My shadowbox is made to honor a victim of the Holocaust, Jacques Benguigui. I used many things to achieve this goal. Let’s start with the picture of Jacques himself. There are two pictures of him; one of just him, and one of him and his two brothers, Richard and Jean–Claude. Next, my background. You may notice that it’s a French flag; this is because Jacques and his family moved to France shortly before the war began. To strengthen this message, there is a map of France in the middle of the box. France is also where he spent his days in the Izieu children’s home. Speaking of which, you’ll see the block and safety pin in the top left corner. This is to represent the children’s home (there are more references to Izieu; the word Izieu actually appears on the children’ block, and the background is a cut out picture of Izieu itself). While in Izieu, Jacques wrote letters to his mother, including the one you see on the right. The pen is writing the letter, being sent out in the envelope. The back and rim of the shadow box is black, to have a literal meaning of “shadowbox”. This shadowbox created by me (Drew Fingeret) was made to captivate as many things from Jacques’ life as possible, and I hope I succeeded in doing that.
O Maman, my dear Maman, I know how much you’ve suffered on my account, and, on this happy occasion of Mother’s Day, I send you from afar the best wishes from the bottom of my little heart. So far from you, my darling Maman, I’ve done everything I could to make you happy; when you’ve sent packages, I’ve shared them with the children who have no parents. Maman, my dear Maman, I leave you with hugs and kisses.
Your son who adores you,
Jacques
The letter above was one of many that Jacques Benguigui sent to his mother during World War II. This one was sent on May 30, 1943. While Jacques was in a pleasant children’s home in Izieu, his mother was in Auschwitz, the victim of horrific medical experiments. Of the Benguigui family of five, two of them survived. The other three did not. This is the story of how he was one of the millions of Jews murdered in Auschwitz, and how he went from happiness to death in a matter of days.
Jacques Benguigui was born on April 13, 1931, in Oran, Algeria to a Jewish family. At the time of his birth, Algeria was occupied by France. His father was– and still is–unbeknownst to us. His mother, Fortunée Benguigui, gave birth to Jacques’ two brothers, Richard and Jean Claude, in 1936 and 1937 respectively. In 1939, before the war began, Fortunée had a baby girl named Yvette.
Shortly before the war, Fortunée moved the family to Marseilles, France. Unfortunately, however, she was sent to Auschwitz in 1941. She was to be used as a “guinea pig,”having heinous medical experiments performed on her. The family was then split up; Yvette, two years old at the time, was taken in by a loving French family, who hid her throughout the duration of the war. Jacques and his brothers were sent to a pleasant children’s home in Izieu.
The staff and head of the children’s home did everything they could to make life good and comfortable for the 44 Jewish children living there, by allowing an ample amount of leisure time. While in Izieu, Jacques sent multiple letters to his mother, including the one at the beginning of the essay. The children also drew many pictures, and overall enjoyed themselves.
However, the staff knew that it was only a matter of time before the Nazis came and took the children. And come they did.
The Nazis arrived in Izieu on April 6, 1944. All of the 44 children, Jacques included, and five adults were sent to Auschwitz on April 13, 1944. That day happened to be Jacques’ thirteenth birthday. Upon arrival in Auschwitz, sometime in May of 1944, everyone sent from Izieu was gassed in the camp. Not a single child survived.
Miraculously, however, Jacques’ mother survived the Holocaust. She made it through the medical experiments–as well as four years in Auschwitz– and died peacefully in 1988. Jacques little sister, Yvette, survived as well.
Jacques never became a Bar Mitzvah. Whether or not he was planning to actually become one is unknown, but he never did. This is why I chose Jacques as my twin; the fact that he was deprived of becoming a Bar Mitzvah was emotional and deep to me.
So no, Jacques never survived the Holocaust. He lived too short of a life, but what he had was vivacious and plentiful. But he never again saw the person he held most dear to him: his mother. That is one of the things the Holocaust i; losing those who you love most in all the world without ever saying goodbye.
Your son who adores you,
Jacques
The letter above was one of many that Jacques Benguigui sent to his mother during World War II. This one was sent on May 30, 1943. While Jacques was in a pleasant children’s home in Izieu, his mother was in Auschwitz, the victim of horrific medical experiments. Of the Benguigui family of five, two of them survived. The other three did not. This is the story of how he was one of the millions of Jews murdered in Auschwitz, and how he went from happiness to death in a matter of days.
Jacques Benguigui was born on April 13, 1931, in Oran, Algeria to a Jewish family. At the time of his birth, Algeria was occupied by France. His father was– and still is–unbeknownst to us. His mother, Fortunée Benguigui, gave birth to Jacques’ two brothers, Richard and Jean Claude, in 1936 and 1937 respectively. In 1939, before the war began, Fortunée had a baby girl named Yvette.
Shortly before the war, Fortunée moved the family to Marseilles, France. Unfortunately, however, she was sent to Auschwitz in 1941. She was to be used as a “guinea pig,”having heinous medical experiments performed on her. The family was then split up; Yvette, two years old at the time, was taken in by a loving French family, who hid her throughout the duration of the war. Jacques and his brothers were sent to a pleasant children’s home in Izieu.
The staff and head of the children’s home did everything they could to make life good and comfortable for the 44 Jewish children living there, by allowing an ample amount of leisure time. While in Izieu, Jacques sent multiple letters to his mother, including the one at the beginning of the essay. The children also drew many pictures, and overall enjoyed themselves.
However, the staff knew that it was only a matter of time before the Nazis came and took the children. And come they did.
The Nazis arrived in Izieu on April 6, 1944. All of the 44 children, Jacques included, and five adults were sent to Auschwitz on April 13, 1944. That day happened to be Jacques’ thirteenth birthday. Upon arrival in Auschwitz, sometime in May of 1944, everyone sent from Izieu was gassed in the camp. Not a single child survived.
Miraculously, however, Jacques’ mother survived the Holocaust. She made it through the medical experiments–as well as four years in Auschwitz– and died peacefully in 1988. Jacques little sister, Yvette, survived as well.
Jacques never became a Bar Mitzvah. Whether or not he was planning to actually become one is unknown, but he never did. This is why I chose Jacques as my twin; the fact that he was deprived of becoming a Bar Mitzvah was emotional and deep to me.
So no, Jacques never survived the Holocaust. He lived too short of a life, but what he had was vivacious and plentiful. But he never again saw the person he held most dear to him: his mother. That is one of the things the Holocaust i; losing those who you love most in all the world without ever saying goodbye.