This Collection contains a number of photographs pertaining to the Schamroth, Leichtag, Brodheim and Taub families.
In 1983 an international prize for medical research was bestowed upon a South African by Les Amis du Commerce et la Persévérance Reunis of Antwerp, Belgium. This was a once-off prize given by the Masonic Lodge to celebrate their 150th anniversary. Professor Doctor Leo Schamroth was chosen above 61 proposed candidates from 18 countries. When this prize was awarded to him, the award committee were unaware that they had given the prize to a native-born son of Antwerp. At the gala evening of the presentation, Professor Leo Schamroth addressed the attendees in Flemish.
Professor Leo Schamroth was the grandson of Judel and Ernestine Taub (nee Brodheim) and Samuel and Sarah Lea Schamroth (nee Leichtag). His maternal grandparents originated from Saukenai, Lithuania and Przemysl, Austria and his paternal grandparents from Cracow, Austria. During that period Kraków was under Austrian Rule and was known as the Grand Duchy of Cracow (1846 -1918). His grandparents and family moved to Antwerp, Belgium in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Although family members resided in Antwerp for over 40 years and some family members were born in Antwerp, none were granted Belgium citizenship. His parents left Antwerp with their two sons in 1929 for South Africa. The majority of family members who remained in Antwerp during World War Two were deported to Auschwitz Concentration Camp. A few managed to go into hiding and one served as a slave labourer under the Nazis. By the end of WW II only a handful of his immediate family who had remained in Belgium survived. Information of Leo Schamroth’s family was filed in dossiers that were kept by the Antwerp City Police regarding foreign nationals residing in the city.