Family Aszmian-Szulanska

Lejb Aszmian and Doba Szulanska had three children: Abraham, Hersz and Lazare. Lejb died already in 1932. Abraham was not deported and Hersz went into hiding in France. Doba and Lazare were deported with a different transport to Auschwitz-Birkenau. They did not survive the war.

Family Aszmian-Szulanska
Doba Szulanska

Lejb Aszmian and Doba Szulanska were both born in Vilnius: Lejb on June 15, 1888 and Doba on August 31, 1890. They married in the same city on March 5, 1914. The couple had three children: Abraham was born in 1914, Hersz in 1920 and Lazare in 1925, all in Vilnius. In December 1925, Lejb arrived in Belgium and went to live at Brogniezstraat 68 in Anderlecht. His wife and three sons were still living in Poland at that time. Lejb was glove maker and moved several times. In May 1926 he asked for permission to bring Doba, Abraham, Hersz and Lazare over to Belgium. A few months later, in November 1926, Doba arrived with the children and they moved in with Lejb at Gustave Defnetstraat 28 in Saint-Gilles. Afterwards the family Aszmian-Szulanska moved consecutively to another address in Saint-Gilles, Anderlecht and Brussels.

On July 27, 1932, Lejb was admitted to St. John’s Hospital in Brussels. Three days later, on July 30, 1932, he died. The path of the Aszmian-Szulanska family between 1932 and 1936 is unclear. Eldest son Abraham left home and married Ida Foxova. In 1936, Doba lived together with Hersz and Lazare at Hoogstraat 224 in Brussels. The trio moved to Saint-Gilles but they almost immediately returned to central Brussels. In July 1938 Doba, Hersz and Lazare moved to Ostend and then returned to Hoogstraat 250 in Brussels.

Family Aszmian-Szulanska
Lazare Aszmian

In May 1940 Nazi Germany invaded Belgium. Doba, Hersz and Lazare obeyed the anti-Jewish laws of the occupation administration. In December 1940 they registered in the Brussels Register of Jews, and later they became members of the Jewish Association. Son Abraham also registered in the Register of Jews and the Jewish Association, together with his wife Ida Foxova. Abraham and Ida were not deported and survived the war.

Youngest son Lazare was deported to northern France in the summer of 1942 where he worked as a forced laborer for Julius Berger, a subcontractor to the German organization Todt, responsible for the construction of the Atlantic Wall. Lazare escaped or was released from the labor camp in France and was able to return to Belgium. However, he was arrested again and then registered in the Dossin Barracks on the deportation list of transport XXIII under the number 8. Transport XXIII left Mechelen on January 15, 1944, together with a special transport for Roma, heading for Auschwitz-Birkenau. Lazare was murdered.

Mother Doba was arrested in Brussels and was registered on the list of transport XXV under number 375. Transport XXV left the Dossin Barracks on May 19, 1944, heading for Auschwitz-Birkenau. Doba did not survive the war either.

Son Hersz went into hiding in France during the war but returned to Belgium after the liberation. He settled again in Brussels but migrated to America in 1951 where he got married. In 1953, Hersz returned to Brussels with his wife. He died on May 17, 1967 in Schaerbeek.

 

Publication info:

ADRIAENS Ward, STEINBERG Maxime (et al.), Mecheln-Auschwitz, 1942-1944. The destruction of Jews and gypsies from Belgium, 4 volumes (volume 1), Brussels, 2009.

Dieter Porton