Co-founder of the Jewish Museum of Deportation and Resistance has passed away
In memoriam Germaine Fischler-Schraub
It is with deep sadness that we learned of the death of Mrs. Germaine Fischler-Schraub on August 25, 2025.
Germaine was born on March 29, 1936, in the French city of Metz, in the department of Moselle. She was the daughter of Benjamin Schraub and Cécile Zwiebel, and the sister of Simon Schraub. Germaine and her family escaped Nazi persecution by fleeing to Switzerland. In early September 1939, as the Nazis invaded Poland, the Schraub family left Metz. After spending a few weeks in Vittel, Benjamin and Cécile, their children Germaine and Simon and Cécile’s mother Anna Zwiebel, took refuge in Bordeaux from late September 1939 to December 1940. It was in Bordeaux that the Portuguese Consul General, Aristides de Sousa Mendes, granted them visas on June 18 and 19, 1940. He was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations in 1966.
From December 1940 to October 1941, Germaine and her family lived in Monts, at the La Lande reception camp for foreigners. Fleeing danger, Benjamin took his family to Marsac, then to Nice in February 1943. In September 1943, the family moved again, this time to Grenoble. They stayed there until January 1944, when they moved to Valence. On May 11, 1944, Benjamin, Cécile, Germaine, Simon and Anna entered Switzerland illegally. They did not return to France until 1945. Germaine was recognized as a political internee by France.
In 1957, Germaine married Abraham (Abi) Fischler and they settled in Antwerp. They formed a close-knit couple until Abi’s death in 2022. Germaine was active on the editorial board of the Women’s International Zionist Organization (WIZO), where she contributed to the fight for women’s equality.
She was one of the founders of the Jewish Museum for Deportation and Resistance, alongside Nathan Ramet, Georges Schnek, and Maxime Steinberg. In 1991, she served as treasurer of the organization, even before the museum was opened. She threw herself into the adventure, always mindful of the project and the people she worked with.
We pay tribute to Germaine, a strong humanist, committed and passionate women, to whom the Jewish Museum of Deportation and Resistence and Kazerne Dossin owe a great deal. She leaves a huge void in the fight to preserve the memory of the Holocaust in Belgium. A Mensch has left us.
We share in the great sadness of her family and offer them our most sincere and heartfelt condolences.
