Celine Mokobodzki

Celine Mokobodzki was born in Schaerbeek, Brussels, in 1925. Samek Zagiel, her future fiancé, emigrated from Poland to Belgium in 1931, with his parents, twin sister and younger brother. During the summer of 1942, the couple decided to flee to Switzerland. They made it as far as Bern, but the Swiss authorities sent them back to France. Celine and Samek were arrested in the French village of Delle, barely a kilometre from the Swiss border, on 18 August 1942, and were interned together at Belfort. They were then transferred to Drancy, from where they were deported via Transport 23 to Auschwitz-Birkenau on 24 August 1942. There is no further trace of Celine Mokobodzki (17) after her arrival. She did not survive deportation. Samek Zagiel (20) was selected for forced labour and the number 61751 was tattooed on his arm. In March 1943 he managed to send a postcard to Belgium. Samek survived deportation and was repatriated in July 1945.