Marie’s daughters.  Solomon began working as a peddler in France in 1923 and eventually sold used furniture and antiques from his stand at the Marché aux Puces.  Dvorah helped him in his business ventures, and the two encouraged their daughters to stay in school and work hard.  Before the Shoah, the Ferstenfelds (who dropped the z from their name) enjoyed success in France and lived in a nice but smallish apartment in Montmartre.  They also built a small vacation cabin on the outskirts of Paris, and in 1938 the whole family traveled to London to visit Marie, her husband Chaim and their children.

Early on the morning of 16 July 1942, French police arrested the Ferstenfelds in their home at 6 rue Sainte-Isaure.  They were part of the notorious Vel d’Hiv roundup in which over 13,000 Jews were arrested in Paris between July 16 and 19 in an operation overseen by the French police. Solomon, Dvorah and Esther were all sent to the deportation camp known as Pithiviers. Dvorah, however, was separated from her husband and daughter and sent to Auschwitz where she lived only a few weeks.  Solomon and Esther spent time at the Drancy deportation camp outside Paris, and on 18 September 1942 were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau as part of Convoy 34 arriving the day before Esther’s 16^th birthday.  Solomon was gassed on arrival, but Esther was admitted into the camp at Birkenau where she died on October 28, 1942.  Below Esther is shown around 1931 at the age of about 4.

Esther was only a few years older than her nieces, Rachele and Rosette.  Marie and Rachele honored the memory of Esther’s life all of their lives, and their descendants in England and Israel continue to tell her story today.

A photo of my Dad playing Jazz music for some Czech children. From the looks of it the children were more interested in the record player than the music 

Studying the Holocaust has a personal significance for me. My father, John Chapman, was a U.S. Army medic during World War II. He was a member of the 120th EVAC Hospital unit attached to General Patton’s 3rd Army. What makes this significant is he was part of the American forces that liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, Germany, and his unit was the first to render medical aid to prisoners. He rarely spoke of his experience, but given his role as medic he undoubtedly treated many patients suffering from malnutrition, tuberculosis, and a host of other maladies. His unit became quite famous back home. An article appeared in Life Magazine about the 120th EVAC, and Edward R. Murrow’s nationwide radio broadcast describing what he saw inside the camp included the unit’s activities.