Weinblum told Henri’s story at the gravesite on July 4, surrounded by a delegation of young soldiers. She is still searching for further information about his journey to Israel. She suspects he emigrated under a false name as he was a minor under French law. Weinblum didn’t find Henri’s name in any ship manifest from 1948. Despite the photo from the wedding, the family never fully recovered from this rift. Henri, his mother and two younger siblings survived the war in hiding but became separated due to their dire circumstances. His father was murdered at Auschwitz in 1942. That name will now be added to his tombstone and his surname will be corrected from Fernubick to Fernebock.Īround 1930, the Fernebocks moved to France, and Avraham Chuna became Henri.
Weinblum also discovered Henri’s Hebrew name – Avraham Chuna – given to him after his birth in Warsaw on August 15, 1928. She got a picture from Henri’s niece in France showing the family at the 1946 wedding of Henri’s maternal uncle, Lesgold’s grandfather. And that’s the hardest part of our work: to find family members who may have a picture in their possession.” Perry emphasized that what matters most to her organization is “to put a face on the soldier, not just to learn the biographical details. “Your article opened everything!” she told me with obvious joy.Īt the ceremony on July 4, Perry explained, “It is not easy work to find the life story of people born long ago in places such as Yemen and Syria, Czechoslovakia and Latvia. Perry contacted me when the details of Henri’s story started surfacing after being locked up inside his extended family’s wartime trauma. Weinblum called me in May to share that she had uncovered many previously unknown facts (summarized here) and even had a photograph of Henri.įrom left, Tamar Weinblum and Dorit Perry of Latet Panim L’Noflim at the grave of Henri Fernebock with Henri’s 1940s pen pal, Nancy Klein. She met with Gersztenkorn in Paris, who directed her to Henri’s niece, also in France. Volunteer Tamar Weinblum tirelessly combed various archives and genealogy sites. Neither cousin knew more than bits and pieces of Henri’s story, but Lesgold gave Latet Panim L’Noflim the family tree he’d created on Geni. Within a short time, he sent Latet Panim L’Noflim information on a first cousin of Henri, Daniel Gersztenkorn in Paris, and another cousin, French émigré Emmanuel Lesgold of Jerusalem. Her step-nephew in Brooklyn saw it and decided to do some genealogical digging using alternative spellings of Henri’s surname. Never underestimate the power of the press.ĭue to diligent detective work prompted by the ISRAEL21c article, Henri is no longer a faceless casualty.Ī family friend of ours in Jerusalem shared the ISRAEL21c story on Facebook. “Perhaps someone can provide more facts, even a picture, to help us – and the country he died defending - understand exactly who this hero was,” I wrote. A note on Henri’s grave seeking further information about this fallen soldier-Holocaust survivor.
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