{"id":2533,"date":"2020-05-31T11:59:08","date_gmt":"2020-05-31T11:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishgen.org\/jewishgen\/testimonials\/?p=2533"},"modified":"2021-04-19T12:29:55","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T16:29:55","slug":"from-cluj-to-the-rest-of-the-world-the-fate-of-the-five-jakab-siblings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishgen.org\/jewishgen\/testimonials\/from-cluj-to-the-rest-of-the-world-the-fate-of-the-five-jakab-siblings\/","title":{"rendered":"From Cluj To The Rest Of The World: The Fate Of The Five Jakab Siblings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Reinier Heinsman<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

My grandmother, Lucienne Raap-Blumenthal (1937\nAntwerp – 2013 Apeldoorn), was born in Belgium of Hungarian descent. Her\nparents left their Hungarian birth towns in the 1920s, and they met in Antwerp,\nwhere my grandmother Lucienne was born. Her maternal grandfather (my\ngreat-great grandfather), Ferdinand Nachman Jakab, was born in 1892 in\nDi\u00f3s, a village northwest of Cluj, in Romania. When he was born, the region was\nstill Hungarian, and the Jakab family considered themselves a Hungarian Jewish\nfamily. Ferdinand Jakab moved to Cluj when he was still young. From there, he\nmoved with his household to Antwerp in 1927. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ferdinand Jakab was a master tailor. He had his\nown tailor shop in Antwerp where he made elegant suits for men. He enjoyed the\nlittle things, such as going for a walk in the park of Antwerp to admire his\nfavorite tree, a weeping willow. Ferdinand was also a writer, who especially\nliked to write Hungarian poems. In September 1942, he was deported from Belgium\nto Auschwitz. He was selected for slave labor and survived for two years in the\ncamp until he was tortured to death in October 1944, which was testified after\nthe war by two former Auschwitz prisoners. Due to his death, and because of the\nsilence after the war of his surviving wife, our family barely knew anything\nabout his origins \u2014 only that his parents were called Isaac Jakab and Rosalia\nLustig. But did Ferdinand have, for instance, any siblings? Nothing about it\nwas known. Eventually, when I started the search for more information in the summer\nof 2018, I used JewishGen as a starting point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Household of Ferdinand Jakab
1935 Antwerp<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I searched for people with the last name Jakab,\nwho came from the region of Romania. To my surprise, on JewishGen I found an\nentry for a marriage of a person called David Jakab, whose parents shared the same\nnames as the parents of my great-great-grandfather Ferdinand Jakab. David was\nalso born in Di\u00f3s, the same village where Ferdinand was born. They were\ndefinitely brothers. After a long search, I discovered one more brother,\nSamuel, and a sister, Bertha, in the Immigration Archives of the city of\nAntwerp. This meant that they both went to Belgium as well, just as Ferdinand\nhimself. Later, I discovered a birth and a death record for another sister,\nGizella, on Ancestry.com. Gizella died at age seven in Cluj, so the search was\nnarrowed to Bertha, Samuel, and David, siblings of Ferdinand Jakab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Bertha, Samuel, and Ferdinand were all found\nin the Antwerp Immigration Archives, only Ferdinand\u2019s side of the family stayed\nin Antwerp. The archives showed that Bertha and Samuel\u2019s sides eventually moved\nto Brussels. But where was David Jakab, the other sibling? I searched on\nJewishGen for clues. The entry in JewishGen about David mentioned that in 1907,\nin Cluj, he married Roza Goldner, daughter of Lev Goldner and Sali\nAlbert. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Bertha Simon-Jakab*<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In November 2018, I sent a message to a person\nthrough JewishGen\u2019s Family Finder who was listed as a researcher of the\nGoldner family in Cluj. I received no response. Months went by without finding\nnew information about David. A few months into 2019, I was contacted by Miki\nGoldner, the person who I had approached earlier through the Family Finder. \u201cI\nfound your e-mail in my spam file,\u201d he said. Apparently, something went\nwrong when I sent my e-mail, but fortunately he was still able to find it\nmonths later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miki, a descendant of a first cousin of Roza\nGoldner, told me on the phone about the Goldner family. When he shared an old\nfamily tree of that family, it became clear that David Jakab and Roza Goldner\nhad two children: Irene and Margit. No additional information was given on the\ntree besides their names. In the database of Yad Vashem, I saw that Irene Jakab\nwas deported from Romania to Auschwitz. I found no mention of her parents,\nDavid and Roza, or her sister, Margit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Margit & Irene Jakab
Cluj, c. 1915<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I decided to contact a person who was mentioned\non the family tree that was shared with me by Miki. That person was a\ndescendant of a sister of Roza Goldner. I received another old family tree,\nwhich mentioned the name of Adrian Ovidiu Mo\u021biu,\nthe only grandchild of David Jakab! Adrian was easily found. He became a\nwell-known Romanian politician in the 1990s. Sadly, he passed away in\n2004. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to the second old family tree, I learned\nabout the two children of Adrian as well: Ovidiu and Ioana. Both of them had already\npassed away, Ioana most recently in August 2018, which meant that I was a few\nmonths too late. Thanks to a friend of Ioana, who I located on Ioana\u2019s still\nactive Facebook page, I came into contact with Iuliu, Ioana\u2019s son, the only\nliving descendant of David Jakab. Thanks to him, all the pieces fell into\nplace. I received several photos, among them a photo of David Jakab in Cluj\nbefore the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
David Jakab, in Cluj<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

From Iuliu, I learned that David Jakab was\nmurdered in the Shoah. He was sent to the ghetto of Cluj before being deported\nto Auschwitz, where he and his wife Roza Goldner were sent to the gas chambers\nupon their arrival in June 1944. One of their daughters, Irene, survived\nAuschwitz, and went back to Cluj. She never married and had no children. Their\nother daughter, Margit, was never deported. She was in hiding with her husband\nand son in Turda, a place south of Cluj. Her household survived. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While David was deported from Romania to\nAuschwitz, his siblings were elsewhere. As mentioned earlier, his brother Ferdinand,\nmy great-great-grandfather, was deported to Auschwitz from Belgium. Bertha,\ntheir sister, survived the war. The files of the State Archives in Brussels\nindicated that she immigrated to Canada in 1954, so my focus shifted there.\nSearching the Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives, I found in the files of\nthe United Restitution Organization a testimony given by Bertha in Montr\u00e9al,\nCanada, in 1958. Following is the transcript of that testimony:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018\u2018When the Jews of Brussels had to wear the yellow Star of David\nfrom the beginning of June 1942, I as well wore such a yellow star on my chest.\nA few weeks later, it must have been in the midst or end of July 1942, we left\nour home and went into hiding in the Ardennes in a desolated house. My\nnon-Jewish daughter-in-law had rented that home. We were in hiding there from\nJuly 1942 until September 1944. Because our daughter-in-law feared to be\npunished by the Gestapo if we would get caught, she hid us in a dark room,\nwithout windows. She never let us outside. When there were rumors that the\nGestapo were in the area, we had to hide ourselves in the woods until the\ndanger was over. We have had no contact with the outside world and did not dare\nto go on the streets. In September 1944 we were free. During our complete time\nof persecution, we lived in illegality, without contact with the outside world,\nnot in person and not in writing. Our daughter-in-law forbade us to share our\naddress and hiding place with others, because she feared to get punished\nherself. So, nobody knew where we were.\u2019\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other sibling, Samuel Jakab, survived the\nwar as well. He lost his only son Georges, who died in the French Resistance.\nIn the State Archives in Brussels, I found a statement that Samuel wrote in\n1946 as part of his application for a permit for permanent residence in\nBelgium. He wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Samuel Jakab*<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u2018\u2018When the war broke out we fled from the enemy to France, where we were refugees for six years. During the period of the occupation by the enemy, we have fulfilled our patriotic duty entirely. My only son of twenty years old, was dead in the French Resistance for our freedom. Myself, resisting the Germans, I rendered my service to the Resistance. Losing our son, we are now completely alone, and we have to have the courage to start our life all over again.\u2019\u2019  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the war archives in France (located in\nCaen) and the French departmental archives, I learned about the war history of\nSamuel\u2019s household. They were interned in French concentration camps from late\n1940 onwards. On August 26, 1942, they fled from a camp, located in a village\ncalled Chanac, and tried to go to Spain. Everything failed. Eventually, Samuel\nand his wife Stephanie were arrested, but their son, Georges Jakab, was not.\nThanks to a letter in the French war archives, written in 1945 by the mayor of\na village called Loudenvielle, I learned that Georges had a mountain accident\nin early 1943, which led to his drowning in the Lake of Pouchergues. This\nhappened, according to the letter, while he tried to escape from the Germans to\nSpain. His body was found roughly six months later, in June 1943. When he died,\nhis parents, Samuel and Stephanie, were still interned in the concentration\ncamps. They both survived the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Georges Jakab<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Like his sister Bertha, Samuel also immigrated\nto Canada. From his death certificate, I learned that Samuel killed himself in\nVictoria (British Columbia) in 1970 at age 81. The certificate notes his cause\nof death as \u2018suicide by strangulation in the closet.\u2019 This happened on the\nthird anniversary of the death of his wife, Stephanie Rosenberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jakab siblings were once five. After the\ndeath of the young Gizella,\nfour of them were left. Two were murdered during\nthe war and one killed himself after the war. The only sibling who died of old\nage, was Bertha Simon-Jakab. She died in 1975 at age 87 in Montr\u00e9al, Canada. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Bertha
Hebrew Old Peoples’ Home
\nMontr\u00e9al, Canada
(click to enlarge)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As the years passed, the different branches of\nthe Jakab family lost contact to such an extent that no branch knew about any\nof the other branches. It was only last year that the connections were finally\nrestored. The family has spread to several parts of the world, with members\nliving in the USA, Israel, the Netherlands, France, Romania, and Belgium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to JewishGen, I was able to find the\nentry for David Jakab\u2019s marriage of 1907. Also through JewishGen, I found Miki\nGoldner, listed as a researcher of the Goldner family, which eventually led me\nto the sole living descendant of David Jakab. The history of the siblings of\nFerdinand Jakab has now been discovered. May the memory of David, Bertha,\nSamuel, Ferdinand, and Gizella be a blessing.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 2020
Groningen, The Netherlands<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is dedicated to Miki (Nikolai) Goldner, who died unexpectedly at age 70 on May 26, 2020, just prior to the publication of this article. He was a pleasant and funny person who was always very kind. May his memory be a blessing<\/em> .<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Miki Goldner, z”l<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

*Photos of Bertha Simon Jakab and Samuel Jakab courtesy of the State Archives in Brussels.

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research Notes and Hints<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reinier Heinsman made his first breakthrough when he discovered David Jakab\u2019s marriage record in the JewishGen Hungary Database<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The marriage record revealed the name of David Jakab\u2019s wife. Through the JewishGen Family Finder<\/a>, Reinier connected with a relative of David Jakab\u2019s wife. This connection yielded family trees, old photographs, and more connections. If you haven\u2019t yet listed the surnames you are researching on Family Finder, we encourage you to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reinier connected with a friend of one of David Jakab\u2019s descendants by finding her on Facebook<\/a>. She led Reinier to David Jakab\u2019s only living descendant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reinier was thorough in his research, using many\ndifferent resources in addition to those listed above. Reinier provided this\nlist of his key resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Belgium:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immigration archives for the city of Antwerp, called\n”Felixarchief Antwerpen”<\/strong>. This archive is, for the most part,\ndigitally available on the website:  https:\/\/felixarchief.antwerpen.be\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Archives of the\nStranger Police (”<\/strong>Archives de la Police des Etrangers<\/strong>”<\/strong>).\nThese Archives of foreigners\/strangers are not\ndigital. You can contact the Archives via the email address indicated on their\nwebsite. http:\/\/www.arch.be\/index.php?l=en&m=practical-information&r=our-reading-rooms&d=brussels<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Archive of War Victims in Brussels (”Archives des Victimes de la Guerre”<\/strong>).This archive contains personal files of many Jews who resided in Belgium during World War II. These Archives are not digital. You can contact the Archives via the email address indicated on their website. http:\/\/www.arch.be\/index.php?l=en&m=practical-information&r=our-reading-rooms&d=aswv<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Registrations of Jews living in Antwerp during\nthe war (”The Municipal Jewish Register”<\/strong>), and mandatory membership\ncards of the Jewish Council<\/strong> of Jews living in Belgium during the war.  For these archives, you can contact the Kazerne\nDossin Museum <\/strong>via https:\/\/www.kazernedossin.eu\/EN\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For France:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For information about the death of Samuel’s son,\nthe French war archives were used, which are called: ”Archives des Victimes\ndes Conflits Contemporains” <\/strong>(Archive of Victims of Contemporary\nConflicts), which is located in Caen, France. http:\/\/www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr\/en\/node\/32591<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For information regarding French\nconcentration camps<\/strong>, the archives are maintained on a departmental level.\nFrench concentration camp records are well preserved. For most French camps,\nthe archive of the camp is located in the archives of the department in which\nthe camp was located.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Canada:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

”Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives”<\/strong>. The files from URO (United Restitution Organization) and from\nHIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) can be obtained through these archives. https:\/\/www.cjarchives.ca\/en\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cHe enjoyed the little things, such as going for a walk in the park of Antwerp to admire his favorite tree, a weeping willow. Ferdinand was also a writer, who especially liked to write Hungarian poems. In September 1942, he was deported from Belgium to Auschwitz.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[56],"tags":[59,38,60],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"","source_text":"","source_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishgen.org\/jewishgen\/testimonials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2533"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishgen.org\/jewishgen\/testimonials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishgen.org\/jewishgen\/testimonials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishgen.org\/jewishgen\/testimonials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishgen.org\/jewishgen\/testimonials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2533"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishgen.org\/jewishgen\/testimonials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2648,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishgen.org\/jewishgen\/testimonials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2533\/revisions\/2648"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishgen.org\/jewishgen\/testimonials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishgen.org\/jewishgen\/testimonials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishgen.org\/jewishgen\/testimonials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishgen.org\/jewishgen\/testimonials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}