Michel Fink

Born August 25, 1919 in Yekaterinoslav, Ukraine; died 1945, Auschwitz-Birkenau

Background
Born Moshe Finkelstein in Russia, Fink moved at age two to Pinsk in Poland. At age eight, his family emigrated to France, and lived in Arras. In 1934, the family moved to Paris. He drew at an early age and eventually enrolled at the Ecole Normale, a teachers' college, specializing in art.

Arrest and Internment at Drancy
In April 1940, Fink was drafted. After the occupation of France, he joined the Resistance working for the underground press. He was co-editor of the Jewish journal Quand Męme (In Spite of Everything). He also hid Jews and smuggled children out of France to Switzerland. He was arrested by the French militia serving the Gestapo on May 26 and was and was deported to Drancy on June 15, 1944.

Transfer to Auschwitz
On June 30, 1944 he was sent to slave labor at Auschwitz and died shortly before liberation.

Bibliography
Novitch, Miriam, Lucy S. Dawidowicz, and Tom L. Freudenheim.  Spiritual Resistance: Art from Concentration Camps, 1940-1945.  Philadelphia, 1981.

Fenster, Hirsh.  Undzere Farpainikte Kinstler (Nos artistes martyrs).  Paris, 1951.