Paul Sobol

Paul Sobol was born on June 26, 1926, in Paris into a working-class family of Polish Jewish origin. He is a "passeur de mémoire", a memory keeper, who survived the deportation of the Jews in Belgium during World War II.

Paul Sobol was part of the last convoy of Jewish deportees to leave the Dossin Baracks for Auschwitz. 

An advertising executive, he also worked in marine and subaquatic tourism development.

Early life 
Paul Sobol was born in Paris in 1926. Two years later, his family settled in Brussels. During the German invasion, the Sobol family melted into the Belgian population. Paul Sobol worked for a while for a furrier, but the attempt was not lasting. In 1941, he resumed his studies until 1942. The wearing of the Star of David and the registration of Jews forced the family to go underground. During these years, Paul Sobol was called Robert Sax.

On June 13, 1944, while the allied troops were making headway in France, the family was denounced to the Gestapo and arrested. Taken to the Dossin Barracks in Mechelen, they were part of the 26th convoy on July 31, 1944, which was the last from Mechelen to leave Belgian territory in the direction of Auschwitz.

Upon his arrival at the concentration camp, Paul Sobol was assigned to a Kommando of carpenters. He practised many activities during his captivity. On January 18, 1945, due to the Allied advance, he was compelled to take part in a death march in the direction of the Gross-Rosen concentration camp. There, he was locked up with many other prisoners in freight wagons bound for a subcamp of Dachau, the Mühldorf complex. During the journey, everyone fought for their own life, but only 20% of the prisoners survived. On April 25, 1945, following a bombing, Paul Sobol escaped and found shelter in a village among French prisoners. They were released by the Americans on May 1, 1945, and Paul got back to Belgium, where he was reunited with his sister. His younger brother and his parents never came back.

Family 

Parents:
 Father: Rywen Sobol, born in Warsaw on March 26, 1900, died in Theresienstadt after the liberation of the camp by the Soviets on May 8, 1945 (exact date of death unknown).
 Mother: Marie Szmulewicz, born in Kalisz (Poland) on March 1, 1895, died of typhus at Bergen-Belsen after the liberation of the camp by the English on April 15, 1945 (exact date of death unknown). 

Brothers and sister: 
 Bernard, born on May 3, 1922, died of appendicitis on March 11, 1940.
 Paul, born in Paris on June 26, 1926.
 Bella (Betsy), born in Brussels on January 27, 1928.
 David, born in Brussels on September 26, 1930, died during a death march starting from Birkenau after January 18, 1945 (exact date of death unknown).

After the war 
On September 16, 1947, Paul Sobol married Nelly Vandepaer (1926–2012). In the following years, the couple had two children, Alain and Francine.

Paul Sobol worked in advertising and in 1954 set up his own advertising agency. After having remained silent for more than 40 years, he started to bear witness to his experience to the young, from 1987, especially in secondary schools. As a member of the board of directors and the education committee of the Auschwitz Foundation, he takes part every year in the foundation's study trip to Auschwitz. In 2010, he wrote a book of testimony: Je me souviens d'Auschwitz (I remember Auschwitz).

Book 
 Paul Sobol (2010), Je me souviens d'Auschwitz. De l'étoile de shérif à la croix de vie, Bruxelles, Racine, 2010, 221p.

References

External links 

 Mémoire de la Shoah, interview de Paul Sobol, 1997
 Auschwitz Foundation

Category:1926 births
Category:People from Paris
Category:People from Brussels
Category:Jewish concentration camp survivors
Category:Auschwitz concentration camp survivors
Category:Dachau concentration camp survivors
Category:Advertising people
Category:Living people