Mordka Abramczyk

Mordka Abramczyk, a Polish student, emigrated to Liège in 1932, where he joined Prokor, a cultural and sports association that served as a cover for meetings of Jewish communists. Mordka left Belgium on 19 January 1937, supposedly to visit his sick father in Poland. In reality, he travelled to Spain, where he enlisted with the International Brigades in Barcelona and fought on the Republican side against General Franco. Mordka was demobilized in October 1938 and was interned at Saint-Cyprien in southern France, along with other foreign veterans of the Spanish Civil War. He was released from the camp and returned to Belgium in November 1938. 

Mordka Abramczyk married a Polish pharmacist called Kajla Frenkiel in Liège in January 1939. When war broke out, the couple sought refuge in France. Mordka and Kajla were detained near Toulouse on 18 August 1942 and interned at Fort Barraux. They were transferred to Drancy via Lyons and were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau via Transport 27 on 2 September 1942. In Cosel, Mordka Abramczyk (30) was selected fit for work and taken from the train. Kajla Frenkiel (35) remained on it. She did not survive deportation. Mordka was interned successively at Ottmuth, Blechhammer, Gross-Rosen and Buchenwald. He was liberated from Halberstadt in May 1945.