The Fingherman family

Born in Romania Mosché Fingherman, 40, was a shopkeeper who lived on Plantin Moretuslei in Borgerhout in Antwerp. His wife, Rosa Obrijan, 42, was also a Romanian Jew. All their children were born in Antwerp.

The Fingherman family
Mosché Fingherman, his wife Rosa Obrijan and their children, Bertha, Salomon and Georges Léon

Born in Romania Mosché Fingherman, 40, was a shopkeeper who lived on Plantin Moretuslei in Borgerhout in Antwerp. His wife, Rosa Obrijan, 42, was also a Romanian Jew. All their children were born in Antwerp, Bertha in 1927, Salomon in 1929 and Georges Léon, in 1931. They were aged respectively 15, 12 and 11 when they were arrested. They were caught during the issue of rationing stamps in the town hall of Borgerhout on 11 – 12 September 1942. 61 Jews from the Plantin Moretuslei were caught in the same trap. Once in the Dossin Barracks, Mosché Fingherman managed to become part of the permanent staff, and worked as a porter. He avoided deportation and was eventually liberated. His family on the other hand were put on Transport 11 on 26 September. A mother accompanied by her three children had no chance of survival. Transport 11 was the deadliest of all for women and girls, 94% of them were executed immediately after disembarkation.

Publication info

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

Dr. Maxime Steinberg & Dr. Laurence Schram