Robert SCHEYEN

Robert SCHEYEN

Photo from the Shoah Memorial in Paris.

This biography was written by Sigrid Gaumel, Associate professor of Geography

On July 31, 1944, Convoy 77, the last large transport of deportees from Drancy, set off for Auschwitz-Birkenau with 986 men and women and 324 children on board. Of the 1,310 deportees, 836 were sent to the gas chambers as soon as they arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau, while 474 were selected to go into the camp for forced labor. Only 250 survived[1]. Among the people who were deported on Convoy 77 was Robert Scheyen, who lived in Colmar, in the Haut-Rhin department of France. This is an attempt to retrace Robert Scheyen’s life story.

Robert Scheyen’s childhood in Colmar (1913-1919)

Robert Yvan Scheyen was born on December 28, 1913 at 23 rue Chauffour (Chauffourstrasse) [2] in Colmar. HIs parents were Lucie Scheyen née Lang, born on January 21, 1887 in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines (Markirch), also in the Haut-Rhin department[3], and Pierre Jacques (Peter Jakob)[4] Scheyen, a merchant, born April 29, 1879 in Colmar. They were married in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines on May 24,1909[5]. Both were Jewish.

Robert’s mother, Lucie, was the youngest of two children. Her parents were Louis (Ludwig) Lang, a fabric manufacture[6], born on February 8, 1850 in Ribeauvillé, in the Haut-Rhin department[7], and Louise Lang née Blum, who did not work, born on July 9, 1859 in Verdun, in the Meuse department of France[8]. Louis and Louise Lang were married on December 24, 1879 in Verdun[9]. Louise’s sister, Marcelle Lang, was born on October 16, 1885 in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines (Markirch)[10] and was married to Benoît, also known as Paul, Wurmser[11].

Robert’s father, Pierre Jacques, was the youngest of 3 children born at 12 rue Ruest (Ruestgasse) in Colmar. His parents were Samuel Eugène Scheyen, a merchant, born on September 27, 1849 in Obernai, in the Bas-Rhin department of France[12], and Henriette Emma Scheyen née Meyer, who did not work, born on December 10, 1854 in Ingwiller, also in the Bas-Rhin department[13]. Samuel and Henriette were married on May 4 May 1875 in Ingwiller (Ingweiler)[14]. Pierre’s older brother, André Jacques (Andreas Jakob) was born on October 21, 1876 in Colmar and died on November 2, 1876, also in Colmar[15]; Pierre’s older sister, Martha Fernande, was born on October 28, 1877 in Colmar[16] and was married to Léon Floersheim, born on January 28, 1866 in Besançon, in the Doubts department of France[17]. Pierre Jacques Scheyen had brown hair, grey eyes, a long face, a tall forehead and a “basic” nose. He was 5’9” (1m75) tall. His educational level was high (4)[18].

Robert’s parents, Lucie and Pierre Jacques Scheyen, appear to have lived 21 rue Chauffour (Chauffourstrasse) in Colmar from 1909 to 1913, then at 23 rue Chauffour (Chauffourstrasse) from 1914 to 1915, and lastly at 1 avenue de la Marne (Marchfeldallee) from 1916 to 1921[19]. Since the Treaty of Frankfurt was signed on May 10, 1871, Alsace and Moselle had been effectively annexed by Germany, and became part of the Reichsland Elsass-Lothringen, meaning that Colmar was in Germany.

Robert Scheyen had two sisters: the oldest, Simone Juliette Scheyen was born on April 23, 1912 at 21 rue Chauffour (Chauffourstrasse) in Colmar[20], and the youngest, Emma Edith Magdalena (Madeleine) Scheyen was born on January 19, 1916 at 1 avenue de la Marne (Marchfeldallee) in Colmar[21].

Robert’s paternal grandparents, Eugène and Emma Scheyen, lived at 12 rue Ruest (Ruestgasse) in Colmar. Eugène ran a hardware store[22]. Robert’s paternal grandmother died when Robert was just two years old: Henriette Emma Scheyen née Meyer died on January 21, 1916 at 12 rue Ruest (Ruestgasse) in Colmar[23] at the age of 61. She is buried in the Jewish cemetery in Colmar.

Between the wars (1919-1939) in Colmar: Robert Scheyen went to school, did his national service, and went on to work in the family hardware store

After the First World War, Alsace-Moselle was returned to France under the Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919. Pierre Scheyen, Robert’s father, does not appear to have fought in the First World War[24]. Pierre Scheyen’s French service record reads: “services in the German army: none”. After the war, Pierre was assigned to the Territorial Army Reserve at the base of the 109th Infantry Regiment on August 15, 1922, then transferred to the 20th North African Rifle Regiment on October 1, 1924. He was listed as “unassigned” on November 15, 1926, and permanently discharged from the army on November 10, 1928[25].

Robert’s paternal grandfather, Eugène Scheyen, died on July 28, 1919 in Colmar[26] at the age of 69. He is buried beside his wife, Henriette in the Jewish cemetery in Colmar. Robert’s father, Pierre Scheyen appears to have taken over the family hardware business at 11a rue du Nord in Colmar. The Scheyen family probably moved for the last time in 1921, and from then on lived at in a second floor apartment at 6 rue Bruat in Colmar[27].

Robert went to the Bartholdi high school for boys in Colmar from 1923 to 1930. In the 1923-1924 school year, when Robert, then aged between 9 and 10, was in 4th grade, his teacher noted that he had made some progress during the year, but also chatted a lot in class[28]. In 1924-1925, in 5th grade , and in 1925-1926, in 6th grade, Robert studied mathematics, natural sciences, French, Latin, German, ancient history, geography, drawing and religion. His teachers emphasized that his work was inconsistent and that he did not take his schoolwork seriously[29]. In 1926-1927, when he was 12 to 13, he was in 8th grade and studied some new subjects, including English and modern history. His teachers’ comments describe him as “not sufficiently committed”, “lazy”, “too talkative” and “inattentive” and said that he failed to pay attention in class[30].

On November 11, 1926, Robert, who was 13 by then, made his Bar Mitzvah[31].

In 1927-1928, Robert’s 9th grade report card from the Bartholdi high school in Colmar revealed that his work and results were inadequate in most subjects, despite some progress in the 3rd trimester. Some of the teachers remarked that Robert’s conduct “always left much to be desired”, and that he often “disrupted the class deliberately”[32]. In 1928-1929, Robert, aged 14-15, was in 10th grade. However, his results were so poor in all subjects that he had to repeat 10th grade in 1929-1930. His progress was very inconsistent in some subjects[33]. It is not known whether Robert Scheyen continued his education after 1930.

In 1934, Robert, then aged 20, had brown hair, brown eyes, a “high” forehead, a “straight” nose and a “round” face. He was 5’7” (1m 72) tall[34]. On October 17, 1934, he was called up in advance to join quartermaster’s office of the 4th divisional artillery regiment at Colmar. He began on October 19, 1934. He held a driving license. He passed the brevet de préparation élémentaire au service militaire (basic military service certificate) in 1934. His service record reads: “891.5 points, carries arms, swimmer”. Robert was promoted to the rank of brigadier on April 24, 1935. He was then sent on leave on October 12, 1935, pending his discharge on October 15, 1935. Robert returned to the family home at 6 rue Bruat in Colmar.

In 1936, Robert, who was 23 by then and still single, lived with his parents and his sister, Emma, at 6 rue Bruat in Colmar. The family employed a maid, Amélie Fuchs, who was born in 1910 in Appenwihr and was a Protestant. Robert, worked with his father in the family hardware store in Colmar[35].

Robert’s sisters both got married in the 1930s.

His older sister, Simone Juliette, who was 19, married André Moyse, aged 32, a salesman, on February 16, 1932 in Colmar[36]. Auguste Burger, a notary in Colmar, drafted a prenuptial contract on February 15, 1932. André Moyse, who was born on October 9, 1899 in Metz, in the Moselle department of France, was living in the 17th district of Paris at the time[37].

His younger sister, Emma Edith Madeleine, who was 21, married Robert Jacques Bloch, 34, an unemployed builder, on November 22, 1937, in Colmar. The same notary, Auguste Burger, drafted a prenuptial contract on November 22, 1937. Robert Bloch, who was born on February 16, 1903 in Chaux-de-Fonds, in Switzerland, was living in the 16th district of Paris at the time[38].

Robert’s maternal grandparents both died in the mid 1930s: Louis Lang died in 1935[39] at the age of 84, and Louise Lang née Blum died on November 29, 1937, at her home at 15 boulevard du Champ de March in Colmar[40] at the age of 78. They are both buried in the Jewish cemetery in Sélestat, in the Bas-Rhin department of France[41].

On June 14, 1938, Robert Scheyen was promoted to the rank of sergeant. He was called up for three weeks training from September 9 through 29 with the 4th artillery regiment division, and remained in the corps until October 10, 1938, when he was sent home. He was then called up again, with the same regiment, on April 11, 1939, under the terms of a decree dated March 20, 1939. He was sent home on April 19, 1939[42]. He was 25 at the time.

The outbreak of war: Robert Scheyen mobilized(1939-1940)

Just before the outbreak of the Second World War, in 1939, some 25,000 Jews were living in the Alsace region of France, and in January 1940 there were an estimated 6,000 Jewish servicemen in the French army[43]. Robert Scheyen was among them. He was called up for active service on August 27, 1939 and assigned to the 4th artillery regiment(4^th RA)[44].

On September 1, 1939, the German army invaded Poland. As a result, on September 3, 1939, France and England declared war on Germany. On November 9, 1939, Robert Scheyen was assigned to the 10th battery of the 18th artillery regiment (18^th RA)[45]. The 18th Divisional Artillery Regiment (RAD) was a horse-drawn artillery regiment equipped with 3″ (75 mm) guns. The 18th RAD batteries provided direct support for the troops stationed on the Maginot Line. The 10th BDAC (anti-tank defense battery), which was founded in early November 1939, moved into position in the Moselle area. The soldiers spent the months of November and December building and fitting out field shelters. In February 1940, the 18th RAD was posted to Liart, Charleville-Mézières and Hirson in the Ardennes department of France. The 10th BDAC moved to Granchamp until March 19, then to the hamlet of La Blaisotterie, near Rocquigny, also in the Ardennes department, on March 20[46].

On May 10, 1940, the German army moved into the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The idea was to create a diversion in order to mislead the Allies and keep them in the north, while at the same time German troops were advancing further south, through the Ardennes, and then west towards the coast.

After the German offensive, the 18th artillery regiment moved to the Meuse region, in the Belgian part of Ardennes, to provide back-up for the infantry regiments. The troops held the Meuse line until May 14, 1940 and then continued to fight in the French part of the Ardennes[47]. Robert Scheyen was wounded as he was searching for fallen soldiers, for which he was nominated for the French War Cross[48]. The survivors were gathered together in the Oise department of France, and then in the Aveyron department. At the beginning of June, the survivors were asked to re-form a motorized artillery group, and set off for Nîmes, in the Gard department of France, on June 3. By June 20, the new motorized group was up and running, and went to Marseille, on the south coast of France, and then to the nearby town of Aubagne on June 26[49].

France signed the armistice with Germany on June 22, 1940, and with Italy on June 24, 1940. The agreement came into effect on June 25, 1940. As a result, the motorized artillery group was disbanded. Robert Scheyen was demobilized at the Nîmes demobilization center on August 2, 1940[50].

France was divided into two zones: the German-occupied zone in the north, and the so-called “free” zone in the south, which was run by the Vichy government. Alsace-Moselle was effectively annexed and made part of the Nazi Reich, and the German army occupied the region and set up its own authorities. On July 13, 1940, Gauleiter Wagner, head of the civil authorities in Alsace, issued orders to expel the Jews who had stayed on in Alsace, and to confiscate all their property, assets and interests for use by the Reich[51]. As a result, more than 3000 Jews were expelled and sent to the non-occupied zone in the south.

Robert Scheyen’s family was among those who were expelled from Alsace[52]. Robert moved to Lyon, in the Rhône department of France. On October 5, 1940, he was living at 215 rue de Vendôme in Lyon[53].

Robert Scheyen arrested in Lyon and interned in Montluc and then in Drancy (July 1944)

It is not clear where Robert was living in early July 1944: it was either 176 rue Duguesclin[54] or 213 rue Duguesclin, in the 3rd district of Lyon[55]. The Gestapo arrested Robert[56] on a tram in Lyon during a roundup on either July 6[57] or July 7, 1944[58]. He was initially interned in Montluc prison in Lyon and then transferred to Drancy camp on July 24, 1944[59] where he was assigned prisoner number 25.736. Drancy was a transit camp, north of Paris, where Jews were assembled prior to be being deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Robert Scheyen deported to Auschwitz (July 31 1944) and transferred to Dachau (January 1945)

Robert Scheyen was 30 years old when he was deported on Convoy 77 from Drancy to Auschwitz on July 31, 1944. He arrived at Auschwitz at night, 3 days after the train set off from Drancy.

Robert was selected to work in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and appears to have been held there for 6 months. He was assigned the registration number B-3915 and worked in the Blindgänger Suchkommando, which searched for unexploded bombs[60].

In January 1945, as the Soviet troops were approaching from the east, the Nazis evacuated the Auschwitz camp. Robert Scheyen was evacuated on January 28, 1945[61] and probably had to endure the “death marches”. Tens of thousands of evacuated deportees were forced to walk for 3 days and 2 nights in the snow and freezing temperatures, most of them barefoot or wearing wooden galoshes and dressed only in thin, ragged cotton or canvas clothes[62]. The men were then loaded into open goods cars and taken to concentration camps elsewhere. Robert Scheyen was on the list of prisoners transferred from KL (Konzentrationslager) Auschwitz to KL Dachau[63], which was around 12 miles north of Munich in Bavaria, Germany. He arrived in Dachau on February 4, 1945[64] and was assigned prisoner number 139868[65].

The Dachau camp was soon overwhelmingly overcrowded. More and more convoys were arriving from other camps that had been evacuated. Sanitary conditions were deteriorating drastically there was no longer enough food to go around. In November 1944, an epidemic of louse-borne typhus broke out in the camp. Many of the prisoners who arrived on the so-called death trains were assigned to the typhus-ridden invalid blocks. The epidemic soon eliminated them. The mortality rate in Block 30, to which Robert Scheyen was sent[66], was the highest of all[67].

Edgar Kupfer-Koberwitz, a deportee who also spent time in the Dachau camp, later testified about the conditions in the Revier: “On February 7, he noted that the linen had not been changed for five or six weeks, which facilitated the spread of lice, especially when four or five patients had to sleep in two beds. When he got out, he was afraid that he would be assigned to Block No 21, where everyone was sure to die.” At minus 20 degrees Celsius, with no heating, some patients froze to death. In addition, there was no medication, nor enough to eat or drink. “Apart from the ever-dwindling bread ration, there was only one disgusting meal (Eintopf), made of swede and grated potatoes, which, by late winter, already smelled rotten and was in short supply.” In the dormitories, everything was filthy. The sick people were unable to get out. “Bodies were just left lying there, sometimes for days.”[68]

Robert Scheyen died of typhus, at the age of 31, on April 16, 1945[69] in Dachau.

In the last few months before Dachau was liberated, the Allies attacked Munich from the air, and flew over the camp almost every day. The bombs, although they landed nearby, missed the camp. The American army liberated Dachau on April 29, 1945. On August 15, 1945, the American authorities issued a death certificate for Robert Scheyen, which gave his date of death as April 18, 1945[70].

Robert Scheyen’s parents’ search for their son (1945-1950)

Pierre and Lucie Scheyen, Robert’s parents, moved around a lot after the war: in January 1945, they were living in the Marilys boarding house at 9 rue Justin Blanc in Pau, in the Basses-Pyrénées department of France[71], in March 1945, Lucie Scheyen went to stay for a few days with her son-in-law, André Moyse, at 1 rue Paul Bodin in the 17th district of Paris[72], in August 1945, Lucie and Pierre Scheyen were living at 2 avenue de la République in Colmar[73], and from 1948 onwards, they lived at 2 place de la Porte de Saint-Cloud in the 16th district of Paris[74].

Having had no word of their son since July 31, 1944, they embarked on a series of formalities to find out what had become of him.

Lucie Scheyen wrote to the Sub-Directorate of Files and Statistics at the Ministry of Prisoners, Deported Persons and Refugees, which was responsible for compiling a national register of people who had been deported on political grounds or due to their “race”. The head of department replied, but gave her very little information. On January 24, 1945, he wrote: “Mr. Robert Scheyen was interned in Drancy from 24.7.44 to 31.7.44, the date on which he was deported to an unknown destination”[75], and on April 23, 1945, he wrote: “Mr. Robert Scheyen was deported from the Drancy camp on July 31, 1944”[76]. On August 14, 1945, Lucie Scheyen wrote to the Ministry of Prisoners, Deported Persons and Refugees once again, noting: “He was sent to Auschwitz at the end of July 1944, and to Dachau at the end of January 1945, but there has been no further news since”[77].

On March 12 1946, the Colmar Civil Court issued a judgment declaring that Robert Scheyen had died on April 16 1945, in the Dachau camp in Germany[78]. His death was then entered in the Colmar Civil Registry under the number 355/1946, as stipulated in the court judgement[79].

On March 21, 1948, Robert Scheyen’s parents applied to the French Ministry of Veterans and Victims of War to have Robert Scheyen officially declared a “non-returned person”[80]. They asked for further inquiries to be made about what had happened to their son, based on the oral testimony of a Mr. Muller, who lived at 51 rue du Marché in Neuilly-sur-Seine, in the Hauts-de-Seine department of France. Mr. Muller, who originally came from Colmar, had been compulsorily drafted into the Wehrmacht, taken prisoner of war in Siberia and repatriated to France in July 1946. He said that he had seen Mr. Scheyen in April 1946, at the Chelyabinsk camp (in Western Siberia, in the Ural Mountains in Russia), and recognized him from a photograph that Mrs. Scheyen had shown him.

Mrs. Scheyen’s lawyer then called in Mr. Muller, who reiterated his statement and confirmed two specific points: that they had spoken in the Colmar dialect, and talked about two black horses that pulled the Scheyen household cart, which Mr. Muller was familiar with as they often stopped in front of his father’s inn, opposite the freight station[81].

On April 3, 1948, Mr. Boucheron Seguin, the Deputy Director of Civil Status and Research at the Ministry of Veterans and Victims of War, asked Mr. Vincent, the Head of the 2nd Office, to call in Mr. Muller “to ask him to confirm his statements” and provide further details that would enable them to ask the embassy in Moscow to undertake a search and request that Robert Scheyen be repatriated to France[82].

On April 29, 1948, Mr. Muller was interviewed. Mr. Muller “cannot confirm that he saw Mr. Scheyen in Chelyabinsk, and declares only that in March-April 1946, when he himself was in the camp waiting to be repatriated, he met a prisoner in German uniform, who told him that he was the son or a relative of the [owner of the] hardware store on Rue du Nord in Colmar.

The Haut-Rhin Departmental Services investigated, and found there was only one hardware store on the Rue du Nord in Colmar. Prior to 1939, it was owned by the Scheyen family, who were expelled from Colmar in 1940. The store was then managed by Mr. Durrunger, the Scheyen family’s former accountant, until 1944, when it was bought by a German firm called Elhag.

Mr. Durrunger had no sons, but did employ two men in the hardware store, Mr. Schoellaammer and Mr. Braun, who were compulsorily drafted into the German army [83]. Mr. Braun was sent home on February 12, 1946. However, there was no news of Mr. Schoellaammer, so perhaps this was the man Mr. Muller met in Chelyabinsk.

It was also possible that the Ehlag company’s German manager(s) had a son in the German army, who was captured by Soviet troops and was still being held prisoner.

In these circumstances, given the information available […] about Mr. Scheyen’s death and the date of the meeting recounted by Mr. Muller, as well as the lack of precision as regards the civil status of the interlocutor in question, it does not seem likely that the Soviet authorities would agree to carry out a search given that, in other cases involving reliable and recent information, the French Embassy in Moscow has been unable to succeed in its requests for searches”[84].

According to the information currently available, Mr. Muller could not have met Mr. Schoellaammer in Chelyabinsk in 1946. In fact, Charles Henri Schoellammer, born in Colmar on March 7, 1925, was compulsorily drafted into the Wehrmacht on March 20, 1944, and “Died for France” on November 15, 1944[85].

In January 1949, Mrs. Scheyen wrote to the Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs again, asking them to interview prisoners from Alsace who had recently been repatriated from the USSR to Alsace, and to carry out an investigation in the USSR into what had happened to her son Robert Scheyen[86]. In addition, on December 19, 1950, the Prefect of the Haut-Rhin department asked the Minister for Veterans and Victims of War to carry out further investigations and, if necessary, to add Robert Scheyen to the list of French citizens still being held in the USSR[87]. But then, in 1951, the Civil Status and Research Disputes Directorate wrote to the Prefect of the Haut-Rhin department confirming that Robert Scheyen had died on April 16, 1945 in the Dachau concentration camp, and stating that from its point of view, the case was closed[88].

In 1957, the Ministry of Veterans and Victims of War’s Bureau of Deportees and Miscellaneous Statuses again confirmed the details of Robert Scheyen’s arrest, internment, deportation and death[89].

Robert recognized as a having been a “political deportee”, having “died for France” and having “died during deportation”

On January 24 1957, Pierre Scheyen applied to the Ministry of Veterans and Victims of War for his son Robert to be granted the title of “political deportee” (meaning that he had been deported on political grounds)[90]. His request was granted on May 19, 1958[91], and the Ministry of Veterans and Victims of War sent him a political deportee’s card, number I.I.75.I3296, in Robert Scheyen’s name[92]. In December 1958, the Ministry of Veterans and Victims of War awarded Robert Scheyen’s parents a compensation payment of 12,000 francs[93].

The words “Died for France” and “Died during deportation” were added to Robert Scheyen’s death certificate[94], in accordance with the Secretary of State for Veterans, Ministry of Defense decision issued on May 23, 1998. This was published in the French Official Gazette on September 24, 1998[95].

Pierre Scheyen, Robert’s father, died on June 22, 1959 in the 16th district of Paris[96] and Lucie Scheyen née Lang, Rober’s mother, died on January 21, 1975 in the 16th district of Paris[97]. Pierre and Lucie Scheyen had been living at 2, place de la Porte de Saint-Cloud, also in the 16th district[98]. Emma Edith Madeleine Bloch née Scheyen, Robert’s younger sister, died on March 1, 1991 at Le Cannet, in the Alpes-Maritimes department of France[99]. Simone Juliette Moyse née Scheyen, his older sister, died on November 2, 1992 in the 12th district of Paris[100].

Memorials to Robert

Robert Scheyen’s name is inscribed on the Wall of Names at the Shoah Memorial in Paris[101]. The names and ages of all the deported Jews who had lived in Colmar are inscribed on a memorial in the Jewish cemetery there, including that of Robert Scheyen (age 31).

Robert Scheyen’s name is also included on two memorial plaques in Colmar that are dedicated to “nos martyrs de la résistance 1940-1945” (our martyrs from the Resistance, 1940-1945). One of them is on Place des Martyrs de la Résistance, the other on Place du 2 February. However, given that there is no evidence that Robert Scheyen was ever involved in the Resistance movement, the reason that his name is listed on these plaques remains a mystery.

A further tribute to Robert Scheyen could be made by laying a Stolperstein outside the last place he lived, at 6 rue Bruat in Colmar.

This biography was completed on August 6, 2024

Sources

[1] The Convoy 77 website

[2] Robert Scheyen’s birth certificate, Colmar Municipal archives, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen. (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[3] Lucie Lang’s birth certificate, Haut-Rhin Departmental archives, 2MiEC269, online.

[4] Peter Jakob, according to Pierre Jacques Scheyen’s birth certificate, Haut-Rhin Departmental archives, 5Mi/105/107, online.

[5] Certified copy of Pierre Jacques Scheyen and Lucie Lang’s marriage certificate, 7.1.1957, Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines town hall, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen. (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[6]  Louis Lang and Louise Blum’s marriage certificate, Meuse Departmental archives, 2 E 558 (129), online.

[7] Louis Lang’s birth certificate, Haut-Rhin Departmental archives, 5Mi405/15, online.

[8] Louise Blum’s birth certificate, Meuse Departmental archives, 2 E 558 (105), online.

[9] Louis Lang and Louise Blum’s marriage certificate, Meuse Departmental archives, 2 E 558 (129), online.

[10] Marcelle Lang’s birth certificate, Haut-Rhin Departmental archives, 2MiEC269, online.

[11] According to Marcelle Wurmser née Lang’s death certificate, Parish Archives, 16D 270.

[12] Samuel Eugène Scheyen’s birth certificate, Bas-Rhin Departmental archives, 4 E 348/10, online.

[13] Henriette Emma Meyer’s birth certificate, Bas-Rhin Departmental archives, 4 E 221/4, online.

[14] Marriage certificate, Bas-Rhin Departmental archives, 4 E 221/17, online.

[15] Andreas Jakob Scheyen’s birth and death certificates, Haut-Rhin Departmental archives, 5Mi/105/106, 5Mi105/112, online.

[16] Martha Fernande Scheyen’s birth certificate, Haut-Rhin Departmental archives, 5Mi105/106, online.

[17] Léon Floersheim’s birth certificate Léon Floersheim, Besançon city hall, 1 E 764, online.

[18]  Pierre Jacques Scheyen’s army service record, Haut-Rhin Departmental archives, 18AL2/46.

[19] Colmar town directories from 1909-10, 1911-12, 1913-14, 1914-15, 1920, 1921, Municipal Colmar Municipal archives.

[20] Simone Juliette Scheyen’s birth certificate, Colmar Municipal archives.

[21] Emma Edith Magdalena Scheyen’s birth certificate, Colmar Municipal archives.

[22] Colmar town directories from 1895, 1898, 1901, 1902, 1904, 1905, 1907-08, 1909-10, 1911-12, 1913-14, 1914-15, Colmar Municipal archives.

[23] Emma Scheyen née Meyer’s death certificate, Colmar Municipal archives.

[24] There are no German military records in the name of Pierre Jacques Scheyen in the Haut-Rhin Departmental archives, reference checked 17AL2/651, Schertz to Schicklin.

[25] Pierre Jacques Scheyen army service record, Haut-Rhin Departmental archives, 18AL2/46.

[26] Samuel Eugène Scheyen’s death certificate, Colmar Municipal archives.

[27] Colmar town directories from 1921, 1923-24, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, Colmar Municipal archives.

[28] Quarterly report cards for students at the Bartholdi high school for boys in Colmar, Haut-Rhin Departmental archives, AL/7361.

[29] Quarterly report cards for students at the Bartholdi high school for boys in Colmar, Haut-Rhin Departmental archives, AL/7361.

[30] Quarterly report cards for students at the Bartholdi high school for boys in Colmar, Haut-Rhin Departmental archives, AL/7361.

[31] La Tribune juive, independent publication for Jewish people in Eastern France, December 10, 1926, n°50, p. 762. Available on the Gallica website, the French National library online: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6226868f/f10.item

[32] Quarterly report cards for students at the Bartholdi high school for boys in Colmar, Haut-Rhin Departmental archives, AL/7362.

[33] Quarterly report cards for students at the Bartholdi high school for boys in Colmar, Haut-Rhin Departmental archives, AL/7362.

[34] Robert Scheyen’s army service record, Haut-Rhin Departmental archives, 18AL2/472.

[35] 1936 census of Colmar, Haut-Rhin Departmental archives.

[36] Simone was given permission to use the surname Moyne, rather than Moyse, by order dated 8.10.1954 by the President of the Seine Civil Court, pursuant to a decree dated 1.8.1953, and according to a note in the margin of Simone Juliette Scheyen and André Moyse’s marriage certificate, Colmar Municipal archives.

[37] Simone Juliette Scheyen and André Moyse’s marriage certificate, Colmar Municipal archives.

[38] Emma Edith Madeleine Scheyen and Robert Jacques Bloch’s marriage certificate, Colmar Municipal archives.

[39] According to the inscription on Louis Lang’s gravestone in the Jewish cemetery in Sélestat.

[40] Louise Lang née Blum’s death certificate, Colmar Municipal archives.

[41] Two photographs of their tombstone are available on the Alsace and Lorraine Jewish website: http://judaisme.sdv.fr/.

[42] Robert Scheyen’s army service record, Haut-Rhin Departmental archives, 18AL2/472.

[43] Jean Daltroff’s, Paroles de combattants et de prisonniers de guerre 1939-1945  in Freddy Raphaël, Juifs d’Alsace au XX^e siècle, ni ghettoïsation, ni assimilation, Strasbourg, La Nuée Bleue, 2014.

[44] Robert Scheyen’s army service record, Haut-Rhin Departmental archives, 18AL2/472.

[45] Robert Scheyen’s army service record, Haut-Rhin Departmental archives, 18AL2/472.

[46] Rémy Scherer, Le 18^e régiment d’artillerie divisionnaire dans la bataille de la Meuse en mai 1940, sur artillerie.asso.fr, 2020.

[47] Rémy Scherer, Le 18^e régiment d’artillerie divisionnaire dans la bataille de la Meuse en mai 1940, sur artillerie.asso.fr, 2020.

[48] Undated letter from Mrs. P. Scheyen (probably March 1948), Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen. (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[49] Rémy Scherer, Le 18^e régiment d’artillerie divisionnaire dans la bataille de la Meuse en mai 1940, sur artillerie.asso.fr, 2020.

[50] Robert Scheyen’s army service record, Haut-Rhin Departmental archives, 18AL2/472.

[51] In July 1940, the two heads of the civil service, Robert Wagner in Alsace and Joseph Bürckel in Moselle, decided to rid Alsace-Moselle of all “undesirable elements” unworthy of populating German lands: Jews, gypsies, criminals, terminally ill Frenchmen and Welschisants were to be expelled to the unoccupied zone. The Jews living in Alsace-Moselle had from one to twenty-four hours to prepare to leave, and could only take with them one suitcase weighing between around 45 and 65 pounds (20 – 30 kg) and a small sum of money. From Freddy Raphaël’s, Les Juifs d’Alsace et de Lorraine de 1870 à nos jours, Paris, Albin Michel, 2018.

[52] 1951 letter from the Civil Status and Research Disputes Directorate (Ministry of Veterans and Victims of War) to the Prefect of the Haut-Rhin department, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[53] Robert Scheyen’s army service record, Haut-Rhin Departmental archives, 18AL2/472.

[54] According to the following sources: Checklist, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team); Original deportation convoy list available on the Shoah Memorial website; Information sheet, file n°4231, persons interned in the Montluc prison in Lyon (1939-1945), Rhône Departmental archives.

[55] Pierre Scheyen’s request to have his son granted the title of political deportee, dated 24.1.1957, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[56] According to Pierre Scheyen’s request to have his son granted the title of political deportee, dated 24.1.1957, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[57] According to dossier n°4231, persons interned in the Montluc prison in Lyon (1939-1945), Rhône Departmental archives.

[58] Check sheet, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team) ; Pierre Scheyen’s request to have his son granted the title of political deportee, dated 24.1.1957, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[59] Check sheet, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[60] Transfer list from CC Auschwitz to CC Dachau – 4.2.1945 and List of deceased persons, 11210038, ITS digital archives, Arolsen Archives.

[61] Check sheet, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team); Sheet in the name of Robert Scheyen, ITS digital archives, Arolsen Archives.

[62] Stanislav Zamecnik, C’était ça, Dachau: 1933-1945, translated from Czechoslovakian by Sylvie Graffard, Paris, International Dachau Foundation, le cherche midi, coll. Documents, 2003, 462 p.

[63] KZ Dachau, Zugangsbuch (131 600- 143 479), ITS digital archives, Arolsen Archives.

[64] Evaluation of data on unknown foreign fatalities and unknown fatalities from concentration camps and their grave sites, DE ITS 5.3.2 Tote 52, ITS digital archives, Arolsen Archives.

[65] Certificate of presence in the camp dated 25.1.1957 signed by Edmond Michelet, President of the Amicale des Anciens de Dachau (Dachau Former Prisoners’ Society), Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[66] According to a note entitled “Abgang durch Tod” dated 16.4.45 from the Dachau camp infirmary (“Krankenbau”), Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[67] Stanislav Zamecnik, C’était ça, Dachau : 1933-1945, translated from Czechoslovakian by Sylvie Graffard, Paris, International Dachau Foundation, le cherche midi, coll. Documents, 2003, 462 p.

[68] Stanislav Zamecnik, C’était çà, Dachau : 1933-1945, translated from Czechoslovakian by Sylvie Graffard, Paris, International Dachau Foundation, le cherche midi, coll. Documents, 2003, 462 p.

[69] According to a note entitled “Abgang durch Tod” dated 16.4.45 from the Dachau camp infirmary (“Krankenbau”), Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[70] Robert Scheyen’s death certificate, stating that he died on August 15, 1945, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[71] Letter dated 24.1.1945 from the Administrative and Financial Services Department to Mrs. Scheyen, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[72] Letter dated 24.3.1945 from Mrs. Scheyen, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[73] Questionnaire completed by Mrs. Scheyen and dated 14.8 .1945, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[74] According to the request to have Robert Scheyen’s civil status changed to that of a “non-returned person”, signed by Pierre Scheyen on 21. 3.1948, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[75] Letter dated 24.1.1945 from the Administrative and Financial Services Department to Mrs. Scheyen, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[76] Letter stamped 23.4.1945 addressed to Mrs. Scheyen, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[77] Questionnaire completed by Mrs. Scheyen and dated 14.8 .1945, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[78] Court order declaring the death of Robert Scheyen, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[79] Letter from the mayor of Colmar to the Ministry of Veterans and War Victims dated 16.6.1947, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[80] Request to have Robert Scheyen’s civil status changed to that of a “non-returned person”, signed by Pierre Scheyen on 21.3.1948, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[81] Letter from Mrs. Scheyen to the Director, undated, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[82] Letter from Mr. Seguin Boucheron to Mr. Vincent dated 3.4.1948, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[83] From October 1942 to May 1944, more than 130 000 men from Alsace and Moselle were compulsorily drafted into the Wehrmacht and some of them even into the SS. Most of them were sent to fight on the eastern front.

[84] Letter dated 12.5.1948 to the General Secretary of the Economic Council, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[85] According to the “Mémoire des Hommes” website: https://www/memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr/fr/arkotheque/client/mdh/incorporation_force_alsaciens_mosellans/detail_fiche.php?ref=3417563

[86] Letter from Mrs. Scheyen, stamped “Minister of War Veterans – 5 January 1949”, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[87] Letter dated 19.12.1950 from the Prefect of the Haut-Rhin department to the Ministry of Veterans and War Victims, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[88] 1951 letter from the Civil Status and Research Disputes Directorate (Ministry of Veterans and War Victims) to Prefect of the Haut-Rhin department, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[89] Note dated 13.11.1957 from the Bureau of Deportees and Miscellaneous Statuses, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[90] Application to have Robert Scheyen granted the status of political deportee submitted by Pierre Scheyen on 24.1.1957, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[91] Notification of the decision granting the status of political deportee, dated 19.5.1958, Ministry of Veterans and War Victims, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[92] Letter from the Ministry of Veterans and War Victims) dated 19.5.1958 to Pierre Scheyen, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[93] Ministry of Veterans and War Victims – Record of payment of compensation to beneficiaries of deported or interned persons who died during their detention or after they were repatriated, dated 4.12.1958. Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[94] Certified copy of Robert Scheyen’s death certificate (n°355, 1946), 11.6.1947, Colmar town hall, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[95] Certified copy of the judgement declaring Robert Scheyen to have died, 13.9.2001, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (record provided by the Convoy 77 team).

[96]  Pierre Jacques Scheyen’s death certificate, Paris Municipal archives, 16D 208 (online).

[97] Lucie Scheyen née Lang’s death certificate, Paris Municipal archives, 16D 246 (online).

[98] According to Pierre Jacques Scheyen and Lucie Scheyen née Lang’s death certificates, Paris Municipal archives, 16D 208 et 16D 246.

[99] Note on Emma Edith Magdalena Scheyen’s birth certificate, Colmar Municipal archives.

[100] Note on Simone Juliette Scheyen’s birth certificate, Colmar Municipal archives.

[101] Inscription on the Wall of Names at the Shoah Memorial in Paris. Shoah Memorial website.