Mariette Rozen Doduck

Mariette Rozen DoduckA Jewish War Orphan

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Monday, December 2, 2013www.flickr.ca

Jewish War OrphansApproximately 1,116 Jewish children were orphaned

during the Holocaust and World War II.They were brought to Canada between 1947 and 1949.783 of these children spent time in concentration camps.229 remained by hiding in places like attics, basements,

bunkers, and sheds, etc.104 were unknown.Mariette Rozen-Doduck is one of these children and

immigrated to Canada in 1948.

Ben Lapin. The Redeemed Children: The Story of the Rescue of War Orphans by the Jewish Community of Canada. (London: University of California Press, 2007), 4.

Early LifeAge 5: Family began

hiding when Germans invade Belgium.

Age 7: House of Mariette’s family raided by SS.

Witnessed parents and brother arrested by SS.

Watched her cousin’s baby be thrown out of a window.

Last time she saw her family.

www.annefrank.dkLillian Boraks-Nemetz, and Irene N. Watts. Tapestry of Hope: Holocaust Writing for Young People. (Plattsburgh: Tundra Books, 2003).

FamilyBoth Mariette’s mother and brother Albert perished in the Holocaust.

http://www.vhec.org/fol/family-template.php?page_id=Doduck

Brothers, Simon and Jean also perished in the Holocaust.

http://www.vhec.org/fol/family-template.php?page_id=Doduck

Mariette’s Orphanage ExperienceLike many Jewish war orphans, Mariette, spent

time in an orphanage.“We went from Brussels to London. I was so

sick. We were put in an orphanage that was like a castle to me. It was very drafty, very cold. No one spoke any French, only the people looking after us, and I remember I was trying to find paper and no one understood that papier and paper were the same thing.”

Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. Jewish War Orphan Mariette Doduck. 1948, accessed: Tuesday, October 8, 2013. http://pier21.ca/stories/jewish-war-orphan-mariette-doduck

Looking For Her FamilyMariette was looking for paper because she

wanted to leave a note for her sister. She was desperately trying to find her family.

“I had wanted to leave a note because everywhere I went I left notes. You learned to leave notes at the underground train station, the bus station – places I knew Sara, my oldest sister, and any family would eventually go to look.”


How did Mariette successfully hide from the Germans?

“I hid my Jewish identity by living with non-Jewish families. A Mother Superior saved me once by hiding me in a rat infested sewer. Later I was caught but released, when a decent German officer, who had been a friend of my brother’s, pretended that I was his little sister.”

German soldiers prepare to conduct a search for Jews in Poland.

www.holocaustresearchproject.org

Lillian Boraks-Nemetz, and Irene N. Watts. Tapestry of Hope: Holocaust Writing for Young People. (Plattsburgh: Tundra Books, 2003).

Travelling to Canada“In London we took a

ship called the Aquitania, and it took us to Halifax. I was so sick the whole time. I was in the sick bay practically the whole trip, but my sister Esther, said that if you don’t get up they won’t let you off the ship.”

http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/sspp/html/usingprimary/page7.htmlMariette arrives in Canada on December 2, 1947 at the age of 12.

Aquitania

The ship that Mariette took to Canada. www.ocean-liners.com

Mariette Arrives in CanadaMariette’s arrival into Canada, like many immigrants, was

less than promising.

“What they put us through in this country was terrible, really it was. They tried to examine me like I was a prostitute. I saw this building with bars on the window. It looked like a prison to me, and I thought, what did I do? I am going from one prison to another type of prison. They said Canada was a free country and we would be welcome, but we were guarded like we were in a camp. Wearing a card with a safety pin on it (name tag) doesn’t help much. Also the border patrol and the customs officers took everything we had, and we were too afraid to mention this to anyone.”


Jewish War Orphans arriving in Canada. www.cjhn.ca

What did the border patrol and customs officers take from Mariette?

“I still had a little diamond ring that my sister Sara had given me and I had managed to hide it. Throughout the entire war I had saved my ring. They took the diamond out of it and my money and loose coins. In all these years I’ve never said anything about it and I think those people took advantage of us, of all the people who came. We didn’t want to rock the boat, to make trouble so none of us ever reported these things and we have never discussed it among ourselves.”Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. Jewish War Orphan Mariette Doduck. 1948, accessed: Tuesday, October 8, 2013. http://pier21.ca/stories/jewish-war-orphan-mariette-doduck

Jewish children in an orphanage during World War II.

www.bbc.co.uk

Mariette’s Expectations of Canada“After we were examined we were put on a train to cross Canada. I had no expectation about what Canada would be, none. The only thing I knew is that I wanted to hide who I was. So, the only expectation I had when I came to this country, and I remember it today, and it’s been 50 years, as I didn’t want to be with any other survivors. I did not want to be pointed at.”


www.cbc.ca

Mariette TodayToday, Mariette

works with the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre were she gives talks about her experiences and the Holocaust.

www.enemyaliens.ca

Sources Primary Sources: Boraks-Nemetz, Lillian and Irene N. Watts. Tapestry of Hope: Holocaust Writing for

Young People. Plattsburgh: Tundra Books, 2003. Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. Jewish War Orphan Mariette Doduck.

1948, accessed: Tuesday, October 8, 2013. http://pier21.ca/stories/jewish-war-orphan-mariette-doduck.

Jewish Historical Society of British Columbia. "Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia," Mariette (Marie) Doduck: Going into Hiding During WWII." 2010. Accessed Tuesday, October 8, 2013. http://www.jewish museum.ca

Learn Alberta. “Personalizing the Past.” Using Primary Documents in Social Studies and History. 2009. Accessed Monday December 2, 2013. www.learnalberta.ca/content/sspp/html/usingprimary/page7.html.

Secondary Sources: Lapin, Ben W. The Redeemed Children: The Story of the Rescue of War Orphans by

the Jewish Community of Canada. London: University of California Press, 2007. Martz, Fraidie. Open Your Hearts: The Story of the Jewish War Orphans in Canada.

Montreal: Véhicle Press , 1996. Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. At Home in Canada Powerpoint. n.d.,

accessed: Tuesday, October 8, 2013. www.canadaresponds.ca/download.html Vancouver Holocaust Centre. Open Hearts Closed Doors: The War Orphans Project.

2002, accessed: Tuesday, October 8, 2013. http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/sgc-cms/expositions/orphelins-orphans/english/

Vromen, Suzanne. Hidden Children of the Holocaust: Belgian Nuns and their Daring Rescue of Young Jews from the Nazis. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Mariette Rozen Doduck

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