Julia Pirotte (1908-2000) Self portrait in the mirror, by Julia Pirotte 1943. (Emanuel Ringelblum. Jewish Historical Institute) Julia Pirotte (née Diament) was born in Konskowa, a small Jewish town in Poland. She described the social and political climate there as threatening and one in which she felt persecuted. Julia was born into an impoverished family and was one of three children - her mother died when she was just seven years old. In 1925, Julia and her sister Mindla Maria Diament (1911-1944) were sentenced to four years imprisonment for being members of the Communist Party. With the threat of further imprisonment, in 1934 Julia fled to Paris to join her younger sister. On route she went to Belgium to claim refugee status but fell ill, thus delaying their reunion. However, it was here that she met her husband, the political activist Jean Pirotte - they married in 1935 and she was granted Belgian citizenship. In Belgium she worked in factories and wrote articles about worker...