Paul Schwarzbart

Paul Schwarzbart was born in 1933 in Vienna. When Austria was annexed by Germany, his family escaped to Belgium. His father was arrested in 1940, sent to a labor camp and later to Buchenwald concentration camp where he perished. In 1943, Paul’s mother made the excruciating decision to try to save her son by sending him away to go into hiding. During the years 1942-1944, eighty-three Jewish boys between the ages of four and sixteen found shelter in a Catholic boarding school in Jamoigne, Belgium run by Emile and Marie Taquet and a devoted staff. Paul was one of those children. Life in hiding was always dangerous. A slip of the tongue, improperly prepared false documents, or even gossip, could lead to arrest, deportation and death. Paul and all of the school children and staff survived the war and he was able to reunite with his mother. Paul has written about his experiences during and after the war in two books: Breaking the Silence: Reminiscences of a Hidden Child, and L’Chaim! A Holocaust Survivor’s American Journey. Links to access both books are available on our Survivors page.