"They told to me, “Be careful, they paid a fake uncle who will take you away. The Jews want to take you with them to Palestine, to fight the Arabs.” I was totally panicked. I was afraid of the Jews; they had crucified the Savior. I needed time to understand that I was myself a Jewish kid"
Henri Elias was born in Borgerhout, near Antwerp, in 1941. His 34-year-old father Leopold, his 35-year-old mother Aurelia-Aranka, and his 7-year-old brother Jacques were deported and murdered, like other family members. Henri was hidden and baptized by force. After liberation, he was declared dead by the Sisters and his godmother, given a fake identity and sent from home to home so as to erase his existence and never return him to his Jewish family. In 1945, his uncle and aunt found clues that he had survived, but could only take him back after a 10-year search and a court decision. In 1971, Elias moved to Switzerland for professional reasons. He got married there and has two daughters.