This Hermes 2000 typewriter has the characters of the Hebrew alphabet. It can be transported in its yellow case with a handle. This typewriter belonged to Eliezer Basch, who used it to write his memoirs after the war.
A Holocaust Survivor Writes his Memoirs
Typewriter that belonged to Eliezer Basch, who used it to write his memoirs after the war. It can be transported in its yellow case. (Photo: Peter Berra)
Eliezer Basch’s Soviet Evasion
In 1940, Eliezer Basch and his fiancée Blanka fled to the USSR to escape Nazism. They were soon arrested and, suspected as political opponents, separated. Eliezer was sent to Siberia and Blanka to Kazakhstan. They reunited after the war in Budapest in 1948. Eliezer and Blanka went to the Munich displaced persons camp and immigrated to Canada in 1950.
Eliezer and Blanka Basch settled in Montreal, but later moved to London, Ontario. They eventually returned to Montreal so that their daughter Eva would have better access to Jewish education. Eliezer bought a yarn store on St. Laurent Boulevard and ran the business until his retirement.
Eva Basch donated this typewriter to the Montreal Holocaust Museum in 2013.
This project is part of the implementation of the Plan culturel numérique du Québec.
