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Manijl Nejman and Masza Kimel had four children: Willy, Benjamin, Clara and Joseph. The whole Nejman-Kimel family was deported with transport XI from the Dossin Barracks to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Manijl was declared fit for work but died, as did his family.
Manijl Nejman and Masza Kimel were both born in Poland: Manijl on January 4, 1900 in Brzeziny and Masza on December 25, 1897 in Warsaw. Manijl arrived in Belgium in 1921 and moved several times in Brussels, mainly between Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Schaerbeek, Saint-Gilles and central Brussels. Masza arrived in Belgium in April 1930 and also lived in Brussels.
Manijl and Masza married on December 24, 1930. On the day of their marriage the couple resided separately: Manijl lived at Vanderschrickstraat 26 in Saint-Gilles and Masza at Predikherenstraat 21 in Brussels. A few days later, on January 5, 1931, the couple moved in together in Anderlecht at Rossinistraat 28. While Manijl and Masza moved several more times, the family expanded: Willy was born on October 30, 1931 and Benjamin on January 5, 1933. In 1934 the family moved to the Onderwijsstraat 7 in Anderlecht where two more children were born: Clara on January 9, 1937 and Joseph on February 18, 1938. Manijl was a leather worker, Masza a housewife.
In May 1940 Nazi Germany invaded Belgium. The Nejman-Kimel family obeyed the anti-Jewish laws of the occupation administration. On January 14, 1941, they registered in the municipal Register of Jews in Anderlecht. Father Manijl, mother Masza and children Benjamin, Willy, Clara and Joseph were arrested under circumstances, unknown to us. On September 24, 1942, at the Dossin Barracks, they were registered on the list of transport XI under the numbers 2011 to 2016. Transport XI, the largest transport of the entire deportation from Mechelen, left the Dossin Barracks for Auschwitz-Birkenau on September 26, 1942.
Given the age of the children – Willy was 10, Benjamin 9, Clara 5 and Joseph 4 – mother and children were presumably sent to the gas chamber immediately upon arrival at the camp on September 28, 1942. Manijl’s name is found in the – incomplete preserved – Sterbebücher of Auschwitz, which shows that he was selected for labor. Manijl didn’t survive his imprisonment.
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.
