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In 1902 at the age of 16, the patriarch of the Kornweitz family left Zlotnick in what is today Poland in order to live in Vienna. Several years later, in January 1910, he married Marem Eile, who was also of Polish origin. Marem did not work, but Ojzer earned a good living as a businessman, and the couple moved into a comfortable apartment at 43 Klosterneuburgerstrasse in the 20th district of Vienna.Nine months after their marriage, Marem gave birth to their first son, Nathan Otto. Two boys came afterwards: Julius and Paul. From their childhood onwards, the Kornweitz sons’ milieu was one marked by the ideology of socialism. picture J. Kornweitz, O. Kornweitzs' appartment, Vienna.
Politically activeNathan became a member of the Austrian socialist party, whilst Julius, 11 months younger than him, joined the communist party. The youngest son, Paul, born right at the start of the second world war, was more specifically associated to the Zionist cause.
Small miraclesIn August 1942 Marem reported to the police for foreigners to correct the date of birth on her identity card; in fact she declared herself to be born 10 years earlier than that which was stated on her papers, 1879. She also gave her new address at 54 Rubens street in Schaerbeek. Marem envisaged that it would be possible to avoid deportation if the authorities considered her to be too old to worry about.Thanks to the help of their landlord, who brought supplies, and probably also thanks to the help of the Belgian police, they managed to pass beneath the radars of the Germans by staying in Brussels throughout the war years. According to the account of Bathsheva Dagan, Paul Kornweitz’s widow, a soldier came looking for Ojzer and Marem during a roundup in order to send them to Malines, but when they arrived at the Kornweitz apartment, Marem begged them to leave them in peace; that they were just an old couple. Against all expectations they avoided deportation and survived the war by remaining in hiding in Brussels. Ojzer was admitted to the civilian hospital of Schaerbeek in 1942, registering as a Jewish refugee. In July 1944 Nathan was arrested and deported whilst he was working in the resistance in Brussels.  Photo : Dorot, OEB, hospital admission document. Great sufferingOjzer and Marem Kornweitz lost two sons in the Shoah: Nathan and Julius and a little girl, Karin Suzanne.At the end of the war in 1945, Paul, member of the “Jewish Brigades” was on leave in Brussels in order to visit his parents, whom he had not seen since 1939. As soon as Brussels was liberated Ojzer made numerous enquiries as to the fate of his sons, but he was never to see the CICR report compiled in 1973 at Arolsen officially declaring the death of Nathan. The Belgian authorities had been somewhat quicker and had presumed Nathan dead in 1952. There is no death certificate for Julius Kornweitz, killed in Mauthausen in 1944. In 1947 Marem spent three weeks at St Pierre hospital. In 1950 Ojzer and Marem had the joy of seeing their son Paul for the last time. He had made the journey with his wife Isabella Rubinstein. Paul met Isabella, who had survived the death camps, in Brussels in 1945. Paul and Isabella were married in Palestine, after the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, where they changed their first and family names. Marem died in February 1951, Ojzer joined her in November 1952. They were buried in the Jewish cemetery in Kraainem. |
Ojzer KornweitzDate of birth: February 6, 1886Place of birth: Zlotnik, PolandLocation before 1938: Klosterneuburgerstrasse, 43 Vienna (20)Steps in exile: Brussels, BelgiumStatus in 1945: Survivor
Deceased on November 8, 1952 in Brussels
Marem Eile wife KornweitzDate of birth: June 3, 1889Place of birth: Rzeszow, PolandLocation before 1938: Klosterneuburgerstrasse, 43 Vienna (20) |
