About the Family

The BEKERMAN family is presumed to have received visas from Aristides de Sousa Mendes in France in June of 1940.

Mindla's brother Mordka RUBINSZTEIN and his family also received visas from Aristides de Sousa Mendes.

When the BEKERMAN family arrived at the French-Spanish border, Ignace was told that he was not allowed to leave France and had to enlist in the army. ignace subsequently went into hiding with a French non-Jewish family, and lived with them throughout the war.

Mindla BEKERMAN, a Polish citizen, arrived in Curia, Portugal with her French-born daughter Béatrice on June 30, 1940. They sailed from Lisbon to New York on the vessel Nyassa in July 1941. From there they moved to Canada.

Ignace joined Mindla and Beatrice after the war in Canada and they all subsequently emigrated to South Africa to join the RUBINSZTEIN family, and settled there.