Marcel Braitstein

A Hidden Child

Marcel Braitstein is a Jew born in Antwerp in 1935 as Motl Brajtsztajn.

When the Germans bombed Antwerp in May 1940, Braitstein and his parents vainly attempted to flee to France.

After his mother's death from illness, he went to live with her parents in Charleroi. In 1942 Braitstein was placed in hiding with a Christian family named Lebeau, and raised as a Christian.

After the liberation he was returned to his grandparents; he had difficulty readjusting to his original name and identity. His father died in Auschwitz.

At age 15, he rejected all religion for a Marxist humanism.

In 1951 he emigrated with his grandparents to Montreal. He became a sculptor, an engaged artist whose works depict the suffering of all people.