09_Greffe Du Tribunal de lère Instance
1940, Front side - Document relating to Jankiel Lejba Ajzensztat and Wichna Kagan's legal marriage contract.
Tan document with printed and typed text in French using black ink. Cursive handwriting in French using black ink appears at the top left and bottom center. Below, a circular overprint black ink stamp depicting the Great Seal of France. At the top left, an overprint purple stamp in French is present.
Name/Title
09_Greffe Du Tribunal de lère InstanceEntry/Object ID
2026.6.9Scope and Content
1940, document relating to Jankiel Lejba Ajzensztat and Wichna Kagan's legal marriage contract.Context
Born in Grajewo, Poland in 1913, Jankiel studied medicine at the University of Nancy in the 1930s. With the outbreak of the war, he moved to Paris, married dentist Wichna Kagan, and in 1940, fled with her and their infant daughter to southern Fance (the Free Zone). The family settled in the Lozere department. The documents in the collection reveal the daring mobilization of Pastor Joseph Bourdon (recognized by Yad Vashem in 1983, file no. 2698) on behalf of the family, and his attempt to save them in real time. The peak of this effort is reflected in a document dated March 7, 1943 - two weeks after Jankiel had already been arrested by the Gendarmerie (on Feb 20, 1943). In this document, the Pastor declared to the authorities that the detainee was a "devout Protestant," in a desperate and final attempt to extract him from the claws of the Gestapo before being sent to the East. Despite the effort, Jankiel was transferred to the Drancy camp, and on March 6, 1943, was ent on Convoy 51 to the Majdanek extermination camp, where he perished. His wife and daughter survived. Googel translation of typed text: "Extract from the records of documents annexed to marriages contracted at the Town Hall of the 12th Arrondissement of Paris during the year 1940. Wichna Kagan was born on January 12, 1913, in Hancewcze, the daughter of Chaim and Cahan Kagan. Collated against the document filed at the Town Hall of the 12th Arrondissement of Paris regarding the marriage of Ajzensztat and Kagan, contracted on March 9, 1940, under number 248."Collection
Pastor Joseph Isaac BourdonCategory
Document