(Jewish Group) Jewish Man Reunites With Family Who Hid Him and His Mother During WWII
David Rossler, 83, and his mother, Haja Sura Zoltak, were kept hidden by a Belgian family during the the Second World War, a defiant act that saved their lives. In an effort to connect with their descendants, Rossler's son, Lionel, began a search to find them. With the assistance of others, including a genealogy website, he was successful in arranging a meeting between both parties for the first time in nearly 80 years.
David Rossler and his family were living in Brussels, Belgium when the Germans invaded in 1940. They were able to avoid their persecutors for a time, but, eventually, his uncle and grandfather were taken to Auschwitz, never to be seen again. His father hid separately and died of an unspecified illness during the war.
Just the two of them, Rossler and his mother were taken in by a Catholic convent. Sadly, their time there was short-lived, as the location was raided by the Germans. The Mother Superior aided in their escape, and, presumably, connected them with Georges Bourlet and his family.
The pair secretly lived at the Bourlets' Auderghem home from the spring of 1944 until Brussels was liberated in 1945. Rossler got along well with the four children and they entertain each other while he was in hiding.
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