A Belgian “Finaly Affair” has just ended with the return of a 13-year-old Jewish girl to her family. She was recovered from a Catholic family which had sheltered her during the war, returned her to her family and later kidnapped her.
During the Nazi occupation, the child, Helen Szpilman, was handed over to the Catholic family of Van den Bossche by the Jewish underground when she was two years old. At the end of the war the Catholic family, which had secretly baptized the girl, returned her to her family. Shortly afterwards an aunt of the girl, a Mme. Ciecura, was named her legal guardian.
In August of 1946 M. Van den Bossche, during a visit with the child, kidnapped her. After long and bitter wrangling M. Van den Bossche was arrested. The child was returned to the aunt and the kidnapper will go on trial July 4 on charges of kidnapping.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
