Verhaal

Arrested while fleeing to Switzerland, their child is saved

Joseph Roeg, his wife Rachel Roeg-De Hoop and their son, Nathan (Nicky) Roeg, born April 3, 1939 in Tilburg, left Amsterdam during Summer or Fall of 1942 in order to reach a safe haven in Switzerland. Joseph's brother Hijman Roeg (born 1919) and his wife Rosa Roeg-Pais (born 1919) had successfully made it on July 31, together with Rosa's parents and several of her siblings (Rosa was pregnant and their son Nathan Bernard was born in Geneva on August 24, 1942). Joseph, Rachel and Nicky Roeg did not succeed and were arrested in Besançon. They were allowed to leave their child in the care of the French Red Cross or the UGIF (Union générale des israélites de France) before being transferred to Drancy and deported to Auschwitz on November 11, 1942. Somehow, the small child was smuggled through the demarcation line and brought to Annecy or Annemasse, where he was taken care of by unknown people for several months. Those people contacted or were contacted by Nicky's uncle Hijman and decided to smuggle the child to Switzerland. On June 29, 1943, Nicky was picked up by a passeur who entrusted him to a French Jewish couple, Charles and Lucie Kron from Marseille, who were on their way to cross the border. To facilitate his hiding, he had a certificate of baptism, issued by the minister of the Protestant congregation of Annemasse. He was admitted to Switzerland and went to live with the family of his uncle Hijman, leaving Switzerland on April 26, 1945, with his aunt Rosa.

Source: Geneva State Archives, Justice et Police Ef/2-472 and 3733