On 15 January 1944, Transport 23 departed from the Dossin Barracks in Mechelen bound for Auschwitz. The period of large-scale deportations had come to an end, as many Jews had gone into hiding or fled. The 659 people making up the convoy had almost all been arrested during round-ups or as a result of denunciations.

Moses Lisak and Esther Kaplan were born in Kalisz, Poland. They arrived in Belgium in January 1939 as a stopover to emigrate to Uruguay. On January 19, 1935, they had a daughter: Ruth. Moses and Lisak were deported on transport XXIII from the Dossin Barracks to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Ruth was not deported and survived the war.

Izrael Goldfarb was deported with transport XXIII to Auschwitz-Birkenau. He did not survive the war.

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.

Sara Boeki was deported with her son Willy on transport XXIII from the Dossin Barracks in Mechelen to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Mother and son were murdered there.

Isaak and Emmy, both from the Netherlands, seek a better life in Belgium. However, they are gripped by the horror of anti-Semitism.

Majer Tabakman emigrated from Poland in 1928 and settled in Saint-Gilles, a commune of Brussels, where he worked as a clicker (shoe leather cutter). Rosa Kibel arrived from Poland in 1931.

Hans Maier was an Austrian Jew who had fled to Belgium in 1939. He settled in Brussels. He was arrested as “suspect” on 10 May 1940 by the as yet independent Belgian State.

A Polish Jew, Zelman Ungerowicz, emigrated in 1925 with his parents. They settled in the Liège region, first at Seraing, and then in Liège.