Stern family collection

Abraham Leopold Stern (1900-1943) was born on 4 February 1900 in Szerencs, Hungary to Salman and Hanna Stern. He worked as a diamond jeweler. Etelka Stern (née Kahan, 1901, 1902 or 1908?-1943) was born in Tarcal, Hungary to Schmul and Ester Kahan. They lived in Sighet (Sighetu Marmatiei, Transylvania) and had three children: Edith, Alex, and Judith. In 1927 the family immigrated to Antwerp, Belgium. After the German invasion of Belgium in May 1940, the Sterns fled to Nimes, France. The children attend public school and Edith befriend her classmate Simone Baldy. After roundups of Jews in the Stern’s neighborhood in August 1942, the family needed to hide. Simone’s parents, Emilie (1897-1968) and Pierre (1898-1874) offered to hide them in their apartment. In spring 1943 the Sterns fled Nimes for Nice. Edith and Judith were hidden in a convent and Alex was hidden in another Catholic location. Etelka was deported to the Drancy internment camp on 30 September 1943 and then sent to Auschwitz on 7 October where she perished. On 19 November 1943 Abraham was deported to Drancy and then sent to Auschwitz where he perished. After the war, Edith and Judith immigrated to Palestine and Alex remained in France. Emilie and Pierre Baldy were named Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in 1994. The collection primarily consists of photographs and copyprints depicting the family of Abraham and Etelka Stern, who immigrated to Antwerp, Belgium from Sighet (Sighetu Marmatiei, Transylvania) in 1927. Included are depictions of Abraham and Etelka, their children Alex, Edith, and Judith, and other family and friends. Also included is a letter received by Edith, a list of hidden children in France, and the 1996 program for a ceremony honoring Emilie and Pierre Baldy, a French couple that helped hide the Sterns in Rimes, France from 1942-1943, who were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in 1994.