Of Men, Monsters and Mazel

About the Book

Marcel Tenenbaum is a child survivor of the Holocaust and lived through the German occupation of Belgium between May 1940 and September 1944.

After completing grade 1, he went into hiding in 1942 when the Nazis started deporting Jews to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. His parents were denounced to the Nazis in 1944.

He arrived at the Malines gathering camp seventy-two hours after the last train for Auschwitz departed from Belgium.

He was a prisoner for one month and was liberated by British and Canadian troops. He and his parents emigrated from Belgium in 1951 and settled in Montréal, Canada.

About the Author

The author was born in Brussels, Belgium, on March 5, 1935, to Jerma and Gitla Tenenbaum. He is an only child. His father, Jerma, became a master tailor and moved from Radom, Poland, to Brussels, where he was employed by Mr. Van Nieuvenhoven. He later opened his own tailor shop.

Under the German occupation of Belgium, Marcel went to grade 1 in 1941 and wore a yellow star, identifying him as being Jewish.

When the Nazis started arresting Jews in 1942 and deporting them to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, his parents went into hiding for two years and lived in two rooms in an attic under the roof of the house of his father’s first employer.

They were denounced by a neighbor in August 1944 and sent to the Malines gathering camp. Their luck was that they arrived at the camp seventy-two hours after the last deportation train left for Auschwitz.

They were liberated on September 4, 1942, by British and Canadian troops. They moved to Montreal, Canada, in 1951.