19_Board of Education Certificate
1933 November 29, Front side - Certificate addressed to Wichna Kagan from the Board of Education of Wilejka.
Tan certificate with blue imprinted background and printed text in Polish using black ink. Cursive handwriting in Polish using black ink. At the top right, a red overprint stamp with text in French is present dated November 29 1933. At the left side, three purple overprint stamps depicting the Coat of Arms of Poland.
Name/Title
19_Board of Education CertificateEntry/Object ID
2026.6.19Scope and Content
1933 November 29, certificate addressed to Wichna Kagan from the Board of Education of Wilejka.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.Collection
Pastor Joseph Isaac BourdonCategory
Certificate