Fanny Biber. Collection

This collection contains one photograph and three photocopied documents : picture of Fanny Biber and her husband Abraham Max Lipschutz wearing the yellow badge ; a "Schutzbrief" from the Swiss embassy in Berlin certifying Fanny Biber's British nationality ; a displaced person card ; a declaration from the staff at the Vittel camp proving that Fanny Biber received the certificate from the Suisse embassy. Fanny Biber was born in London on 7 May 1918 as the daughter of Philip Biber and Rosa Migodny. Born in England, she automatically received British citizenship. The family settled in Brussels before World War II. During the war, Fanny got engaged to Abraham Max Lipschutz, born on 19 August 1919 in Scheveningen, the Netherlands. Since the Suisse government protected British citizens and the Suisse consulate certified Fanny’s nationality, she was protected against deportation. However, on 8 September 1943 she was arrested anyway and detained at the Dossin barracks in Mechelen. After two periods of hospitalization at the Onze Lieve Vrouw hospital in Mechelen (27/09/1943-11/10/1943 and 27/10/1943-16/11/1943), Fanny was transferred to the Dongelberg internment camp in Belgium because of her British citizenship. She was deported to the Vittel internment camp, before being sent back to Dongelberg. She survived her internment and was repatriated to Belgium in 1945, where she was reunited with her husband Abraham Max Lipschutz, whom had survived the war in hiding and whom had later joined the allied forces to liberate the Netherlands. Contact Kazerne Dossin Documentation Centre: archives@kazernedossin.eu