model ship
Object numberM2003/016
Titlemodel ship
DescriptionWooden boat carved with the words 'Charles' and 'Pithiviers 1941-1942'. It was made for the donor Charles Feldman by his father, Icek (Isaac), while he was interned in Pithiviers transit camp, France.
Charles Feldman was born in 1937 in Paris. He was four years old the last time he saw his father. His father, Icek (Isaac) Feldman worked as a tailor after returning to France in June 1940 from military service in Africa. In May 1941, Icek received a letter from the French authorities requesting he report to them. He trusted that having served in the Military, the authorities would have his best interests at heart. He reported, along with thousands of other Jewish men, and was deported immediately to Pithiviers internment camp.
Conditions at the camp were initially tolerable; to combat boredom inmates did useful tasks in its workshops. A demonstration by the inmates ‘womenfolk’ outside the camp gates resulted in their being granted visitation rights. Paula visited her husband several times during 1941 – 1942. On one of the visits she was given wooden boats made for the children, Charles and his sister Jacqueline.
On 16 and 17 July 1942, 13,152 Jews were arrested, including more than 4,000 children, and taken to the Winter Velodrome, in what became known as the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup. Paula and the children were amongst them, but they managed to avoid the round up and escaped to the Free Zone in the southern French countryside. They were picked up by the French Resistance, separated and placed in various hiding places. Charles and Jacqueline were eventually hidden together with orphans in a Catholic convent at Castera-Verduzan, near the Spanish border; their mother was hidden with a Catholic family on a farm in central France.
1945, the year of liberation, Charles recalls as “the saddest day of my life”. He learnt that French authorities had deported his father to Auschwitz where he was murdered. Charles was reunited with his mother but she was incapable of looking after him due to the trauma she had suffered. Charles was 7 ½ years old, and remained in an orphanage until he was 11. In 1948, his mother took steps to send him to his sister in Australia. Charles arrived in 1950 (age 12) after five weeks at sea on the S.S. Surriento. In 1965, he returned to France to visit his mother who presented him with the boat his father had made him. A concierge in the apartment building where they lived had stored it hoping that one day its rightful owner would return. Jacqueline’s boat is lost, but Charles’ is on exhibition in the Sydney Jewish Museum, it is a child’s only connection to his father.
Charles Feldman was born in 1937 in Paris. He was four years old the last time he saw his father. His father, Icek (Isaac) Feldman worked as a tailor after returning to France in June 1940 from military service in Africa. In May 1941, Icek received a letter from the French authorities requesting he report to them. He trusted that having served in the Military, the authorities would have his best interests at heart. He reported, along with thousands of other Jewish men, and was deported immediately to Pithiviers internment camp.
Conditions at the camp were initially tolerable; to combat boredom inmates did useful tasks in its workshops. A demonstration by the inmates ‘womenfolk’ outside the camp gates resulted in their being granted visitation rights. Paula visited her husband several times during 1941 – 1942. On one of the visits she was given wooden boats made for the children, Charles and his sister Jacqueline.
On 16 and 17 July 1942, 13,152 Jews were arrested, including more than 4,000 children, and taken to the Winter Velodrome, in what became known as the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup. Paula and the children were amongst them, but they managed to avoid the round up and escaped to the Free Zone in the southern French countryside. They were picked up by the French Resistance, separated and placed in various hiding places. Charles and Jacqueline were eventually hidden together with orphans in a Catholic convent at Castera-Verduzan, near the Spanish border; their mother was hidden with a Catholic family on a farm in central France.
1945, the year of liberation, Charles recalls as “the saddest day of my life”. He learnt that French authorities had deported his father to Auschwitz where he was murdered. Charles was reunited with his mother but she was incapable of looking after him due to the trauma she had suffered. Charles was 7 ½ years old, and remained in an orphanage until he was 11. In 1948, his mother took steps to send him to his sister in Australia. Charles arrived in 1950 (age 12) after five weeks at sea on the S.S. Surriento. In 1965, he returned to France to visit his mother who presented him with the boat his father had made him. A concierge in the apartment building where they lived had stored it hoping that one day its rightful owner would return. Jacqueline’s boat is lost, but Charles’ is on exhibition in the Sydney Jewish Museum, it is a child’s only connection to his father.
Production placeFrance, Pithiviers, France
Production date 1941 - 1942
Subjecttransit camps, children, toys, child survivors
Object namemodels
Materialwood
Dimensions
- whole width: 560.00 mm
height: 400.00 mm
depth: 80.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Mr Charles Feldman