Sal (Marcel) De Leeuwe was in France in the second half of 1942, coming from Belgium. On December 17, 1942, he tried to cross into Switzerland with two fellow Jews, M. Cremers (a Belgian citizen) and Benjamin Schielaar (born in Brussels on June 5, 1920, a Dutch citizen). They managed to pass the Col de Coux in the Alps over Morzine (Haute-Savoie) but were arrested by the Swiss border guards down the valley and turned back to France. Two of them, Benjamin Schielaar and Sal De Leeuwe, were arrested by the French gendarmes while taking a train back to their families. They were tried at the Tribunal correctionnel and jailed for a month. Unfortunately, they were not freed after that but sent to the internment camp Gurs, from where they were deported to Auschwitz, Schielaar on March 4, 1943, and De Leeuwe on March 6.
Source: Swiss Federal Archives, E 6358 (-) 1995/394 vol. 34; Archives départementales de Haute-Savoie, 14W20; 8W27; 41W34.
Verhaal