Concentration camp uniform jacket worn by a Polish Jewish inmate in several camps

Bernard Klajminc was born on November 30, 1901, in Lagow, Poland, to Herzl and Miriam Milbergow Klajminc. He had a brother, Tzvi Hersch, who immigrated to Canada in 1924 with his wife, Annie, and their children. Bernard married Bertha (Bajla) Horenkrig, who was born on August 27, 1905, in Warsaw. The couple lived in Brussels, Belgium. Bernard was a tailor. They had a daughter, Marie-Jose, on December 29, 1928, and a son, Henri, on October 2, 1932. On May 10, 1940, Germany invaded Belgium. The German authorities immediately began instituting anti-Jewish legislation. They confiscated Jewish property and many Jews were assigned to forced labor. German authorities began large scale deportations of Jews in August 1942. On August 30, 1942, Bernard was arrested in Brussels. On September 3, he was deported to Pithiviers internment camp in France. His wife and children were also arrested and deported to France. On September 15, Bernard was transferred to Drancy transit camp in Paris and on September 18, was deported to Tarnowitz, Poland (Tarnowskie Gory). He remained in Tarnowitz as a forced laborer until May 1943, when he was sent as a forced laborer to Schopenitz, Poland (Szopienice). In November 1943, Bernard was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp for processing. After three weeks, he was selected as a forced laborer for Warsaw concentration camp. The Germans had destroyed the Warsaw ghetto following the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and most of the forced laborers worked to demolish the remnants. On August 6, 1944, Bernard was transferred to Dachau and assigned prisoner number 88281. On August 13, he was sent to Mühldorf (Muehldorf), a subcamp of Dachau. From February 12 to 18, 1945, Bernard was in the sick block at Muehldorf. On April 29, 1945, Bernard was liberated by the US Army. In May 1945, Bernard was moved to Feldkirchen displaced persons camp outside of Munich. He repatriated to Belgium on June 20, 1945. He learned that his children Marie-Jose and Henri had been removed from Drancy transit camp by Union Generale Des Israelites De France and placed in the Guy-Patin children’s home in Paris. They were deported to Auschwitz on transport 47 on February 11, 1943 and were killed upon arrival on February 13. In September 1942, Bertha was deported under a false name and perished. Bernard later changed his last name to Klayminc. He died in Brussels in the mid-1970’s. Striped concentration camp uniform jacket worn by Bernard Klajminc and likely issued in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in November 1943. He then wore it until April 1945 in Warsaw, Dachau, and Mühldorf concentration camps. When Germany invaded Belgium on May 10, 1940, Bernard, his wife Bertha, and their children Marie-Jose and Henri, were living in Brussels. In August 1942, the family was arrested and deported to France. Bernard was deported to Pithiviers internment camp and then transferred to Drancy transit camp in Paris. Bertha and the children also were imprisoned in Drancy. On September 18, 1942, Bernard was deported as a forced laborer to Tarnowitz, Poland. In May 1943, he was sent as forced labor to Schopenitz, Poland. In November 1943, Bernard was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and, three weeks later, selected as forced labor for Warsaw concentration camp. On August 6, 1944, he was sent to Dachau, and then transferred to Mühldorf (Muehldorf) a few days later. In April 1945, he was liberated in Mühldorf by US troops. He returned to Belgium in June 1945. Bernard was the only survivor of his family. In September 1942, Bertha was deported under a false name and it is assumed she perished in a concentration camp. The children were removed from Drancy by the Union Generale Des Israelites De France to the Guy-Patin children’s home in Paris. In February 1943, Marie-Jose, 16, and Henri, 11, were deported to Auschwitz and killed upon arrival. No restrictions on access