Marek James
*1939 in Poland
Shelly and Helena Ben David (from New York/USA and Toronto/Canada), Sandra and Mark James (from San Diego/USA) and Daphna and Guy Shahar Yames with their youngest son Juri (from Israel) in the rose garden at Bullenhuser Damm, 2011 © Regine Christiansen
THE 20 CHILDREN
Marek James
Marek James was born in Poland on 17 March 1939. He lived with his parents Adam and Zela in Radom. After the occupation of Radom, the family was forced to live in the Radom ghetto until 1943. All three were deported in summer 1944 to Auschwitz, via Pionki forced labor camp near Radom. Marek James’ father Adam was deported to the Glöwen and Rathenow satellite camps of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. Marek was separated from his mother in Auschwitz: in November 1944, Zela James was put into a satellite camp of Groß-Rosen Concentration Camp in St. Georgenthal, Bohemia.
Marek James’ parents both survived persecution. After the end of the war they lived in southern Germany, where another son was born in 1947; they named him Marek, too. In 1949 the family emigrated to the USA. In April 2011 their son Mark James came to the remembrance ceremony at Bullenhuser Damm for the first time. Two more relatives of Marek James got in touch in 2010 also – 66 years after the murders at Bullenhuser Damm. His second cousin Helena Ben David from Toronto and his cousin Guy Shahar James from Israel, both also travelled to Hamburg and took part in the ceremony.
