Object numberM2014/009
DescriptionChild's porcelain coffee set consisting of a coffee pot with a lid, sugar bowl with a lid, 3 cups and 4 saucers. Francine Kamerman played with it during the war while she was in hiding in Brussels with the Mason family. She received it from the daughter of the Mason's whom she called Madamoiselle. "A memento of my hidden years when an adult gave it to me to play quietly. I brought this set with me to Australia. I had only one suitcase with some clothes. The clothes were not suitable for the Australian climate, nor fashionable, but I brought the coffee set. I had nothing else. I was hidden during the war. I've been hidden all my life. I never talked about it."
The coffee set has a transfer print applied to the surface; little vignettes show different scenes of a girl and boy playing with a dog, train set, musical instrument and riding a scooter.
Francine Lazarus (nee Kamerman) was born 12 March 1938 in Ixelles, Belgium. She was hidden in different places throughout the war, placed into foster care between the years 1945-1950, and immigrated to Australia in 1959, aged 21, with her grandmother Binia Inberg, who had survived in hiding.
Francine was born to Israel Kamerman (born 1897, Przemysl), and Marza (known as Minnie) Kamerman (nee Inberg) (born Poland, 1909), who had married in 1930. Her brother Charles was born on 15 August 1931 in Brussels. Her paternal grandparents, Hirsch and Chaya Kamerman, lived in Przemysl until they were murdered by the Germans in July 1942.
Her maternal grandparents, Pinchas and Binia Inberg, had migrated to England soon after their marriage in c.1900 and in 1923 went to Belgium where Pinchas became a tailor.
Belgium was invaded by Nazi Germany on 10 May 1940. Francine's earliest memory is of 1941 or 1942 when her mother went to a bakery in Brussels, begging people to take her daughter in. The baker's relatives had a farm in Saintes near Tubize.
She was four-years-old when her father left her with strangers on a farm and disappeared. Two couples looked after her - the mother and father and their daughter and son-in-law. The younger couple couldn't have children. They took her in and treated her well. She didn't go hungry on the farm as they were self-sufficient. Francine went to church regularly, and relates that she can still recite Catholic prayers better than the Jewish prayers.
After the farmers were caught by the Gestapo, she was moved from safe house to safe house. She recalls, "My clothes became too small, my shoes too tight. I received the clothes from older children and passed mine on. They were riddled with lice. When visitors came, I had to hide in a dark cupboard and be very still, despite the itch from the lice bites."
Her father was caught on the streets by the Gestapo in April 1944, taken to Malines Caserne Dossin and deported to Auschwitz on 31 July 1944 on Transport Number XXVI where he was murdered upon arrival on 2 August 1944.
Francine describes that her memories lay dormant for many years, having been told after the war that nothing happened to her, "You didn't go to the camps. You didn't go to the ghettos. I was lucky because I was alive." Much later in Belgian government archives, she found family files that informed her about her early life.
After liberation, not able or willing to care for her, her mother sent her to foster care, until 1949, when she was allowed to come back into the family group. Francine left Belgium in 1959 for Australia, arriving with her grandmother who had other children who had migrated pre-war. Francine married in 1963 and has two sons and a daughter.
Her brother Charles arrived in Australia in April 1952, aged 21. From the age of 11, he had survived by his wits, describing himself as "a feral creature" whose only instinct was survival.
In 1969 their mother arrived in Australia, together with her new husband and their daughter Helen.
The coffee set has a transfer print applied to the surface; little vignettes show different scenes of a girl and boy playing with a dog, train set, musical instrument and riding a scooter.
Francine Lazarus (nee Kamerman) was born 12 March 1938 in Ixelles, Belgium. She was hidden in different places throughout the war, placed into foster care between the years 1945-1950, and immigrated to Australia in 1959, aged 21, with her grandmother Binia Inberg, who had survived in hiding.
Francine was born to Israel Kamerman (born 1897, Przemysl), and Marza (known as Minnie) Kamerman (nee Inberg) (born Poland, 1909), who had married in 1930. Her brother Charles was born on 15 August 1931 in Brussels. Her paternal grandparents, Hirsch and Chaya Kamerman, lived in Przemysl until they were murdered by the Germans in July 1942.
Her maternal grandparents, Pinchas and Binia Inberg, had migrated to England soon after their marriage in c.1900 and in 1923 went to Belgium where Pinchas became a tailor.
Belgium was invaded by Nazi Germany on 10 May 1940. Francine's earliest memory is of 1941 or 1942 when her mother went to a bakery in Brussels, begging people to take her daughter in. The baker's relatives had a farm in Saintes near Tubize.
She was four-years-old when her father left her with strangers on a farm and disappeared. Two couples looked after her - the mother and father and their daughter and son-in-law. The younger couple couldn't have children. They took her in and treated her well. She didn't go hungry on the farm as they were self-sufficient. Francine went to church regularly, and relates that she can still recite Catholic prayers better than the Jewish prayers.
After the farmers were caught by the Gestapo, she was moved from safe house to safe house. She recalls, "My clothes became too small, my shoes too tight. I received the clothes from older children and passed mine on. They were riddled with lice. When visitors came, I had to hide in a dark cupboard and be very still, despite the itch from the lice bites."
Her father was caught on the streets by the Gestapo in April 1944, taken to Malines Caserne Dossin and deported to Auschwitz on 31 July 1944 on Transport Number XXVI where he was murdered upon arrival on 2 August 1944.
Francine describes that her memories lay dormant for many years, having been told after the war that nothing happened to her, "You didn't go to the camps. You didn't go to the ghettos. I was lucky because I was alive." Much later in Belgian government archives, she found family files that informed her about her early life.
After liberation, not able or willing to care for her, her mother sent her to foster care, until 1949, when she was allowed to come back into the family group. Francine left Belgium in 1959 for Australia, arriving with her grandmother who had other children who had migrated pre-war. Francine married in 1963 and has two sons and a daughter.
Her brother Charles arrived in Australia in April 1952, aged 21. From the age of 11, he had survived by his wits, describing himself as "a feral creature" whose only instinct was survival.
In 1969 their mother arrived in Australia, together with her new husband and their daughter Helen.
Subjectchild survivors
Object nametea-sets
Materialceramic, porcelain
Dimensions
- width: 165.00 mm
height: 180.00 mm
width: 140.00 mm
height: 100.00 mm
width: 105.00 mm
height: 45.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Francine Lazarus