Kurt Moser diary

Kurt Moser (1922-1943) was born in Hannover to Ernst and Margarete Moser. After Kristallnacht, Kurt and his sister Edith were entrusted to the Comité d’Assistance aux Enfants Juifs Refugiés in Belgium. Following the invasion of Belgium, he fled south, finding refuge in the abandoned Château de la Hille in Montégut-Plantaurel. In June 1943, he was arrested while attempting to flee to Portugal via Spain, and in July he was deported via Drancy to Auschwitz where he died of typhus. Kurt’s parents fled to England in 1939 and were interned as enemy aliens on the Isle of Man. Kurt’s sister, Edith Moser Lefort (1924-1989), fled to Switzerland in 1943 and joined her mother in California in 1948. Ernst Moser drowned in 1941 en route to Canada. Copyright Holder: Mr. Warren G. Lefort The Kurt Moser diary documents Moser’s experiences at the Château de la Hille in France (Ariège) and details his planning for escape to Spain and Portugal. The diary describes life at the castle, his attempts to escape to Switzerland, his capture and brief imprisonment, his work on a farm, efforts to find a guide to Portugal, his preparations for escape including obtaining travel documents, and his fears about deportation to Poland. It is believed that the last entry in the diary was made by Kurt’s friend Walter Kaniuk.