Margot Blank Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1925 - d. 2007

Margot Blank (nèe Dreyfuss) was born July 31, 1925 in Schmieheim, Germany. In 1938 Margot’s sister, Charlotte Chett (nèe Dreyfuss) was sent away on a kindertransport and was later housed with a foster family in West Point, Georgia. Margot, however, stayed with her parents and moved with them to Freiburg, Germany in 1939 after entering a mandatory Jewish School in the town. The Dreyfuss family was deported to Gurs camp in France in October 1940. Several months later, the family was moved to Camp de Rivesaltes in Pyrénées-Orientales, France. Margot’s father, Jacob Dreyfuss, died in Camp de Rivesaltes on December 9, 1941. Her mother, Ida Dreyfuss, died a moth later on January 1, 1942.


Margot was liberated from this camp in April 1942 by the Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants (OSE). She was placed in a children’s home (that had been established by les Eclaireurs Istralites de France) in Beaulieu-sur-la-Dordoge, France. In August 1942 the organizations relocated Margot to a convent in Brive-la-Gaillard, France. Six weeks later in October 1942 she was hidden in a convent in Ussel, France. Finally, in 1943, Margot was moved to a convent in St. Amond-sur-Cher, France.

In 1944 Margot registered as a French citizen under the Christian name Micheline Didier. Shortly after she began working for the OES at their Montintin children’s home in France. In 1945 Margot started working at another children’s home near Paris.

Margot immigrated to the States in 1946. She began working as a dental assistant while studying social studies and art at the City College in New York. She obtained her B.A. from this college and went on to get her M.A. in art education from the College of New Rochelle in New York. During this time, Margot also met and married Allan Blank. After Allan took a teaching position in Richmond, the couple moved from New York to Virginia. Margot continued her post-graduate studies in Richmond, taking courses in photography and printmaking at VCU.

Margot Blank continued to work as an artist in Richmond, exhibiting her pieces in several shows and juried exhibits, and was involved in the Richmond arts community. Margot passed away on January 31, 2007.