Coded postcard from neighbour, May 1943

This postcard, dated 27 May 1943, was received by Zahava’s grandparents in Zurich.

In it, the writer informs them that Zahava and her parents had been taken away the previous day.

The card is signed 'L. Shochen'. However, there was no person by that name. The author was in fact a non-Jewish neighbour, Lies de Betuwe, who lived in the same apartment building.

She signed the card 'L. Shochen' because ’shochen’ means ‘neighbour' in Hebrew - a way for Zahava’s grandparents to understand who had written to them, while helping to protect the sender’s identity.

Lies was hiding her Jewish boyfriend during the war, and it is believed that he suggested the use of this alias.