Organisations and People helped me to escape
Mr Werner Aronheim was born in Berlin Germany, in 1925. In 1935, when he was 10 years of age, he left the country with his parents and went to Antwerp, Belgium. His school life there was interrupted, when in May 1940 the Germans marched into Belgium. His father, like all other Germans was taken into a camp "St. Cyprien", in France. That was by order of the Belgian government. He and his mother fled to the west of Belgium, to La Panne near the French border.
There they remained a week and tried to cross to France. The French would not let them enter, also the Germans had taken possession of Calais. From this unsuccessful venture they returned to La Panne. Shortly after, the Germans occupied this town, and there was nothing left for him and his mother but to go back to Antwerp. Werner went back to school.
In September 1940 his father escaped from "St. Cyprien" and joined the family in Antwerp. In the city of Antwerp lived 40,000 Jews. Towards the end of 1940 the Jews tried to leave Antwerp and the Aronheims went to Brussels. On account of rumors, saying, that all Jews were to be taken into concentration camps, they escaped from Belgium in October 1941. Actually some people had been taken already, others feared for their lives.
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The Aronheims went to the unoccupied part - the Vichy part of France - to Marseilles. They did not make this escape alone; about a dozen people had joined and crossed the border under the guidance of a Jews, who took a considerable amount of money for this risky work. Even though the French and Belgian territory was under the same “Kommandantur” the crossing was difficult, as none of this group had proper papers. They went via Amiens to Paris and Dax, where they had to cross the demarcation line. The guide went with them, until they reached Marseilles.
After their arrival they reported to the police; they received a receipt for their application, which gave them permission to stay. It was November 1941. In unoccupied France the Germans had no power, but a German commission was there to supervise the armistice arrangements. They did not dictate, but they pressed the Vichy government to take measures against the Jews.
By this influence the French ordered the Jews to leave big towns and settle in assigned small places, to live in "Residence force"; that was about May 1942. The Aronheims had to go to "Departement la Bastide des Jourdans (Vancluse)". Now they had to report weekly to the police.
They were not allowed to leave this village without special permission by the police. Neither were they permitted to work. Otherwise, the situation was not too unpleasant.
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In August 1942 new rumors started, that the Germans were to take all Jews into camps in France. In the village was another Jewish family, living under the same conditions as Aronheim. Together they decided to try an escape to Switzerland.
Mrs. Aronheim had undergone an operation in Marseille and had not recovered from it yet. They decided, the mother should stay in the village, while Werner and his father would try to reach Switzerland. As they were not allowed to leave the village without permission, they had to walk by night. During the third night, they were caught by the French police and locked up in the police station. The following day, they were taken to prison in Digue (Basses Alpes).
At night they shared their cell with 6 other people, who were all criminals. Their days they spent in a large room with about 25 others. If paid for it, they were allowed to have food sent from a restaurant. For a whole month there was no trial. The trial took place on 24 September and the father was sentenced to one month of prison for having left Bastide des Jourdans without permission. Werner was free to go, but as they had to wait for that trial a full month, he had actually spent there the same time as his father. They left prison and had to report to the “Prefecture” to receive their identification card again. At their arrival, they were sent to the Commissaire aux Affaires Juives, who did not set them free, but had them sent to camp Rivesaltes (Pyreneés Orientales.) Two policemen accompanied them. They slept in barracks on straw mattresses, about 50 to 80 people in a room. The camp was surrounded by barbed wire and
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armoured policemen. The food was very poor and the sanitary conditions were in an unhealthy state. The inmates did not have any work to do. Inside the camp was no police. The Red Cross and OSE (Oeuvre de Sacoues aux Enfants, a Jewish Health Organisation) did as much to help in the camp as they could.
Special police, a kind of French Gestapo, came with lists to select prisoners for transports to Germany. On 20 October Werner's father was taken by truck to a transit camp Drancy - lez - Paris. On 6 November, he was sent from there to Auschwitz. His life was put to an end on the day of his arrival in Auschwitz concentration camp.
The OSE tried to rescue young people under 18 years of age; they succeeded to keep quite a number of them, off these transports. Werner and his comrades did not know at this point, that Auschwitz was a liquidation camp and had gas chambers. They lived under the impression, that Auschwitz was a hard labour camp. But rumors had it, that the Germans exposed every month of a certain quota of Jews.
The children were in a barrack by themselves; the food there was little enough, but cleaner and better. Werner got his place in a children's barrack after his father had been sent to Auschwitz. Many inmates of the camp were Jews who had come from Spain during the Spanish civil war. On 23 November 1942 all the remaining Jews of Rivesaltes were taken to the concentration camp Gurs.
This camp was high in the Pyrenees. It was very cold, there was no heating. The food was worse than ever.
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Women were separated from men, they could see each other during the day, but at night they had to go into subdivided blocks, separated by barbed wire. Again the Red Cross and YMCA tried to give help.
Among the prisoners were many artists. Organized by the Red Cross the artists performed in the evening for the camp inmates. The inside jobs were filled by prisoners, which meant that the various departments were headed by inmates. It did not give them extra pay but offered certain advantages in their way of living.
The food was so little, that Werner suffered by malnutrition in such a way, that he was unable to eat after a few weeks. The doctor, who was consulted, put him on a list for additional food, contributed by the Red Cross. This helped him not only physically, but also mentally. With more strength, his spirit rose as well.
By the advice of friends, he went to YMCA to apply for a job as camp gardener and succeeded in getting it. There was no pay in this job either, but he got better food, like dried beans, peas, etc.
The lady who was in charge of the YMCA was not a prisoner and was in contact with the resistance movement. She suggested to Werner to get a false identification card. He followed her advice, not needing the card at present but to be covered when in need for it.
In March 1943 he was deported to a “Foreign worker Co.” in Meyreuel (Bouches du Rhone). There too they had to live in
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barracks; but they were neither under police observation nor surrounded by barbed wire. Only young people were sent to this company. Altogether they were 8 Jews; the rest consisted of mixed nationalities, mostly Spaniards. The company was supervised by a French commander, a civilian person. The prisoners were put to work in coal mines near the village of Meyreuel.
At regular intervals Werner was allowed to visit his mother, being covered for his trips by a special permit. His mother was very friendly with the chief of police and the mayor of Bastide des Jourdans. Both were members of the underground organisation. These two men helped her to obtain a false card for food supply for Werner, in coordination with the false identification card he possessed.
Meanwhile, the Germans occupied all of France. In February 1944 the Gestapo came to the Company and demanded, that all the Jews were handed over to them. The Commander told them to return in the evening, as all the Jews were at present working down in the mines. As soon as the Gestapo had left, the commander called all the Jews into his office, warning them that their arrest by the Gestapo was planned for the evening.
Werner decided to leave immediately. To change his residence he needed the permission of the local authorities. He was in possession of such a document, also forged by the Resistance. Again with the help of the mayor of Bastide des Jourdans. With his three false documents, he went to the City Hall of a nearby town and stated that he wanted to live there. He went to work for a farmer, for whom he had worked before in
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Bastide des Jourdans and who knew his real identity. In August 1944, after some disagreement with him, he left the farmer and took on another job in the neighbourhood, in Digue.
He had chosen Digue, because his mother had moved to this place. The Mayor had warned her to flee from Bastide des Jourdans without delay as danger was immediate. He had helped her to receive forged identity papers as well. The name of this great and helpful man was; Edouard Arniaud.
Four days after the Americans landed in St. Tropez, Digue was liberated by them. Werner joined the health service of the French army for two weeks, after which he left for Marseilles. Here he was for one year interpreter for the American army. After this time he returned to Brussels and made his way from there to Holland, where he lives now with a wife and child in peace, health, and prosperity.
