|
Paul
Schwarzbart was seven years old when his father, an Austrian Jew, was
arrested in
Belgium
and shipped off to Vichy France. Persuaded
to
do so by Belgian Resistance workers, Paul's
mother let her son be taken into hiding during World War II. The child,
taking the last name of neighbors, was sent
to a Catholic boarding school
where he learned the prayers in Latin, served at Mass, and took communion,
all the while keeping his true identity secret.
Paul did his lessons and was an active Cub Scout. He thought he was the only
Jewish
child
among 125 pupils. Much later he would learn that,
in fact, 60 of
his schoolmates were Jewish boys secretly hiding with him. Paul was reunited with
his mother, but his father died at
the
Buchenwald concentration camp in
Germany. Paul and his mother eventually settled in the
United States
where Paul attended university and embarked on a 45-year teaching career.
Ever grateful and hopeful, Paul Schwarzbart tells his story and shares
his vision of a peaceful world where people work together to become more fully
human.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Photos
- Click to get a larger image
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Château du
Faing, 1943, the site of the Catholic children's home. Paul
Schwarzbart, alias Paul Exsteen, was one of many Jewish children
hidden here during World War II. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Château du Faing,
1943, toward the main courtyard. Shown here is the road taken by American
jeeps and GIs as they entered the grounds. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
The Refectory in
the Great Hall of the Château du Faing. It was through the doors in the
background that the Jewish child Paul Schwarzbart, alias Paul Exsteen,
entered the school for the first time. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
The dormitory
with the great fireplace. Paul Schwarzbart, alias Paul Exsteen, is resting
on his bed in the right foreground. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Cub Scouts (arrow
points to Paul Schwarzbart, alias Paul Exsteen) on parade in Jamoigne, 1943,
passing before a visiting VIP, Major Emile Taquet, the Princess of Merode,
and Madame Marie Mertens Taquet. The Taquets were the administrators of the
school situated in the Château du Faing. |
|
|
|
|
|
