The Dossin infantry barracks in Mechelen (Belgium) it became a detention center for Jews and Gypsies during the German occupation in World War II. More than 25,000 Jews and 352 gypsies were sent by train to Auschwitz... one of them was our protagonist.
Dossin
In February 1943, Channa Gronowski and hers her children Ita (18 years old) and Simon (11 years old) were arrested in the middle of the street in Brussels and transferred to the detention center. Knowing the fate of her husband, Channa said that she was a widow. «My parents had made a mistake, only one… being born Jewish Simon would say years later. On April 19, 1943, between screams and tears, Ita was separated from her from her family... they never saw her again . Channa and Simon -now numbered 1233 and 1234, respectively-, along with 1,629 other Jews, were taken from Dossin and put on a train to Auschwitz, it was convoy 20 …
They led us like cattle. There was no food, no water. There were no seats so everyone was sitting or lying on the floor. It was very dark. There was pale light coming through a vent in the ceiling, but the air was stifling.
Simon, Channa and Leon
Train No. 20 was going to have a peculiarity, it was the first and only time during World War II that a Nazi transport with deported Jews was stopped . Youra Livschitz, Robert Maistriau and Jean Frankelmon , three young students from the resistance, were going to get it with a pistol, some shears and a lantern. Less than 20 km from Mechelen and taking advantage of the fact that it had not yet dawned, Robert Maistriau posed as a railway employee and stood on the track with his lantern covered with a red silk cloth indicating a danger. When the train stopped, the three of them threw themselves into the cars to cut the cables that secured the sliding doors. Although they were able to open some cars, they had to give up when the Germans guarding the train started shooting. One of those who managed to escape was Simon Gronowski, but not at the time of the assault. When the train started moving again, Simon and his mother remained huddled in the corner of their carriage, until two men realized that the cable holding their door was almost broken. They forced the door and managed to open it. Some jumped while the train was moving, and Channa decided this was her chance. She took Simon by the hand and led him to the door, holding him by his arms and lowering him to the running board…
No, now the train is going too fast. Said Channa
As the train slowed, Channa let go of Simon and rolled into some bushes. Simon raised his head expecting his mother to jump but all he saw was the Germans firing again. Simon ran off through woods and fields until he came to a small village, Berlingen. He knocked on a door and said that he had been playing with his friends and had gotten lost. The villagers did not want any trouble and took him to the local authorities. When Simon was in front of Jean Aerts , a local policeman, thought it was all over… but it wasn't. Jean Aerts told him…
I know everything, I know you were on that train. We are good Belgians and we will not betray you.
Simon returned to the place where he jumped
Jean Aerts took him to the station in Ordingen and he took the train to Brussels. There he was able to meet with León Gronowski , his father. Until the end of the war, father and son were on the run and hiding among Catholic families. León could not bear the loss of his daughter and his wife - Channa was gassed in Auschwitz - and a few months after the end of the war he died. Today Simon lives in Brussels and gives talks in schools…
I bear witness to what happened, I fight against anti-Semitism and all forms of discrimination and Holocaust denial, I honor the dead and the heroes who saved my life.
What happened to the rest of the protagonists of train nº 20? Some 233 Jews managed to get out of the cars:118 managed to escape, 26 died in the attempt and 89 were recaptured. As for the three members of the resistance, Youra Livschitz was captured and executed in February 1944 and Jean Frankelmon was arrested shortly after and sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where he was released in May 1945. He died in 1977. Robert Maistriau was arrested in March 1944. Released from Bergen-Belsen in 1945, died in 2008.
Sources:BBC, Simon Gronowski, History Today