Icek-Josef owned a fabric factory (tricotage), and resided with his wife and daughter in Rue Oberkampf, next to the Bastille. In 1940 he enlisted in the French Army along with his brothers-in-law, and was assigned to a battalion of foreign volunteers. Most of the foreign Jews who volunteered served in units of the Foreign Legion stationed within France itself: these were mostly infantry units, as well as other small units annexed to the regular French Army; they took part in the fighting during the German invasion of France. Some of the volunteers were sent to units of the Foreign Legion stationed in North Africa.

Courtesy of Francine Levi (Horonczyk), Rehovot, Israel

When the war broke out I was in Paris. I had a small baby of six months. The French government sent us to a little village in the region of Calvados. At the time, Paris was suffering from a severe food shortage; young mothers and their children were often sent out to the villages in order to improve their nutrition. My husband [Josef Horonczyk] was drafted into the army. A few months later I returned to my house in Paris. After the French Army was defeated and the Germans occupied France, my husband also returned.
Testimony of Paula Wolonowicz-Horonczyk, Yad Vashem Archive O.3/1112

On the 14th of May 1941, Isaac-Josef Horonczyk was arrested in a series of arrests targeting Jews without French citizenship. He was deported to the transit camp of Beaune-la-Rolande in the Loiret district, France.

I was left alone with the baby, Frieda-Francine. I had never had to work. A German commissar [supervisor] was appointed to oversee my husband’s factory and I had no income from this source. I was left without any means… One heard rumors that women and children would also be deported to concentration camps. My young daughter fell ill and had to have an operation, following which she required good nutrition and care. I desperately wanted to leave Paris – to go to one of the villages in the area – but I could not do so because of the yellow star which I was forced to wear… The situation in Paris went from bad to worse. We were on the brink of starvation.
Testimony of Paula Wolonowicz-Horonczyk, Yad Vashem Archive O.3/1112

Courtesy of Francine Levi (Horonczyk), Rehovot, Israel

Among those photographed – Icek-Josef Horonczyk (top row, 3rd from right) and his two brothers-in-law, Froïm-Ephraim Korman (middle of 3rd row, wearing a scarf) and Nissan Frenkel (2nd row, 4th from left).

The Beaune-la-Rolande transit camp, in which Jews, predominantly men, were interned, was established at the beginning of the war, and was managed by the French authorities. The internal organization was undertaken by Jewish communist prisoners. After a certain amount of time, the detainees were allowed to receive packages from home, and they were even allowed occasional visits by their family.

Courtesy of Nelly Weinstock, Jerusalem, Israel

A doll’s cradle, built by Icek-Josef Horonczyk for his daughter Francine, during his internment in the Beaune-la-Rolande transit camp. The inscription on the cradle gives his address and the date: May, 1941.

The cradle was sent to the address of Horonczyk’s family, where it remained until the end of the war. Icek-Josef’s wife, Perla, and his daughter, Francine, were forced to flee their home. They were hidden in various places across France, at times together and at times separately. After the war they returned to Paris, but their apartment had been occupied. The new residents agreed to let them have only a few items, among them the doll’s cradle.

Hundreds of items (“souvenirs”) were created by the Jewish prisoners while interned in the transit and detention camps of Beaune-la-Rolande and Pithiviers. These items were sent or delivered to their families. Several years ago Memorial de la Shoah, the Parisian museum and documentation center for the Holocaust, held an exhibition where items inmates had made for their children were displayed. Objects included letter-openers, toy ships made of wood, dolls’ cradles, model airplanes and more.

Icek-Josef Horonczyk was arrested in Paris and taken to the Beaune-la-Rolande transit camp in May, 1941. In June 1941 he was deported to Auschwitz and murdered.

Yad Vashem, Artifacts Collection
Gift of Francine Levi (Horonczyk), Rehovot, Israel.

Icek-Josef Horonczyk (line 15 from above), number 334 on the list of Jews deported from the Beaune-la-Rolande transit camp to Auschwitz, 28 June 1942. Alongside his personal details – name, date and place of birth, and place of residence in Paris – the list states that he is a Polish citizen, a mechanic by profession, is married, and has one child.

After spending more than a year in the camp, Josef was deported on transport number 5 to Auschwitz. That transport carried two of his brothers-in-law as well, Froïm-Ephraim Korman and Nissan Frenkel. All three perished.

Courtesy of Archives du CDJC – Mémorial de la Shoah

The ITS (International Tracing Service, Bad Arolsen Archive) card lists personal details, as well as the dates on which Josef was arrested in Paris (14 May 1941), imprisoned in Beaune-la-Rolande (14 May 1941), deported to Auschwitz (28 June 1942), and “died” (was murdered) in Auschwitz – 2 August 1942.

The RSHA transport number 5 (Reichssicherheitshauptamt, the Central Office for the Security of the Reich), left the transit camp of Beaune-la-Rolande on the 28th of June, 1942, and arrived in Auschwitz two days later, on the 30th of June. Upon arrival the men were given numbers 42777–43780. Only 34 women passed the selection, and were given the numbers 8051-8084. A total of 752 of the deportees were Jews who held Polish citizenship. Six and a half weeks after arriving in Auschwitz, about a third of the men had been murdered. The number of known survivors from this transport is 35.

Page of Testimony in memory of Icek-Josef Horonczyk, submitted by his sister, Chaja-Dwojra Korman.

Testimony of Paula Wolonowicz-Horonczyk, Yad Vashem Archive O.3/1112:

I stayed with my sister-in-law [Esther Frenkel] for six weeks. We were locked inside the house and had no possibility of going out. One day an acquaintance who worked for the Germans appeared, and told us that we were about to be taken to the camps. We went down to the cellar and we were there… The Germans really did come. They came into the apartment, that is, they forced their way in, and we fled for our lives because we had been expecting this, and had prepared an escape route. I do not know where my sister-in-law and brother-in-law fled.

Paula and Francine were saved by Christian neighbors, Paul & Suzanne Gibaud, who were recognized as Righteous Among The Nations in 2008. Paula survived, and immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1947 together with her daughter Francine. She was reunited with her only living family member, her brother Tzvi Borucki. In Israel Paula married a second time.

Photograph from the testimony file of Paula Wolonowicz-Horonczyk, Yad Vashem Archive O.3/1112

The Gibaud family helped hide Paula and her daughter with acquaintances and neighbors in the village of Courlon-sur-Yonne. The families in question were the Barthelemy and Sarro families. Paul Gibaud was a policeman. On the 15th of July 1942, a day before the Vel' d'Hiv, the mass-arrest of the Jews of Paris, Gibaud warned Paula Horonczyk that the authorities were about to arrest the Jews. That same day, Suzanne Gibaud took Paula to the village of Courlon, where she hid her daughter with Suzanne’s relatives.

Paul and Suzanne Gibaud, Louis and Georgette (née Regnier) Barthelemy and, Albert and Renee (née Gaumer) Sarro were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations in 2008.

Yad Vashem, Righteous Among the Nations Collection M.31/2/11213/14630