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# Heroines of Vichy France

# Heroines of Vichy France

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Rescuing French Jews during the Holocaust

Paul R. Bartrop and Samantha J. Lakin

Copyright © 2019 by Paul R. Bartrop and Samantha J. Lakin

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

**Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data**

Names: Bartrop, Paul R. (Paul Robert), 1955– author. | Lakin, Samantha J., author.

Title: Heroines of Vichy France : rescuing French Jews during the Holocaust / Paul R. Bartrop and Samantha J. Lakin.

Description: Santa Barbara, California : Praeger, an Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019001009 (print) | LCCN 2019001157 (ebook) | ISBN 9781440852336 (ebook) | ISBN 9781440852329 (alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Jews—France—History—20th century. | Jewish women in the Holocaust—France—Biography. | Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945)—France. | World War, 1939–1945—Jews—Rescue—France. | World War, 1939–1945—Underground movements—France. | France—Ethnic relations.

Classification: LCC DS135.F89 (ebook) | LCC DS135.F89 B36 2019 (print) | DDC 940.53/18350944—dc23

LC record available at <https://lccn.loc.gov/2019001009>

ISBN: 978-1-4408-5232-9 (print)

978-1-4408-5233-6 (ebook)

23 22 21 20 19 1 2 3 4 5

This book is also available as an eBook.

Praeger

An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC

ABC-CLIO, LLC

147 Castilian Drive

Santa Barbara, California 93117

www.abc-clio.com

This book is printed on acid-free paper

Manufactured in the United States of America
_Paul R. Bartrop dedicates this book to the memory of Ray Duplain (1939–2013): mentor, colleague, and very dear friend._

_Samantha J. Lakin dedicates this book to the memory of Marian Diamond (1930–2006): matriarch of education, loving grandmother, and personal inspiration._
_It is intolerable that war should involve the very young—not only because in them the hope of the future lies, but because in their weakness and their irresponsibility they make so confident an appeal to our protection._

—Marc Bloch, L'Étrange Défaite
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Contents

_Preface_

_Introduction_

**Chapter 1** France, the Jews, and the War

**Chapter 2** The "Free Zone": The Nazis Take Over

**Chapter 3** The Italian Interlude: Shades of Benevolence

**Chapter 4** An Inclusive Unity: Jews and Christians Link Arms

**Chapter 5** Entr'acte: Rescue on the Border

**Chapter 6** Annemasse: The Limits of Courage

**Chapter 7** Voices of the Rescued: The Children Speak

**Chapter 8** Afterlives and Legacies

**Chapter 9** Coda: Remembering the Passeurs

_Appendix A: Exeunt: Beyond the War Years_

_Appendix B: Chronology_

_Notes_

_Bibliography_

_Index_
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Preface

The genesis of this book lay in an earlier study undertaken by Paul Bartrop that appeared in 2016. Even while _Resisting the Holocaust: Upstanders, Partisans, and Survivors_ was in production, Steve Catalano of Praeger and Padraic (Pat) Carlin of ABC-CLIO contacted him to ask whether he thought any of those he was then profiling could be the subject of a broader, more individualized treatment. After a quick review of the many possibilities presenting themselves, the idea of combining three of the resister/rescuers—Mila Racine, Marianne Cohn, and Charlotte Sorkine—into a single work began to take shape. From there, and after much reflection, it became clear that a composite work examining all three could not be composed in isolation from the many others, women and men, with whom they and their organizations interacted. The result is the book you hold in your hand.

There was, however, still more to it than that. While it was necessary to learn the intricacies of the environment in which Jewish rescuers of Jews were forced to live during World War II—the murderous dark that was the Holocaust—it was also vitally important to realize that generalizing the experience was an impossibility due to the individuality of each person's situation. Samantha Lakin's research was a clear addition to pursuing this task. As she interviewed 61 Jewish children and rescuers who survived the Holocaust by being smuggled through Jewish rescue networks to safety in Switzerland, stories emerged about the individuality of each person's situation, significant yet among the themes of rescue in the face of the gravest atrocity and genocide—specifically, the Holocaust.

Focusing on just a few young women, therefore, provided the authors with the opportunity to show how the Holocaust's impact could be mitigated through smuggling Jewish children across the border between France and Switzerland. As we show, rescue served as a form of resistance, in which the saving of lives was as much a priority for some people as the defeat of the Nazis and their collaborators.

This book looks closely at the region of France known as the Haute-Savoie, close to the border with Switzerland near Geneva. Not only does it examine the complicated situation in that region—where rescuers had to deal with German Nazis, Italian Fascists, and Vichy police—but it also gives those who were rescued a voice, providing readers with insight into how they have recalled the intense (and often traumatic) period of their rescue. We also show the heroic (and sometimes tragic) fate of the rescuers, who were heroines not only of the French resistance but also of humanity.

Although other studies of Vichy (France), the Holocaust, and/or resistance look at a range of responses—political, ideological, literary, military—few have looked at the rescue of Jews by those prepared to risk everything through escorting them to safety in the border regions. Even fewer have considered _Jewish_ rescue of Jews (or of Jewish children, specifically) or of such rescues being carried out by women. At best, this might have been dealt with in passing, in general studies. This book, therefore, is arguably the first in which the experiences and efforts of a number of rescuers—all of whom knew or knew of each other—have been brought together in a single volume with the object of honoring their memory and showing how the value of human life could be upheld during the Holocaust.

Within this context, the narrative is driven by courage and sacrifice of the rescuers' efforts in trying to save Jews (principally, Jewish children) by spiriting them out of France during the second half of the war years. To do so, it has been deemed necessary to contextualize the story by looking at the position of Jews in France in the lead-up to and outbreak of the war itself, during which the ideals of republican democracy were constantly being challenged, and a constant battle for France's future was being fought in a society deeply divided between those on the left and the right of politics.

Given this background, we also examine the course of antisemitism in France before the war, as this provided fertile ground for the policies adopted by the collaborationist government of Marshal Philippe Pétain, located at Vichy after the fall of France in the summer of 1940. As a result, to further contextualize the milieu in which the rescues took place, we show the experience of Jews in France during the war.

In addition, it was essential that we explore the complexity of the resistance and rescue networks and those involved. Some were Jewish; indeed, Jews were among the first and most active resisters in France during the period of the Nazi occupation and division of the country in German and Vichy zones. Yet there were also anti-Nazi resistance networks that were not Jewish, yet they dedicated themselves to the protection of Jews and engaged in smuggling activities in order to save Jewish lives. Clearly, these had to be considered here, particularly as there were linkages between groups that saw themselves all working toward the same goal.

In order to best appreciate the experience of those who were rescued beyond a simple recitation of the historical narrative, we asked a simple question: How did those who were rescued respond to their encounter with the Holocaust? The secrecy (and, often, trauma) surrounding their departure and passage through hostile territory, followed by finding sanctuary in Switzerland, generated memories that, in many cases, lasted a lifetime. We therefore sought to explore how those who had firsthand familiarity with the efforts of the _passeurs_ have remembered their experience. Looking at their recollections provided us with the opportunity to consider the nature of the trauma these children underwent.

Beyond this, we also sought to learn how the experience affected the children in later life, after their safety had been secured and beyond. For some, this meant staying in Switzerland and building a life free of the pains experienced during their time living under the Nazis or in hiding; for others, the aftermath was one of returning to France, Germany, or other places, only to find that their loved ones had perished.

In writing this book, we were stuck by the full range of the human experience, from fear and violence to defiance and, above all, selfless heroism. Unlike many other projects on which we have been engaged relating to the horror of the Holocaust, it has been a privilege to engage in work relating to the saving of life rather than its destruction—though tragically (almost inevitably), death also accompanies these pages. It is our hope that the legacy of the former will prevail over that of the latter and that the example of those profiled here will serve as inspiration for us all.

If it is true that it takes a village to raise a child, it is equally true that any study of this kind relies on a number of important colleagues and partners to enable it to see the light of day.

Paul Bartrop would like to place on record his gratitude to the following for their help in a variety of ways: Jacques Sémelin (Sciences Po, Paris); Laurent Douzou (l'université Lumière Lyon-II and Scienes Po, Lyon); Cindy Biesse (Lyon and Annecy); Michel and Paula Huguenin (Geneva and Sarasota, and through them, Hugo Steinberg of Geneva); Deborah Lee Madsen (University of Geneva); and Robert Gildea (University of Oxford). Contact with each of them has helped to shape his thoughts in ways that they might not have been aware of, but which were vital nonetheless.

Samantha Lakin would like to express gratitude to the following for their insight, assistance, and guidance: Jacques Ehrenfreund at the University of Lausanne (UNIL); Pat Henry in Walla Walla, Washington (Whitman College); Laura Bernier in Geneva; Nan Lefenfeld in Maryland; Pierre and Claudine Dreyfus in Lausanne; and Mendel Naparstek in Lausanne. Samantha honors the men and women who shared their stories through interviews for this research; for some of them, it was the last testimony they gave during their lifetime.

A number of institutions made important contributions to this project during the research phase. Recognition is due to Aurore Blaise and the staff in the Archives Department at the Mémorial de la Shoah in Paris; the research staff at the Centre d'histoire de la résistance et de la deportation in Lyon, and the Archives départementales de la Haute-Savoie in Annecy. In New York the outstanding ongoing work of the Hidden Child Foundation/ADL enabled the two authors, through a circuitous route, to connect with each other, and in this regard our thanks are due to the codirector, Rachelle Goldstein.

In addition, we thank the University of Lausanne (UNIL); the Cantonal Archives in Geneva; the Cantonal Archives in Vaud, Switzerland; the ETH Zürich, _Archiv für Zeitgeschichte_ ; the International Institute for Holocaust Research, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem; the Swiss Federal Archives; the Archives of the OSE (Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants) in Paris; the _Centre de documentation juive contemporaine_ in Paris; and the Visual History Archive at USC Shoah Foundation.

In Melbourne, Paul Bartrop was honored to be appointed as a Visiting Fellow of the Jewish Holocaust Centre during 2018, and in this regard would like to express his appreciation to Warren Fineberg and Michael Cohen. Another resident of Melbourne, Paul Valent of the Child Survivors of the Holocaust group, provided further valuable contacts, for which we are grateful. Paul Bartrop would also like to recognize the encouragement given by Don Bartrop of Melbourne as the project developed, while Rabbi Ronnie Figdor of St. Kilda Hebrew Congregation helped through the provision of an obscure fact at the very end of the writing phase.

Samantha Lakin was the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship at the University of Lausanne in 2011–2012, which allowed her to undertake this research in an extensive and meaningful way. Fulbright scholar and documentary photographer Laura Bernier provided invaluable encouragement, partnership, and dedication to this research as a partner for exhibits and public education related to this work. Bertha Schwartz and Hanna Keselman, Holocaust survivors living in Maryland and New Jersey, respectively, also provided valuable guidance and contacts. Both are exceptional educators and friends. We thank the U.S. Embassy in Bern and the Swiss Embassy in Washington, D.C., for taking an ongoing interest in this research.

Florida Gulf Coast University has provided continued encouragement through Melodie Eichbauer, Alison Elgart, Robert (Bob) Gregerson, Tatiana Schuss, Rachel Tait, T. C. Yih, and, prior to her departure for another posting, Nicola Foote. Carey Fells, as ever, has provided stalwart service as the executive secretary of the Department of Social Sciences and has helped to keep the Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies grounded. The student Center Affiliates for 2017–2018, Vic Blasucci, Lilian Blackmon, and Emma Ramseyer, provided valuable assistance at a crucial time toward the end of the project. Additional recognition must be extended to Michael Dickerman, Steven Leonard Jacobs, and Danielle Drew for their insights and enthusiasm over the years this volume has been developing.

The Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University has become a home for research of this kind, and we appreciate ongoing encouragement from Center faculty Debórah Dwork, Ken MacLean, Thomas Kühne, Taner Akçam, and Mary Jane Rein.

Finally, Paul Bartrop must—as always—give an appropriate salute to his wife, Eve, for the steadfast encouragement she has always provided. Without her faith in the merits of the project, it would never have seen the light of day.

Samantha Lakin would like to thank her husband, Benjamin Sacks, and her parents, Linda and Donald Lakin, for supporting each endeavor with enthusiasm and love, even when it required compromise. Because of their belief in the value of research about genocide and their steadfast dedication to respecting all individuals regardless of background, the project was able to come to fruition.

To one and all, our sincere thanks.
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Introduction

Annecy is a small town in southeastern France, close to the Swiss border. The trip by train from Lyon takes in beautiful scenery, and one can see lakes, snow-capped mountains of the French Alps, and sheer cliff faces as the train meanders through the picturesque countryside. The tiny Thiou river, about 3.5 kilometers long, flows into the majestic Lake Annecy, crossing the city and forming small canals that give Annecy its nickname of "the Venice of the Alps" and the picture-postcard image it projects to the world. With the shops and medieval apartments of the Old Town clustered at the foot of its dominating medieval castle, Annecy, the _préfecture_ of the _département_ of Haute-Savoie, is located just 40 kilometers south of Geneva. The surrounding area offers several diversions. The shores of Lake Annecy see boat tours; a 40-kilometer road circuit of the lake is popular with cyclists, while the surrounding hills present a variety of walking excursions.

Annecy, put simply, is idyllic. Walking through its maze of alleyways, looking out over the lake, and taking in the visage of the Alps, it seems inconceivable to early 21st-century eyes that this was a location for high wartime drama just seven decades earlier. That this town of peace and tranquility was the jumping-off place for extensive people-smuggling activity, moreover, would appear even more inconceivable to those beholding the town today.

The Haute-Savoie region formed part of unoccupied, or Vichy, France during World War II. Occupied by Italian forces between November 1942 and September 1943, the region embraces not only Annecy but also such famous towns as Aix-les-Bains, Chambery, Evian-les-Bains, and Chamonix. Two other locations—the commune of Saint-Julien-en-Genevois (nine kilometers from downtown Geneva) and the town of Annemasse (only two kilometers from the border itself)—played important roles in passing Jewish refugees from France to Switzerland during the war.

Resistance during the Holocaust

Anti-Nazi resistance during World War II took on many different forms and occurred on a scale ranging from countless individual acts to large, well-organized movements. France saw resistance from both Jews and non-Jews. The number of resisters and resistance groups will likely never be known for certain, because the postwar French government tended to inflate their number for political reasons. In many places, particularly near the start of the German occupation, resistance was not centrally organized; in fact, referring to _the_ Resistance was for quite some time a misnomer, as those opposed to the German occupation were often divided by ideological, political, and religious differences.

Resistance itself encompassed an array of active and passive measures. Active resistance included sabotage, murder, assassinations, intelligence gathering, bombings, and the like. Passive resistance also took many forms. It included noncooperation with authorities, civil disobedience, organizing underground newspapers, and hiding Jews and other Nazi targets, as well as smuggling them out of the country.

A somewhat generalized, though false, impression developed in the postwar period suggesting that most Jews did not offer any resistance toward their Nazi persecutors and went to their deaths without much of a fight—as it was said, "like sheep to the slaughter." This is erroneous, as Jews adopted a dynamic resistance stance throughout France. This was sometimes solitary but could also be a part of an organized group effort. It took many forms—from smuggling, to sabotage, to assassinations, to spying, to running underground newspapers, to devising anti-German propaganda. Passive (or spiritual) resistance had its own end—simply to survive the ordeal while maintaining one's dignity—and it took on a multitude of forms, ranging from creating and maintaining Jewish institutions to providing clandestine education for children. It also encompassed the observance of Jewish holidays and religious and cultural rituals, preserving the history of communal existence, maintaining journals and underground newspapers, and collecting and hiding documentation of Jewish experiences under wartime conditions.

Within France, Jews made up nearly 20 percent of the French Resistance movement, even though they composed only about 1 percent of the French population. As one example among many, the _Armée Juive_ , or Jewish Army (AJ), numbered some 2,000 at its peak. Formed in Toulouse, it conducted attacks and sabotage against German personnel and interests, smuggled hundreds of Jews into neutral Spain and Switzerland, and incited uprisings in major French cities in the summer of 1944 to help divert German attention and troops from the Allied landings at Normandy beginning in June of that year.

Non-Jewish Rescuers of Jews

The oppressive environment in which Jews found themselves saw a desperate need for rescue, and in this regard, some non-Jews risked their lives to help Jews survive. Throughout Europe they constituted but a fraction of the population that might have helped—even by the most generous estimates less than one-half of 1 percent of the total population under Nazi occupation—but their importance transcends their numbers.

Rescuers came from all walks of life: rich and poor, religious and nonreligious, Catholics and Protestants, women and men, young and old, uneducated and educated. Most remain unknown to the larger public, although several thousand have been honored by Israel's Yad Vashem in Jerusalem or within France itself. They were ordinary people who nonetheless performed extraordinary deeds, and, consistent with their quiet heroism, many in retrospect refused to see that what they did was anything more than the decent thing.

What did rescuers do? As Jews were progressively stripped of their rights, segregated, and isolated from the rest of the community, rescuers sustained them materially and emotionally. They conspired to hide Jews and smuggle them out of harm's way, and as it became clear that Jews were marked for extermination, rescuers helped them maintain an underground existence, often sheltering them within their own homes for at least part of the time.

Any of these activities could, depending on the circumstances, result in death for the rescuers if caught. In addition to this very real threat, rescuers carried other burdens. Forced to keep their activities secret, deception dominated their lives. Some helped manufacture new identities for the victims, obtaining or forging false papers and then coaching those they were helping to play their new "Aryan" roles appropriately. Finding and building hiding places as well as obtaining food frequently taxed their ingenuity and resources. Many deprived themselves of the routine intimacies of family and friends to avoid revealing secrets accidentally. They often enlisted their older children in their illicit activities and sometimes deceived the younger ones who might talk about the strangers living with them. In the atmosphere of the day, no one could be fully trusted, and they had constantly to be on guard.

Rescuers sometimes (though by no means always) undertook their activities for little reward and (again, by no means always) performed their activities voluntarily. Regardless, the potential risks involved in all such undertakings were very high, not only to those engaging in the rescues but also to their families. In addition, they often acted in an environment that was at best ambivalent about Jews and at worst virulently antisemitic; the perils of betrayal by neighbors and acquaintances were ubiquitous.

Jewish Rescuers of Jews

Jews also rescued Jews in France during World War II. This was, of course, extremely dangerous. _All_ Jews—rescuers and rescued alike—were subject to the threat of arrest and deportation, and many Jews who protected others were killed by the Nazis.

Jewish activists created networks that rescued thousands of other Jews, often working alongside non-Jews for the common good. Sometimes Jewish rescuers could be found among underground fighting groups; in all, across Europe there were more than 200 active Jewish rescue organizations. Some were deep in the heart of occupied territory, whereas others operated outside of the Nazi grip. Hundreds of Jews participated in these rescues, risking their lives on both an organizational and an individual level, assisting in smuggling and hiding activities, obtaining or creating false documentation, providing food and medical supplies, warning their fellow Jews about impending actions and deportations, establishing welfare societies, and harboring children in orphanages.

Some Jews came out of hiding to rescue other Jews; others, given an opportunity to escape, delayed their departure, knowingly putting themselves in danger to save both family members and complete strangers. Many paid with their own lives to ensure that others might live.

It is important to realize, in this context, that rescue was itself a form of resistance: an active, ongoing process of opposition to all aspects of life as intended by the Nazis. It could take many forms and arise over any issue. It was as much an attitude as a physical process, and it sought to negate the commands, rules, intentions, actions, statements, and deprivations imposed by the occupiers. Its numerous forms enabled men and women to take some measure of control over their fates in an environment in which survival and success were in no way guaranteed. Every act of assistance, encouragement, and cooperation that took place disproved the claim that an attitude of self-reliance could not be maintained, and individuals, groups, and resistance movements all sought to establish and maintain this attitude.

Rescuing was existential. Though many might think that the term "rescue" implies Allied action to save Jews as part of the war effort, there is much to show that both Jews and non-Jews under occupation tried hard to take charge of the business of saving Jewish lives themselves without external help or hindrance. Every attempt at rescue was an expression of Jewish defiance, a challenge to the Nazi view that Jews would not, and could not, fight back. In France, Jewish involvement in the Resistance was more than just armed insurgency—though it was certainly that, too. The underground networks were not only vitally important for waging a clandestine war against the Germans and their collaborators; they also enabled brave French resisters, for the most part young people, to smuggle Jews across borders. This was particularly the case in saving the lives of Jewish children. As resistance activities, these actions fused into a joint endeavor that sought to outlive the Nazis and ensure Jewish survival despite the odds.

Heroines of Vichy France: Format of This Volume

While a vast body of literature has been generated regarding resistance in France during the German occupation, there are still areas awaiting their historian. The current volume seeks to address this lacuna in respect of those who devoted themselves to rescuing Jews—in particular, Jewish children—through smuggling them across the border between Vichy France and Switzerland between 1941 and 1944.

Chapter 1 provides an overview of the Jewish experience in France in the years up to the collapse of the Third Republic in 1940. It examines the divergence in society between Jews classed as "native" and "foreign" and why the difference mattered in French society. "Native" Jews had a more accepted position in society, whereas "foreign" (also known as "immigrant") Jews were viewed as objects of suspicion and subjected to antisemitic hostility. The chapter considers the legacy of the Dreyfus Affair on relations between Jews and non-Jews, and shows how, by the onset of the Depression, France saw the growth of the radical far right, exemplified through fascist and antisemitic movements. This, in turn, forced successive governments to address the onset of a Jewish refugee presence in France, resulting in the establishment of internment camps on French soil (in which the family members of some of those in this study were incarcerated). Finally, the chapter assesses the condition of the Jews in France at the outbreak of war in 1939.

Chapter 2 is an examination of some of the ways certain elements of French Jewry responded to the introduction of the Vichy government's antisemitic laws, particularly as expressed through two organizations: the _Œuvre de Secours aux Enfants_ (Children's Aid Society, or OSE), as seen through the lens of Vivette Hermann and Andrée Salomon, and the AJ, with a focus on the actions of Charlotte Sorkine. The chapter briefly chronicles France's road to the Final Solution and how the activities of the AJ—which saw itself as a fighting organization—developed a rescue focus which sought to save Jewish children through smuggling them across the border into Switzerland.

Chapter 3 provides readers with a glimpse into a lesser-known aspect of France during World War II: an interlude between November 1942 and September 1943 during which Italian forces occupied a sizeable stretch of territory in the southeast of the country, buried within Vichy France, and here adopted a benevolent policy toward Jews (many of whom had arrived in substantial numbers fleeing the Germans). As thousands of Jews moved into the Italian zone as refugees, traces of compassion emerged not found elsewhere in occupied France. Narrowing the focus to Nice, the chapter looks not only at a specific rescue network that developed to save Jewish children—a network, as it turned out, that was the brainchild of a Jewish couple, Moussa and Odette Abadi—but also at another Jewish organization, the _Mouvement de la Jeunesse Sioniste_ (Zionist Youth Movement, or MJS) and the rescue work of one of its operatives, Mila Racine. The chapter also considers Italian interactions with Jewish organizations and rescue networks.

Chapter 4 investigates the activities of several Jewish and Christian youth movements and other organizations dedicated to rescuing Jews and finding ways to carry them across the border to safety in Switzerland. This serves to acknowledge the extent to which individuals and groups devoted themselves to the task of saving lives. In particular, the chapter examines the following: the _Réseau Garel_ (Garel Network), led by Georges Garel and featuring the work of a key people smuggler, Georges Loinger; the _Éclaireurs Israélites de France_ (the Jewish Scouts, or EIF), created and led by Robert Gamzon, and featuring one of its most active sections, _La Sixième_ ("the Sixth"); a Catholic organization, _Amitié Chrétienne_ , created by Abbé Alexandre Glasberg and featuring the exploits of Rolande Birgy; and a Protestant organization, the _Comité inter-mouvements auprès des évacués_ (CIMADE), focusing on the efforts of Madeleine Barot, Mireille Philip, and Geneviève Pittet-Priacel. Overall, the chapter examines the variegated nature of anti-Nazi youth throughout southeastern France, with a detailed consideration of the motivations and actions of Jewish and Catholic resistance groups. It also investigates the nature of the relationships between them.

In view of chapter 4's twin concerns dealing with resistance and rescue by the youth movements, chapter 5 examines the nature of rescue by focusing on the very act itself. It shows how the organizations and those who engaged in the smuggling activities went about their tasks of border crossing in the Haute-Savoie region, close to the border near Geneva, while dealing with a wide variety of hazards along the way. One of the issues to be addressed in the chapter will be the refugee policy of Switzerland itself. Was it accepting? Rejecting? Discriminatory? Not only does the chapter examine the complicated situation in the region, but it also attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of the _passeurs_ through an assessment of their record as rescuers.

Chapter 6 is a focused study of one of those whose names will forever be associated with the sacrifices made on behalf of children: Marianne Cohn. On October 21, 1943, Mila Racine was arrested by the Gestapo, and her rescue efforts on behalf of Jewish children stopped immediately. Within a short period, her role was taken over by Marianne, who was herself arrested on May 31, 1944. After a period of imprisonment and torture, she was murdered by a hit team specially brought to Annemasse for the purpose; her mutilated body was only found after the liberation. Examining Marianne's arrest and murder, the chapter recreates and discusses the circumstances surrounding the events at Annemasse, their outcome(s), and their overall implications. It also features the rescue efforts of the mayor of Annemasse, Jean Deffaugt, who tried to secure Marianne's release. Himself a rescuer of Jewish children, he was later named as one of the Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

Chapter 7 moves away from the chronological-historical elements of the book, considering instead how those who were rescued responded to their experience. Based on extensive interviews with both rescued and rescuers undertaken by Samantha Lakin (as is chapter 8), consideration is given to the secrecy (and, often, trauma) surrounding the children's departure and passage through hostile territory, followed by finding sanctuary in Switzerland. The memories generated during this time lasted, in many cases, a lifetime. This chapter explores how those who had firsthand familiarity with the efforts of Marianne, Mila, Charlotte, Rolande, Mireille, Geneviéve, and others doing the same work have remembered their experience. This is the first time that a considered treatment of this kind has been made in English—and in many instances, it brings to light accounts that have not yet been made public at all.

Chapter 8 then takes the study further by considering the subsequent lives of those who were rescued as children. In retrospect, as adults, how did they view their salvation—and those who received them in Switzerland? Do they know what happened to loved ones they left behind? Were there any "happy endings"? In short, do those who were rescued children view the outcome of the war years in a positive or negative light?

To bring the book to a close, chapter 9 considers how—if at all—those featured in the book have been recalled in Holocaust memory, given that their activities were clandestine and that they were at risk of their lives if detected. The chapter asks whether there has been a divergence of memory relating to the _passeurs_ relative to the question of resistance, and it tries to account for this. Finally, it asks whether the existence and actions of those engaged in rescuing activities demands a reconsideration of Jewish responses to the Holocaust in southeastern France—or whether, once overlooked, they should now be elevated to a position commensurate with their efforts and sacrifices.

Hugo and Renée Steinberg: A Tale of What-Might-Have-Been

Hugo Steinberg was born on December 8, 1929, in Hamburg, Germany, to James and Bluette Steinberg ( _née_ Huguenin). They had an older daughter, Renée, who was born in 1926. James Steinberg had been born in Riga, Latvia (then part of the Russian Empire), to a Jewish family. Because Latvia attained independence in 1920, the children's birth nationality was given as Latvian.

James was educated initially in Riga but then attended the _École Superieure_ (high school) in Zürich before attending the University of Zürich for his undergraduate degree, and then he attended the University of Geneva, where he undertook a doctorate in economics. Here he met a Swiss Protestant, Bluette Huguenin. Born on February 25, 1905, Bluette's family had been based in Le Locle, a small town in the Swiss-French Canton of Neufchatel. Bluette and James were married in Geneva in a Protestant ceremony in 1922. At that time Swiss women lost their citizenship upon marriage to a foreign national, and so, based on James's nationality, Bluette became a Latvian citizen.

In 1927 James and Bluette moved to Hamburg, Germany, where James ran a successful wholesale fur trading business. The family visited Geneva each year on vacation to visit their Huguenin relatives and would spend their summers in Trebeurden, Brittany, while James traveled to source and buy skins—though his visits to Germany lasted only until the Nazi government began passing restrictive antisemitic laws from 1933 onward.

In 1939 James went to live in Antwerp, Belgium. The imminence of war during that summer saw the family holidaying in Trebeurden, but the fear of invasion by Germany, coupled with the demands of wholesale fur trading that required him to work close to a port, led to James remaining where he was.

Bluette, on the other hand, had been diagnosed in Hamburg with cancer. Nazi laws denied her the opportunity of hospital treatment because she was a foreign national married to a Jew; returning to Geneva for treatment had proven to be unsuccessful, as by then her cancer was too advanced. She died on April 23, 1939, but immediately prior to her death, she asked that her two children be baptized. The ceremony duly took place on June 13, 1939.

During the winter of 1939–1940, James and the two children remained in Brittany, but later in 1940, they moved to Paris. James considered that it would be safer to stay in France than going to Geneva, given what he saw as Switzerland's vulnerability and a fear of invasion by Germany.

Denied German citizenship because of James's Jewish identity and foreign birth, after the Soviet takeover of Latvia in June 1940, Hugo and Renée were rendered stateless. James, seeing how limited his options were, left the children in a small boardinghouse outside of Paris and then dropped out of sight. His children never saw their father again.

During the spring of 1940, a relative from Switzerland traveled from Paris to the boardinghouse with the intention of collecting the children and taking them to Vierzon, a city in central France located on the Cher River—a border that divided the city into two parts, one in occupied France, the other in the so-called "Free" or Vichy zone. Here, they spent the night sleeping in the lobby of a hotel; the next day they crossed the Demarcation Line to await collection by their uncle Charles, Bluette's brother.

As part of the defense of Switzerland, all the men, including Charles, had been called up to serve in the already-mobilized Swiss Army. Getting a leave pass to go into France and pick up the children took time, but once this could be arranged, he collected them and took them to the _Hôtel du Midi_ in Annemasse. Given the possibility of denunciation, the children had to remain in their hotel room, alone and silent, and only come into the dining room to eat.

Attempting to obtain official papers that would enable the children to enter Switzerland lawfully proved impossible. Charles learned from a contact he knew in Bern—who, as it turned out, oversaw the issuing of foreign documents—that he could arrange for visas for Hugo and Renée, but this would take several weeks. The prospect held out some hope, but should the war situation change, they could be rendered vulnerable at any moment. A fallback position was needed, and Charles decided to explore the prospect of engaging the services of a _passeur_ , or guide, to take the children illegally across the border if necessary. With time running out before the likelihood of their capture, in the event they did not need to use this option. At Saint-Julien, just inside the border, Charles received papers for the children identifying them as Christian, with exit visas from France and entry visas to Switzerland. With these in hand, Hugo and Renée were able to travel legally into Switzerland at the end of 1940. Hugo went to live with Charles's family and was treated like a son; Renée was placed with an aunt who had two daughters.

Hugo and Renée Steinberg's deliverance in Switzerland was all but guaranteed owing to Charles's good luck in having a friend with authority to issue Swiss visas. His nephew and niece were able to pass into the country without impediment—a rare outcome denied thousands of other children identified as Jews by Vichy France's anti-Jewish laws and hard-line Swiss officialdom.

The children's stateless condition placed them in jeopardy; with no protecting government to plead for them, they might otherwise never have received a hearing within the unsympathetic administrative system prevailing at the time. In a classic case of what-might-have-been, the children could easily have been picked up (and later deported to their deaths) as Jews owing to their father, or, alternatively, identified as Protestant neutrals and left alone by virtue of their mother's Swiss origin.

The confusion prevailing across Nazi Europe during the early phases of World War II hardened over time into a much more black-and-white environment in which persecution reigned ahead of compromise. Few were the lucky escapes such as those experienced by Renée and Hugo, and, given this, children who were targeted had to find security through other means. As this book shows, there were some people who would not abandon the children, even at great personal risk—and tragically, sometimes, at the cost of their very lives. It is to an attempt at understanding how it was that Jewish children were placed in such peril, and then rescued from it, that the current work is devoted.
* * *

CHAPTER ONE

France, the Jews, and the War

In May 1919 a little girl was born in the Port Royal maternity hospital in Paris. Given the name Vivette, she was the daughter of Nahum and Rachel Hermann ( _née_ Spirt), immigrants from Ukraine who had arrived in France independently of each other and married in Paris in 1918. Vivette grew up in a thoroughly French environment. A bright girl, at school she became steeped in French history, learned about French heroes, and enjoyed French culture. Her parents also absorbed these same elements in their new country, becoming completely assimilated. There were, however, two features that stood in the way of full acceptance from many of those around them: their foreign background, and the fact that they were Jewish.

Vivette's story was replicated for many Jewish children across France in the interwar years. This was a period that saw the arrival of a large number of immigrants from Eastern Europe, who joined a first-generation migrant population that had already been moving into the country before World War I. Between 1881 and 1914, more than 25,000 Jews had arrived in France; for many, it would be a stopover on the road to another destination, though for others it served as an ideal location in which they could find a home. And while the start of war in 1914 saw options of further migration from Eastern Europe closed down, there was still a trickle of new arrivals.

The Impact of the Great War

The Great War served as an important opportunity for members of the immigrant community to demonstrate their commitment to France. As historian Paula E. Hyman has written, the war "contributed to the integration of the immigrants into French Jewish life while also setting the stage for the arrival of thousands of new Jewish migrants into France." All sectors of French society entered into the _union sacrée_ (sacred union), an agreement to refrain from party politics for the good of the country at this time of national danger. For all Jews, native-born as well as those of migrant background, participation in the war provided the chance to demonstrate their own levels of patriotism. In all, some 40,000 Jews out of a Jewish population of 190,000 fought for France, of whom 7,500 were killed. Over 8,500 of those enlisting were deemed to be "foreign," and of these, 1,600 died.

The context into which these sacrifices can be placed, however, was a fractured one. Although the French Revolution had granted Jews citizenship and the rights accompanying it, the path to acceptance in the ensuing decades was anything but smooth. Napoleon Bonaparte began his relationship with the Jews by creating a state-sanctioned Jewish communal structure, but in 1808 he reneged on many of his initiatives by introducing a series of retrograde anti-Jewish measures that held back integration for many years. Despite this, as the 19th century progressed, Jews came to play an increasingly active role in society, culture, politics, and commerce.

This was tempered at the end of the century, however, by the crashing realization that some sectors of French society were not prepared to tolerate a successful Jewish presence on equal terms with other French citizens.

The Dreyfus Affair, a drawn-out and traumatic episode that began in 1894 with the arrest and conviction of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish artillery captain serving on the French General Staff, made this abundantly clear. Dreyfus had allegedly stolen and then communicated military secrets to the German Embassy in Paris; suspicion was leveled at him because he had access to sensitive material, but his Jewish identity was unquestionably the major factor "proving" his guilt. As it turned out, the charges were completely fabricated, but in what was an absolute miscarriage of justice, he was imprisoned for several years on Devil's Island in French Guiana, before his eventual exoneration in 1906.

The social ramifications of the Dreyfus Affair were immense. It was as though a mask of toleration had violently been ripped off French society. Dreyfus was stripped of his rank and subjected to military degradation, with the impact felt throughout the Jewish world. Right-wing agitators led by the rabidly anti-Jewish Édouard Drumont and his newspaper _La Libre Parole_ now employed the Dreyfus case as obvious evidence of Jewish treachery. Antisemitism became fashionable, as French society divided quickly into pro- and anti-Dreyfus forces. People began to wonder whether the Republic's commitment to the principles of the Revolution of 1789 had penetrated sufficiently deeply into the French psyche.

The shock forced a rethink as to what being French meant—and not only for Jews. Moderate republicans, socialists, and radicals now realized that the forces of the political right were in the process of hijacking the national agenda, employing antisemitism as a pathway to power and influence in which the future of the country would be directed by right-wing politicians, the military, and the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. The divisions formed at this time would dominate French society and politics for the next four decades; it is no exaggeration to say that the ultimate resolution of the problems facing the Third Republic in 1940 was a direct result of the schisms generated at the time of the Dreyfus Affair.

In one sense, the outbreak of war in 1914 sopped up the worst effects of the Affair so far as the Jews were concerned. Members of the community now began to look more concernedly at their place in French society. Some redoubled their efforts at assimilation; others sought to integrate their distinctive Jewish identity into a majority non-Jewish and Catholic France. Some, inspired by the insight of the Austrian Theodor Herzl (who had been sent to cover the Dreyfus Affair and drew the conclusion that enlightenment, emancipation, assimilation, and integration did not work), saw that the best hope for the Jews lay in Zionism, a return of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland in Palestine.

This was the general environment in which the parents of Vivette Hermann found themselves upon their arrival from Ukraine before the war. They saw France as "the land of liberty and the rights of man," and as Vivette was to write, they "sought to assimilate into French culture, without, however, giving up their Jewish identity." They were naturalized after the war. And in many respects, the story of the Hermann family resembled that of thousands of other Jewish immigrant families throughout France at this time.

Take, for example, the family of Charlotte Sorkine, born in Paris on February 15, 1925. Her mother was born in Braila, Romania, and her father in Rogachev (Rahachow), Belarus. Charlotte was raised in a highly academic family, but unlike Vivette's parents, they never took French citizenship; this would make them vulnerable to deportation later. Another case is that of Alexandre Rosenthal, the father of Marika Goldfayl. An immigrant from Hungary, he arrived in Paris from Hungary in 1924 "looking for political stability and work, but mainly hoping it would be a stepping stone to America." Given the difficulties of migrating to the United States, however, he decided to remain in France. Five years later he returned to Hungary, where he fell in love with Magda Mandel; he took her with him back to Paris, and in 1930 they were married. As was the case with Charlotte's parents, they did not manage to obtain French citizenship.

The immigrant influx altered the nature of the French Jewish community. Indeed, it caused a distinction to be drawn between French-born Jews (" _Israélites_ ") and foreign Jews (" _Juifs_ "). The former were thoroughly French in origin, fully integrated into the institutions and structures of French life; the latter, despite their best efforts, were still alien and finding their way. _Israélites_ spoke French and were, like the family of Alfred Dreyfus, fully assimilated. _Juifs_ often spoke Yiddish, had origins in the _shtetl_ villages of Eastern Europe, and were much more religiously observant than native French Jews. And into this mix should be added the thousands of French-speaking Jews who were arriving from North Africa from the end of the 19th century onward. As historian Esther Benbassa has written, "Marked by the massive arrival of new immigrants, the birth of modern anti-Semitism, the Dreyfus affair, and the emergence of Zionism, the end of the nineteenth century destabilized the model of Franco-Judaism that until then had been inseparable from integration _á la française_."

The interwar years presented additional challenges for the Jews of France. While the eventual end of the passions unleashed by the Dreyfus Affair had restored the faith of many French Jews in the democratic ideals of the republic, and the victorious outcome of the years of sacrifice during the Great War underscored their degree of patriotism, the postwar environment offered little room for complacency. Indeed, the 1920s was a period of mourning for much that had been lost from the _Belle Époque_ —that period from before 1914 characterized by optimism, a general European peace, growth in all fields of endeavor, economic prosperity, colonial expansion, and a reinforcement of French (and European) racial and cultural superiority.

During the war France had mobilized 8,700,000 men (a figure that did not include indigenous colonial personnel). This figure represented over 20 percent of the total population and 70 percent of the male population between the ages of 20 and 55. More than a quarter of all young men in the 20 to 27 age bracket were lost. Overall, at least 1,350,000 Frenchmen were killed in action, with more than 3,200,000 wounded. In the words of historian Anthony Clayton, "Uncounted thousands of men returned home psychologically scarred, many brutalized. It is estimated that the dead and those who died later due to war injuries left some 700,000 widows, and the number of orphaned children beyond estimation. France mourned, and was to mourn for long."

Northern France, where the bulk of the fighting on the Western Front had taken place, was devastated. Ten percent of the total territory of the country had been invaded, occupied, and fought over, embracing 12.5 percent of France's civilian population. Eighty percent of steel production was lost, together with 90 percent of iron ore and 80 percent of pig iron. Coal was down by 55 percent, and many other areas of manufacturing and industry were similarly hit. And in a region where millions of acres were ravaged, agricultural losses were commensurate with those in industry. To this should be added massive destruction of railways, houses, public buildings, roads, bridges, and waterways; the entire territory was in desperate need of physical restoration, and this is to say nothing of the enormous psychological toll wrought not only by the damage but also by the trauma of invasion and occupation by a detested enemy.

From Postwar to Interwar

What all this represented for the future was incalculable. France had won the war—but at such a cost as to stagger imagination. No one doubted that the victory was worth the cost: France was not conquered, Germany was defeated, and the occupied regions were liberated. But the triumph left the country wounded, in a state of collective shock, exhausted, and uncertain as to what the future might bring. Winning the war, in short, hit France hard—not as hard as losing would have, of course, but in many areas, victory was cruel. As historian Benjamin F. Martin has shown, accompanying the loss of lives and production were the financial costs of victory, with the budget of 1918 showing France in deficit to the tune of 34 billion francs. The national debt had risen to 175 billion francs by the end of 1918. France, though not broken, was certainly broke.

Accompanying the dislocation was political instability. Although the extremes of left and right were more vocal than previously, the democratic and parliamentary institutions of the Third Republic continued to function in much the same way as they had before the war. This is not to say that the rifts caused by the Dreyfus Affair had been healed—far from it. While the forces of the liberal republic had successfully held back the anti-Dreyfusards, the years after the war saw a growth and radicalization of right-wing groups espousing a variety of ideas that gnawed at the edges of the prevailing order of government.

These years were, however, essentially an era of heightened success for the political left, crowned in June 1936 by the electoral victory of a broad coalition of Socialists, Radicals, and Communists in the so-called "Popular Front." Winning government on a platform of defending democracy, resisting fascism, and bringing about much-needed social reform, it was led by the Socialist leader (and Jew) Léon Blum, and it was to last in office until June 1937—during which time fascist organizations were dissolved and a good deal of liberal labor legislation was enacted.

Given the ascendancy of the Popular Front, a right-wing backlash was inevitable. The decade of the 1930s was a period in which fascist and right-wing authoritarian movements and governments came to predominate throughout Europe, and France was far from immune from the threat this posed. Within France, moreover, such movements had deep roots. As early as 1906 an intellectual named Charles Maurras had founded a militantly royalist, antirepublican, Catholic movement named _Action Française_ , and by the 1930s many of his views were inspiring fascist groups and parties. Indeed, probably the largest political movement at the time, the _Croix de Feu_ , was both influenced by and an extension of _Action Française_. Further, the far-right militant wing of _Action Française_ —the _Fédération nationale des Camelots du Roi_ —took the views of Maurras to the streets through demonstrations and riots, and though the youthful _Camelots_ , imbued with the ideals of _Action Française_ , were not themselves fascist, many of those involved would later provide the bedrock upon which the collaborationist wartime government of Marshal Philippe Pétain would rest.

The victory of the Popular Front, together with a general sympathy for the political left and causes resting on social justice, tends to convey the image that right-wing parties and movements were ineffectual during this period, but as historian Robert Soucy has argued, these movements often had a strong nationalist base that was highly attractive to many people from the petty bourgeoisie and the agricultural sectors. French fascism missed its chance to take power owing to the time-and-place circumstances of the Popular Front ascendancy, but this is not to say that it did not have a following.

Throughout this time, moreover, antisemitism made an important return to the national scene. Esther Benbassa has summarized the issue neatly, describing how "the old prewar themes" surfaced once more: "the Jewish revolution, the Judeo-Bolshevik alliance, the Jews as stateless invaders, as eternal, unassimilable foreigners, dangerous, evil, deicidal beings responsible for all the ills and all the disorders (especially economic) from which France suffered." The fact that Léon Blum was Jewish only served to intensify the accusations, with the Popular Front projected by right-wing extremists as a Jewish plot to bring down French civilization.

The Refugee Challenge

While these events were taking place inside France, external developments also played an important role in the life of the Jewish community. Vivette Hermann was very aware of these. She learned of "the situation" (as she called it) in fascist Italy, but she only started to feel concerned about wider political affairs after the Popular Front victory in 1936. In March that year, Germany reoccupied the Rhineland (which Vivette mistook for the Ruhr), and on July 17, the Spanish Civil War broke out. Between the two events, the Popular Front won the elections in France. In view of the climate, Vivette's father—"like many of his friends"—disapproved of Léon Blum's assumption of the position of prime minister on the ground that "a Jew should not have accepted that office." It was around this time that Vivette also learned something of the hardships being faced by Jews in Germany; many of those with whom the family maintained contacts "were certain that France was bound to intervene soon."

The onset of a refugee presence forced on France (as on the rest of the world) by Nazi Germany was the result of an immediate introduction of antisemitic measures designed initially to alienate Jews from German society and then, over time, to drive them out of the country. As historian Paula E. Hyman explains, owing to France's "proximity to Germany and its transition of offering asylum to victims of political persecution," the country "took in more refugees than any other European nation." She cites a figure, for example, of 25,000 refugees from Nazi Germany in 1933 alone, 85 percent of whom were Jews, and this figure was only likely to intensify as Nazi measures against Jews increased.

Few countries extended a welcoming hand to the Jews of Germany as the 1930s progressed, and after the union ( _Anschluss_ ) of Austria with Germany in March of 1938, immigration regulations, already tight in most countries, became even more constricted. Two years earlier, the president of the World Zionist Organization, Dr. Chaim Weizmann, testified before the Peel Commission established by the British government for the purpose of exploring options for the Palestine Mandate. On November 25, 1936, he declared to the Commission that the Jews of Europe faced a situation in which "the world is divided into places where they cannot live and places where they cannot enter." After the _Anschluss_ , that situation was exacerbated significantly.

Up to this time, Jews in Nazi Germany had been reluctant to leave what, for the previous century and a half, they had considered to be their legitimate homeland. Frequently raised in discussions of whether or not to stay was the sacrifice made by German Jews on behalf of Imperial Germany during the Great War, when almost 100,000 Jews wore the Kaiser's uniform and 12,000 were killed in combat. Despite the threat posed by the Nazis, most Jews after 1933 preferred to remain in Germany. In 1933 Germany's Jewish population numbered around 525,000; by 1939 nearly 300,000 had left, meaning that slightly under half of the Jewish community still remained in the country on the eve of World War II. As John V. H. Dippel, who has made a major study of the subject, has shown, "Except for the young and the rootless, emigration was not the answer." Jews saw their destiny as remaining in Germany, "where the Jews had lived and endured for centuries."

This is an important point when juxtaposed alongside the additional fact that most countries outside Nazi Germany after 1933 did not want to accept Jews as immigrants. When considered globally, there are perhaps four possible reasons for this—and these, whether individually or in combination, presented few options for German Jews as life under the Nazis reduced their hopes of remaining in Germany.

In the first place, many countries carried a number of prejudices toward foreigners that had been formed according to racial or ethnic criteria in earlier times. Second, the world in the 1930s was staggering through a period of economic depression, occasioning mass unemployment and a succession of financial crises. Opposition to all migration, both from organized labor and from the middle class, was common: the former on the ground that newly arrived migrants would work for reduced pay that lowered industrial standards; the latter from a fear that "migrants take jobs" and that wherever employment possibilities did exist, local workers would be crowded out.

Interwoven with these fears was the third theme running through refugee rejection: a measure of xenophobia and intolerance of aliens, whereby recent arrivals would be those most likely to bear the brunt of local animosities and prejudices—the more so if they were visibly different or spoke a foreign language. All too frequently, foreign arrivals were viewed as objects of suspicion, and the fears that usually emerge from such a perception were often quick to surface.

Finally came the issue of antisemitism. The history of refugee reception cannot be separated from that of antisemitism, and in some countries, it formed the primary motivation underscoring policies of refugee rejection. Scholarly literature relating to worldwide antisemitism during the interwar years is vast and covers a wide range of variables, but it is important to point out that it was only one of a number of factors counting toward the rejection of refugee Jews from Germany in the 1930s.

On March 12, 1938, German troops marched into Austria to a euphoric welcome. Although this union had been expressly forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, international responses to the _Anschluss_ , though immediate, were ineffectual. French political life at the time, for instance, was in turmoil; the Radical Socialist Party government of Camille Chautemps had resigned on March 13, paving the way for a return of Léon Blum and the final death throes of the Popular Front. France was therefore in no position to oppose the invasion; the administration, occupied with other concerns domestically, made no official comment. Most other countries were just as noncommittal.

Against this backdrop, in July 1938 an international conference convened in the Hôtel Royal at Évian, France, to discuss the refugee issue. The Évian Conference, which took place between July 6 and July 15, 1938, met at the invitation of U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt with the intention of discussing, in depth, the nature of the immigration policies of the invited nations and, in accordance with those, what the options were for accepting refugees from Germany. Those attending were there to consider what steps could be taken to facilitate refugee migration, though no country was expected to depart in any way from its existing immigration regulations. When the meeting's final recommendations were made, no definite action on behalf of the refugees was proposed—only that the deliberations should continue, and a subsequent meeting should take place in London.

Selecting France as the location for the conference was a second-choice option. From the first, Roosevelt had preferred that it should be held in neutral Switzerland, but the Swiss and the League of Nations, headquartered in Geneva, feared that the meeting could compromise the efforts of the League's High Commission for Refugees. France, therefore, was the next best option, and when Roosevelt made the offer, the French agreed immediately. This, in the words of historian Vicky Caron, was "almost certainly because [Léon] Blum was still premier and because his foreign minister, Joseph Paul-Boncour, had always been sympathetic to the refugees." With equal speed, the French chose the spa town closest to the Swiss border in the French Alps, Évian-les-Bains, as the location for the meeting, though the government knew where to draw the line: despite the French offer to serve as host, the Foreign Ministry proclaimed there was no possibility of France "admitting an important contingent of immigrants into the metropolitan territory in a permanent capacity."

When Henry Bérenger, the French delegate to the conference, rose to speak, he came quickly to the heart of the matter as viewed from Paris. He noted that the French government fully approved of the United States' initiative in calling the conference and understood the views of Roosevelt and the State Department regarding the refugee problem and the proposed solutions the United States was offering. He then pointed out that since the war France had received, sheltered, and allowed to settle "an enormous number of exiles and refugees from all quarters." Quoting the figure of 200,000 refugees—of all backgrounds, and not only Jews—accepted to date, he noted that the country was already accommodating three million aliens, and that, as a result, "the extreme point of saturation" had passed. It was, he claimed, the highest figure, in relative terms, of any country dealing with the refugee issue.

France would, he affirmed, continue to remain true to "the long-standing tradition of universal hospitality which has characterized her throughout all her history," and would "maintain this tradition so far as the limits laid down by her geographical position, her population and her resources permit." This was not, however, a problem to be thrust onto France or any other single nation. It was a global problem that could only be solved by the collective action of all the world's governments. Why was the meeting being held, therefore? In Bérenger's view, this was not "an international conference"; rather, "we are an Intergovernmental Committee." The difference was an important one in that "We are not a forum for eloquent speeches" but rather a nucleus from which "the co-ordinated work of practical experts" could proceed.

France, Bérenger said, "is prepared to discuss how [the refugees'] emigration can best be controlled and their settlement effected" in view of the fact that "the real object" of the meeting should be to ascertain and study the "various territorial, shipping, financial, monetary and social measures" before any commitments were made. Once that had been done, the committee could start to look at the prospect of achieving practical results, which must be sought not only through the countries present at Évian but also (in a pointed reference to Germany) with those that are "no longer members of the League of Nations." Finishing, he then expressed gratitude to President Roosevelt for his generosity in calling the meeting, in the hope that "this generosity will regenerate still more effectively the civilization of the centuries still to come."

Did this signal a closing of the doors of France to increased Jewish refugee immigration? It certainly seemed so, just at the time when a more liberal policy was needed. Already France had introduced substantial control measures over the rights and movements of immigrants, and the onset of large numbers of Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, added to an even larger number fleeing the Spanish Civil War, led to the appearance of something akin to a state of panic in various sectors of French politics and society.

The government of Édouard Daladier, prime minister between April 1938 and March 1940, accelerated this environment of exclusion. French police were given the power to fine and imprison illegal immigrants and were ordered to send back to Germany any who were caught. Immigrants had restrictions placed on their voting rights; they were placed under surveillance and required to carry an identity card at all times. Those of foreign background deemed unworthy of the title of "French citizen" were stripped of their adopted nationality.

In addition, internment camps were established as holding centers in various parts of the country. The most infamous of these were used to intern Spanish Republican refugees and military personnel fleeing Spain, but several also contained German anti-Nazis and German Jewish refugees. Some camps had names that would later become infamous, particularly Gurs and Rivesaltes. With the onset of war in 1939, the number of camps multiplied; after the defeat of France in the summer of 1940 and the ascent to office of Marshal Philippe Pétain, they would eventually be employed in the service of the Final Solution.

The attitude of the democracies toward the various territorial aggressions of Adolf Hitler has been told many times and does not bear repeating here. It will suffice to say that while a great deal of scholarly and popular literature regarding appeasement has focused on Britain (especially the role of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in his relationship with Adolf Hitler), the French position, often overlooked, was not one of following blindly behind Britain but rather had its own, internally driven, dynamic.

The economic crisis of the early 1930s came later to France than to other Western economies, but when it did, the country seemed unable to respond to the political and economic challenges of the times. Riven by scandals and the development of polarizing forces on both sides of politics, France experienced a succession of ineffective governments. And then, when Germany announced the reoccupation of the Rhineland on March 7, 1936, it appeared as though France had surrendered its predominance on the continent. This was no less a moral than a strategic disaster; the reoccupation of the Rhineland meant that France's carefully constructed alliance safeguards with Poland and Czechoslovakia, intended to protect the country from a revanchist Germany, would henceforth be ineffective. France would now be unable to come to the aid of its allies if they were attacked. To the north, the government of Belgium realized the significance of this, and on October 14, 1936, it renounced its military convention with France and declared its neutrality.

From this point on, French and British policies became more and more aligned. The goals of each were similar, focused on holding the line against German encroachments into Western Europe and avoiding a Soviet breakout from the East. The legacy of the past was felt most strongly in the desperate desire to avoid another war; only 20 years separated the Great War from the present day, and, less than a generation on, the scars were only now beginning to heal. Indeed, as Vivette Hermann found on a visit to Oxford in the summer of 1938, all those she met "seemed convinced of the imminence of war," with gas masks being distributed to the population in anticipation of what might come. The policy of appeasement henceforth saw that Hitler would be permitted to acquire the territories he sought without recourse to conflict—which the Western governments did not want or could not justify to their people, in any case.

The result saw France's foreign policy aligned with that of Britain. The list of crises in which the Western powers acquiesced is lengthy: refusal by the Popular Front government to support a leftist government fighting fascism in Spain, the German takeover of Austria, and, ultimately, the Sudetenland crisis resulting in the shameful Western surrender of Czechoslovakia at Munich.

For France, each of these surrenders was accompanied by an increasing sense of impotence in the face of what were held to be immovable obstacles. No one, it seemed, was prepared to stand up to the fascist dictators, and all preferred to retreat behind a defensive mentality in which action gave way to torpor. (Indeed, Vivette Hermann was horrified by what she saw in Paris upon her return from Britain in early October 1938: "I was struck by the atmosphere of 'cowardly relief.' I, too, was relieved. And then life went on.") It might be said that the general attitude prevailing in French society mirrored the country's primary military strategy centering on the impenetrable fortifications of the Maginot Line. It was this, moreover, that accompanied France into war on September 3, 1939.

War, Defeat, and the Jews

The French declaration of war, timed for 5:00 p.m. that evening, came six hours after that of Britain. As recorded by historian Alistair Horne, "there was no repetition of the mad crushes outside the recruiting offices" as there had been in 1914. The mood was melancholy: as Horne has written, "the slogan of the moment" was essentially one of "Let's get it over with." The coming of war "was accompanied with none of the hysteria, throwing of flowers or cries of 'To Berlin!' that had characterized August 1914."

In Paris Vivette Hermann asked, "How did one pass from peace to war?" and on the last night of peace, she walked the streets of a capital that was plunged into darkness. She and her mother moved quickly to Normandy for safety, but when the feared bombing of Paris failed to materialize, they returned; soon, Vivette was an assistant at a school in Orléans. She "took little notice of the events" around her (while observing the major developments in Poland and Finland) and was more focused on obtaining her diploma of higher studies in order to qualify as a teacher.

On May 10, 1940, as Vivette was receiving her diploma (with distinction), the German Army invaded France. On the morning of May 15, Prime Minister Paul Reynaud wired his newly installed counterpart in London, Winston Churchill, and reported, "Last night we lost the battle. The route to Paris is open." By the end of May, the bulk of the French armies had been sent north to confront the Germans but were encircled by the Panzer armies of the Wehrmacht. As the French struggled to hold lines that were hopelessly confused and crumbling everywhere, worse was to come on June 10, when Italy declared war and invaded southern France. Although this was to be the only theater in which the French armies managed some degree of success, the Italians capitalized on the French collapse at the hands of the Germans by getting a seat at the peace table and subsequently occupying the French Riviera.

Immediately afterward, between June 15 and 25, the British Expeditionary Force was evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk, along with tens of thousands of French soldiers. Churchill, in a last-ditch effort to retain some semblance of unity between the British and French allies, proposed a stillborn case for federal union. On June 16 Reynaud resigned as prime minister and was replaced by the "Hero of Verdun," Marshal Philippe Pétain. The next day, Pétain addressed the people of France, saying that the fighting must stop and that he had asked the Germans for an armistice. On June 22, 1940, in the same railway carriage in the forest of Compiègne in which the Armistice was signed in 1918, signaling Germany's defeat in the Great War, France surrendered.

For Vivette, hearing Pétain's words announcing a cessation of fighting "led most of us to breathe an enormous sigh of relief." She refused to abandon her country at this calamitous time, however, hoping "to remain linked to France even in defeat." The whole family received an emergency visa for the United States, but because Vivette and her sister refused to leave, their parents did not avail themselves of it.

The collapse of France had enormous consequences for Jewish communities throughout France. In 1939 the Jewish population was estimated at somewhere between 300,000 and 330,000. A year later, it had increased by another 10 percent. Overall, perhaps 90,000 were French-born. With the outbreak of war on September 3, 1939, Jews flocked to the colors; and by January 1940, Jews in the French Army numbered some 60,000, of whom 16,000 were foreign-born. The defeat was just as disastrous for the Jews of France as it was for everyone else, but for the Jews it had the added significance of being to an avowedly antisemitic enemy. In the words of historian Paula E. Hyman, the Nazi conquest "initiated a period of unprecedented persecution for Jews living in France."

The cessation of fighting and the subsequent armistice did not mean a return to the status quo for France—far from it. When the terms of the armistice went into effect on July 25, 1940, France was to agree to the occupation by Germany of three-fifths of the country north and west of a line running from Geneva to Tours and extending south to the Spanish border; in a clause that would hit Jewish refugees especially hard, all persons previously granted political asylum had to be surrendered to the German authorities. All occupation costs had to be carried by the French themselves, a small French Army of 100,000 men was to be permitted (all forces currently in the field had to surrender and were taken into custody in Germany as prisoners of war), and the French navy was to be disarmed. The area not occupied by the Germans, the two-fifths of the country in the southeast, was permitted to remain as the seat of a quasi-independent French government under Pétain, with its capital in the spa and resort town of Vichy. This so-called "free zone" took as its title _L'État Français_ (French State) to distance itself from the hated _République française_ (French Republic), which was henceforth dissolved.

Pétain's goal was to completely revivify the country, based on the concepts of _Travail, Famille et Patrie_ (Work, Family, and Fatherland), core ideas that would inject new life into a France that had been drained of its _élan vital_. Pétain's regime instituted what became known as the National Revolution, which would be a diametric opposite to the perceived ruin caused by the Third Republic. It was characterized by such features as antiparliamentarism; a rejection of the notion of separation of powers; xenophobia and antisemitism; the promotion of traditional values relating to home, fatherland, and family; a rejection of modernity; and, above all, a personality cult focusing on Pétain himself. Imbued with such ideals, it was clear that there could be no place for a Jewish presence in the New France—and even less for _immigrant_ Jews.

For many years it was presumed that Pétain did not share the antisemitic elements of National Revolution thinking, but in 2010 a document was uncovered by renowned Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld which placed an antisemitic agenda directly at Pétain's feet. The document was an annotated draft of a bill from 1940 that would change the status of Jews in France. The annotations—which Klarsfeld identified as having been made by Pétain's own hand—strengthened the anti-Jewish measures in the bill considerably. For Klarsfeld, the document showed clearly that Pétain was far from a passive figurehead at the helm of the new regime but was, rather, a very active participant in the process of anti-Jewish persecution.

This legislation would become known as the _Statut des Juifs_ , or Jewish Statute, but regulations aimed at the Jews were already in train, being promulgated by the Nazis in the occupied zone on September 27, 1940. It defined Jews as either followers of the Jewish religion or descendants of two observant Jewish grandparents, and it imposed a number of restrictions on Jews: any who moved from the occupied zone to Vichy France were forbidden reentry; Jewish businesses had to be identified as such by clearly marked signs in French and German; all Jews were to be compulsorily registered; and from this point on, they were to carry an identity card with the word _Juif_ stamped on it.

Then, on October 3, 1940, the _Statut des Juifs_ was introduced at Vichy, and this set the stage for what was to come. It defined Jews more strictly than had the Nazi regulation, identifying a person as Jewish if he or she had three Jewish grandparents or two Jewish grandparents if his or her spouse was also Jewish. It also called for the drastic cutback of Jewish involvement in French society and was to apply in both zones: Jews would be forbidden from serving in the military as officers or noncommissioned officers, in senior positions in government administration, or in any role with an influence over public opinion. One day later, on October 4, another regulation granted local prefects the authority to intern "foreigners of the Jewish race." On October 7, the Jews of Algeria—who had enjoyed French citizenship since 1870—were also deprived of their nationality as French men and women.

A second _Statut des Juifs_ , passed on June 2, 1941, made the definition of who was to be considered Jewish even more rigid, and it called for the removal of Jews from industry, business, and the liberal professions. Whereas under the first _Statut_ there were some dispensations, very few Jews were now exempted from Vichy's anti-Jewish laws.

Vivette Hermann was in Paris throughout all this time, living under German occupation. Unlike many Jews who trusted in the French traditions of the Rights of Man and passively registered themselves with the authorities as required by the new laws, Vivette refused to do so. Her attitude was that her religious preferences were her own business, and she could not (or would not) understand why this information should be required on an official form. By now aged 21, and with her teaching qualification in hand, she decided to join her parents in Vichy. In November 1940 she and her sister moved on to Toulouse, farther south, where she resumed her studies and began to mingle with other students. Some of her classmates had left-wing views; some were communists, and, as Vivette was to write, "The first members of the Toulouse Resistance were to come from their ranks."

French and Jewish, Jewish and French

The French Jewish journey in the half century leading up to the start of 1941 was, overall, one characterized by a series of peaks and troughs. From a period of general achievement in all fields prior to the Dreyfus Affair, after this French Jews were exposed to the ugly side of discrimination and vilification. This gave way to thoroughgoing expressions of commitment to France during the Great War, followed by an expansion of Jewish population through ongoing immigration from Eastern Europe. This, in turn, transformed the dynamics of the Jewish community into native- and foreign-born, adding to a trend that had already started before 1914.

Then, during the 1930s, two additional developments had an impact on the Jewish community: an ascendancy of left-wing parties crowned by the election of a Jewish prime minister, and a reactionary rise of antisemitic movements and parties that once more made anti-Jewish racism widespread and (in certain circles) acceptable.

With the onset of a new war in September of 1939, French Jews once more rushed to align themselves with the cause of democracy. The collapse of France by the summer of 1940, however, saw the start of a new period of oppression on a hitherto undreamed-of scale. The country was split in two, and Jews were rendered vulnerable to two regimes—the Nazi occupiers in the north and west and the Vichy regime in what remained. Probably the greatest challenge any society can face, the challenge of its very existence, was about to begin. How far the Jews could take matters in hand for themselves, and how far they would be dependent upon the efforts of those around them, remained to be seen.

In June 1941 a compulsory census and registration of Jews in Vichy France was taken. For Vivette Hermann, this passed her by; as she recalled later, "either I did not know about it, or I pretended not to." She was not alone: she and her friends "were all silently against Vichy but kept quiet about it." Vivette looked to her own affairs, working and studying. She passed with distinction her examination for the certificate in English and waited for the end of the school year. Summer was nigh; she moved to Cannes to be with her mother while her sister remained in Toulouse. Just before leaving for Cannes, she remembered her time in Toulouse as one of transition; from this point on, "I wanted to lead a more active life." The next few months, both for Vivette and for Jews all over Vichy France, would challenge them to confront where they stood in relation to the regime, to the Nazis, and to their fellow Jews. It would not be a pleasant confrontation.
* * *

CHAPTER TWO

The "Free Zone": The Nazis Take Over

While Vivette Hermann was deciding in the summer of 1941 to assume "a more active life," forces were at work that would see to it that she had more than enough to do. The Vichy regime demonstrated quickly that life had changed from before the war—for many, this was hardly for the better. Vichy's National Revolution, in the words of historian Shannon Fogg, "was predicated on the idea of creating an organic community based on the traditional values of religion, authority, and order," which of necessity required "a return to the earth, a return to conventional gender roles, and the removal of Jewish, communist, and foreign influences from politics and economics."

Yet despite Vichy's anti-Jewish regulations, life, as Vivette saw it, was tolerable. By the summer of 1941 in Cannes, she wrote, "time seemed to have stopped." Hotels were filled with "rich refugees," while store windows advertised luxury clothing; food, though rationed, was available in sufficient quantities to ensure that no one went without. It was a period of summer idleness and sunshine, and Vivette, bored, found herself drawn into a new world of helping those who could not help themselves: children. She learned, with shock, that many Jewish children were living in the internment camp at Rivesaltes, in southern France, near the Spanish border. As she was to write later: "I was crushed by this piece of news. 'Children in camps? That's impossible! Pétain would not allow it.'"

The OSE and Help for the Jews

The journey on which Vivette was about to embark would eventually find her working for the _Œuvre de Secours aux Enfants_ (Society for Assistance to Children, or OSE). Created in 1912 by a group of doctors in St. Petersburg, Russia, as the _Obshchetsvo Zdravookhraneniya Yevreyiev_ (Organization for the Health Protection of Jews, or OZE), it was, from the start, a specifically Jewish self-help body. The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the ensuing Civil War made its work increasingly necessary, while at the same time rendering its operations less and less tenable given the massive destruction and the onset of the communist state. In 1923 OSE relocated in Berlin; 10 years later, with the inception of Nazism in Germany in 1933, it was forced to relocate again, this time to France.

Prior to the outbreak of war in September 1939, OSE established and ran several homes for Jewish children who, for various reasons, were without parents or any other family to care for them. This was especially the case for refugee children, many of whom had been sent out of Nazi Germany by their parents or brought in by relatives—or, in some cases, had made their own way out of Germany and needed the assistance that only adults could provide. By May 1939, OSE children's homes held more than 200 refugees, and during the war years, its work would increase exponentially as it rescued children in danger of their very lives.

This was the organization into which Vivette Hermann found herself drawn. In Marseille she was recruited by Andrée Salomon ( _née_ Sulzer), the 33-year-old OSE delegate to the Gurs and Rivesaltes internment camps. As the war dragged on, Andrée became one of the great figures in the Jewish struggle against antisemitism. Responsible for OSE social welfare programs, she organized various ways of saving children from Vichy internment camps. These children were usually placed in OSE homes and kept in hiding with false identities; when they were no longer able to evade deportation, arrangements were made for them to be smuggled out to safer locations or across the border into Spain and Switzerland.

Andrée Sulzer was born in 1908 in Grussenheim, a small French town in Alsace right on the border with Germany. A legal secretary in Strasbourg and a Zionist by conviction, in 1931 she married a young scientist, Tobie Salomon. She began her rescue activities in a piecemeal fashion as early as 1937, but after Germany's _Kristallnacht_ pogrom in November 1938, she started receiving children evacuated from the Third Reich. In 1939–1940, she began taking care of children in OSE homes, and in 1941 she was the OSE delegate to Gurs and Rivesaltes. Here, she prepared emigration papers for Jewish children leaving for the United States, at the same time organizing assistance for families who were interned.

Beginning in the summer of 1942, a Jewish resistance operative, Georges Garel ( _né_ Grigori Garfinkel), organized a secret network of escape routes to transport children to safe places when these were needed. The network came to cover four major regions in Vichy and was fully operational by the summer of 1943. Garel, codenamed Gasquet, was born in Kiev and left Russia after the Revolution, settling first in Berlin before moving to Paris in 1926. In 1942 he began working with a Catholic priest, Father Alexandre Glasberg (a convert from Judaism), and Charles Lederman (Garel's brother-in-law) to help Jews imprisoned in a camp at Vénissieux. From this base, he set up a child rescue network in Lyon, from where he coordinated everything and saw to it that sympathetic French families, as well as convents and boarding schools, were organized as places of refuge for the OSE children.

As Garel was organizing his network, Andrée Salomon joined him, and in April 1943, following negotiations with the Swiss authorities for the arrival of unaccompanied children, the smuggling of OSE children into Switzerland began. After September 1943 the job became more difficult; organizing the smuggling parties to Switzerland was now entrusted to another rescuer, Georges Loinger. After a series of arrests between November 1943 and March 1944, the smuggling of children slowed down significantly as roundups were taking place all over Vichy France, and the danger of capture for the _passeurs_ intensified tremendously. In desperation, particularly after German forces defeated Resistance fighters in March 1944 in a set-piece battle on the plateau of Glières in the _départment_ of Haute-Savoie, close to the Swiss border, activities resumed at an accelerated rate, carried out jointly by the OSE and other Jewish rescue organizations. Andrée Salomon, throughout this time, was to be a key player. As we will see, in 1944 she also began organizing the clandestine movement of Jewish children into Spain.

The OSE is remembered today as a key resistance organization, though it was not an armed resistance group. Neither Andrée Salomon nor Vivette Hermann took up arms against the occupiers or Vichy, yet their work, and that of many others, was instrumental in saving the lives of countless Jewish children and adults.

Vichy Tightens Its Grip

Throughout this period—and notwithstanding Vivette's early thoughts on the relatively benign nature of the Pétain regime—life for Jews was anything but benign. The regime was, as we have seen, dubbed the National Revolution; it was paternalistic, authoritarian, nationalistic, and racist. Vichy saw to it that many of the liberal policies of the Third Republic were reversed, as democratic freedoms were constantly eroded. Central planning became a key feature of the economy, and, although trade unions could remain, their activities were controlled and supervised closely. Whatever independence women had managed to achieve during the 1930s was gradually withdrawn; instead, the focus was placed on their rightful position as wives and mothers. A free media was overturned, and news and editorial opinion became tightly controlled by the state.

Ian Ousby, who has studied this period, has identified just how malevolent the restrictions on Jews were, right from the outset of Pétain's regime:

On 17 July 1940, just five days after it assumed power, Vichy promulgated a law restricting entry into public service to those born of Jewish fathers; it was followed in August and September by similar laws affecting the medical and legal professions. On 22 July a commission was set up to review all naturalizations granted since 1927 (when the criteria had been relaxed) and to strip "undesirables" of their citizenship; about 6,000 of the 15,000 people who fell victim to its work were Jewish. On 4 October _préfets_ were authorized to intern foreign Jews in special camps or force them to live in remote areas under police surveillance.

In July 1941, Vichy ordered a census of all Jews, which would later provide a foundation for the Germans to keep track of Jews in the unoccupied zone. The _Statut des Juifs_ included such instruments as expanding the category of who was considered Jewish, forbidding free negotiation of Jewish-owned capital, confiscating radios owned by Jews, deporting or executing Jewish members of the resistance movement, establishment of a curfew for Jews, forbidding Jews to change their place of residence, and prohibiting Jewish access to public areas. In Vichy, however, unlike in occupied France, the compulsory wearing of the Jewish star was not employed due to fears of a negative public reaction (though a person's Jewish identity was marked on their identification papers).

Vichy's definition of Jewishness differed from that of the Nazis. People were considered Jewish if they had three grandparents, or if they had two Jewish grandparents and were married to a Jew. The religion of an individual did not matter; Vichy continued to classify a person as Jewish even if they converted to Christianity.

March 29, 1941, saw the creation of a _Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives_ (Commissariat-General for Jewish Affairs, or CGQJ), directed by Xavier Vallat, a conservative Catholic who had been active in _Action Française_ as a young man and was a leading representative of the antisemitic extreme right during the 1930s. In 1936 he was especially vitriolic in his opposition to the new Jewish prime minister, Léon Blum; by the time Vichy was established in 1940, Vallat was well known as one of France's leading Jew-baiters.

The CGQJ was tasked with working alongside of the German authorities to "Aryanize" Jewish businesses in the occupied zone. It also managed the seizure of Jewish assets and organized anti-Jewish propaganda. At the same time, the Germans were collecting registers of Jews, made all the easier by the anti-Jewish laws of 1941 that systematized the registration of Jews across the country.

Beginning in the winter of 1940 and lasting through 1941, Jews in occupied France began to be imprisoned in a range of camps in Paris and southwestern France. Internment camps previously opened by the Third Republic to incarcerate enemy aliens were now put to new use as transit camps for removing from society all "undesirables," including Jews, homosexuals, and Roma. Drancy, founded in 1939 initially to intern French communists, would become the central transit location for holding those who, later, would be deported to their deaths at Auschwitz.

Vichy tightened its antisemitic legislation, applicable in both zones, throughout 1941. Starting in February 1942 French police oversaw the confiscation of telephones and radios from Jewish homes and imposed the legal requirement that Jews not appear in public places and that they ride only on the last car of the Paris Metro. The position of Jews throughout France—foreigners to begin with but broadening out to French-born Jews within a year—became less and less viable.

The Emergence of the Armée Juive

As in most cases of persecution, there were some among the victim population who were not prepared to accept their victimization passively. From an early date, one such group, created by a few committed Zionists, became arguably the leading Jewish resistance organization and a focus for other opposition bodies throughout France.

Abraham Polonski was one of the founders of this movement. Like many others, he was of immigrant background. Born in Russia in 1913, he moved to France before World War II. Here, he worked as an electrical engineer in Toulouse, and in August 1940, after the French surrender, he and his wife Eugénie, together with Dovid Knut and his wife Ariane and (Aron) Lucien Lublin, came together to build a secret underground organization called _La Main Forte_ ("The Strong Hand"). Its aim was to establish a movement that would defeat the Nazis prior to moving on to Palestine, where they would work to establish a Jewish state.

Dovid Knut (born Duvid Meerovich Fiksman) was born in 1900 in Orgeev (Orhei), Bessarabia—the Romanian-speaking region of Russia (now Moldova). The son of a grocer, and from an observant Jewish family, he was raised in Kishinev (Chişinău). Having developed an early interest in poetry, at the age of 14, he began publishing his poems and by 1918 was editing the magazine _Molodaya mysl'_ ( _Young Thought_ ). In 1920 he moved to Paris, where he took several odd jobs while learning French by night at the _Alliance Française_.

In late 1934, having divorced his first wife, Sarra Groboys, Knut began a relationship with Ariane Scriabina, daughter of the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin. Ariane associated herself with the Russian émigré community and married Knut, who would be her third husband. In 1940 Ariane converted to Judaism and took the name Sarah, demanding that she be called only by that name from then on. Her conversion was viewed as a betrayal by the non-Jewish Russian immigrant community, but for Ariane her identification with the Jewish people became an obsession. She became intolerant of even the slightest manifestations of antisemitism, a characteristic that would condition her and Knut's attitude toward Nazism once France had been overrun in 1940.

Shortly before the country fell and the Germans entered Paris, Ariane joined Knut in Toulouse. It was here, on January 10, 1942, that they joined with Abraham Polonski (whose resistance code names were "Pol" and "Maurice Ferrer") and the others to establish an underground Jewish militia, the AJ. The first members of the AJ were recruited from a Torah study group led by a Polish-born rabbi in Toulouse, Paul Roitman, and initially they assisted with supplying the necessities of daily life and sustenance to the inmates of internment camps attempting to escape in and around Toulouse. The organization received funds from a refugee group based in Switzerland, the Zionist Organization of France.

AJ activities were directed essentially by Polonski and Lublin and undertaken by the most committed members of the various Zionist youth movements. Through to the summer of 1942, Polonski and Lublin recruited militants from Toulouse, Montpellier, Nice, Grenoble, Lyon, and Limoges. They, in turn, fought in their own cities as well as Paris, attacking informers and Gestapo collaborators.

The oath that new members of the AJ had to recite was straightforward: placing their right hand on the blue and white Zionist flag and the Bible, they would say:

I swear fidelity to the Jewish Army

And obedience to its leaders.

May my people live again,

May Eretz-Israel be reborn.

Liberty or death.

The intentions of the AJ were twofold: to protect Jews threatened by the Nazis and to develop military skills that could then be used to help in the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. The Zionist background of the members was important here; Abraham and Eugénie Polonski had been strongly influenced by the right-wing Zionist Revisionist movement of Vladimir Jabotinsky, advocating belligerency and assertiveness. As the war progressed, the AJ's peak strength eventually numbered some 2,000 fighters. Recruitment standards were severe, with secrecy and obedience mandatory. The primary purpose of the organization was to resist when success seemed likely, as well as rescuing Jews by the provision of false papers, assisting with border crossings, and the like.

The AJ comprised, for the most part, young Jews who had decided to take their defense into their own hands. Recruitment was secret, passed by word of mouth and through friends recommending friends, always with the utmost regard to security and double-checking of authenticity. At all costs, the danger of denunciation had to be reduced to a minimum, and to preserve secrecy even further, AJ action groups were deliberately kept small.

The Final Solution Comes to France

While Jewish opposition to Vichy was being organized, developments were taking place elsewhere, as the Nazis were making their plans for the extermination of European Jewry. On January 20, 1942, a daylong conference of German leaders (mainly bureaucrats) met to discuss the demands of arranging for the emigration, deportation, concentration, and elimination of the Jewish population within Germany and the occupied territories. Convened and organized by the head of the SS _Sicherheitsdienst_ (Security Service, or SD), Reinhard Heydrich, the conference examined plans for the concentration of Jews prior to their deaths in specially designed camps. The meeting took place in a grand villa on the shores of Lake Wannsee, in suburban Berlin.

After the meeting it was decided that the timing and implementation of what henceforth became known as the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question" ( _Endlösung der Judenfrage_ ) would be made by SS leaders in each of the occupied countries. In France, this responsibility would be split between Theodor Dannecker, a member of the _Judenreferat_ (Department of Jewish Affairs) in the SD's main office in Berlin under the command of Adolf Eichmann, and Dannecker's boss in Paris, Helmut Knochen. Eichmann had chosen Dannecker to direct the Paris office; Knochen was responsible for rounding up French Jews and deporting them to concentration camps. Arranging deportations enabled Dannecker to formulate the appropriate regulations governing deportations of native-born as well as foreign Jews.

It was Dannecker who would claim credit for being the first to propose continuous Jewish deportations from France to the East, and he constantly pressured the Vichy authorities to take more active antisemitic measures. On his initiative, Xavier Vallat created the _Union Générale des Israélites de France_ (General Union of French Jews, or UGIF) on November 29, 1941, to consolidate all Jewish organizations in France into a single unit. While the Jews were assured that the UGIF was created for providing social assistance (such as setting up orphanages and other forms of aid), in reality it was frequently forced to yield to German and French demands. This extended to cooperation with mass arrests as well as providing the names of Jewish resisters whenever this was demanded. In what was effectively the French equivalent of the _Judenrat_ (Jewish Council) system established by the Nazis in Poland, the UGIF became the body utilized by the Nazis and their Vichy collaborators for the purpose of facilitating the registration and deportation of Jews to their deaths in the East.

As a portent of what was to come, in March 1942 approximately 1,000 Jews were arrested and sent to the detention camp at Compiègne, from where they were deported to Auschwitz. The transport took two days to arrive at its destination and produced considerable suffering for those imprisoned inside the carriages. Most of those who were still alive at the end of the journey were murdered.

On July 4, 1942, a meeting took place in Paris to organize a much bigger operation. In addition to Dannecker and Knochen, others at the meeting included Vichy Premier Pierre Laval; René Bousquet, the Secretary General of police; Louis Darquier de Pellepoix, the new Vichy Commissioner for Jewish Affairs (who had replaced Vallat in May); and other senior police officials. It was agreed that _Opération Vent Printanier_ ("Operation SPRING WIND"), the largest roundup of Jews up to this point, would take place on June 16, 1942. The original plan called for Jews over the age of 16 to be arrested. Laval, however, amended this such that all children, irrespective of age, would be taken in, a measure that went beyond the orders given to him by the Germans, who had given strict instructions to spare children under the age of 16. Thus, between July 17 and September 30, 1942, more than 6,000 Jewish children from all over France were arrested and transported to their deaths.

Prior to the roundup, the French Resistance and some Jewish organizations learned about Operation SPRING WIND and were able to help nearly 9,000 Jews escape arrest—which, when it took place, included entire families, including, for the first time, women and children, who were ordered from their homes in dawn raids by the French police. It was later recalled that the French police operated with a level of enthusiasm that surprised the Germans. Many non-Jewish French citizens also openly welcomed these anti-Jewish measures, with some people even joining in and looting the newly empty homes. The operation, now more frequently referred to as _La Rafle du Vel' d'Hiv_ ("the round-up of the _Vel' d'Hiv_ "), saw the arrest of 13,152 Jews, 31 percent of them children, over the course of two days over July 16–17. Roughly 7,000 of those arrested were held under the harshest of conditions at the _Vélodrome d'Hiver_ , a stadium for bicycle races and other sporting events in the center of Paris. Others were held in, or taken to, nearby internment camps such as Drancy, Pithiviers, or Beaune-la-Rolande prior to be being deported to Auschwitz for extermination.

Within this vale of tears, the situation of children was perhaps hardest to bear. As historian Michael Curtis has written, "Until Vel' d'Hiv the French police had not arrested children," but from then on, they numbered in thousands, with practically none surviving Auschwitz.

Yet it was from now that the wider war began to intrude, and in an unexpected way. Operation TORCH, the Allied invasion of French North Africa, began on November 8, 1942, and was the first major transatlantic campaign for American troops. Landings all along the invasion beachheads were highly successful, with Vichy French troops offering minimal resistance; Admiral François Darlan, the highest-ranking French officer in North Africa, had earlier ordered all French forces to cooperate with the advancing Allies.

In short order—whether in a fit of rage at Darlan's betrayal or from strategic necessity to shore up the southern Mediterranean approaches to continental Europe—Hitler immediately ordered the activation of Operation ANTON ( _Fall Anton_ ), the German and Italian military occupation of Vichy France. Axis troops crossing the demarcation line now effectively marked the end of Vichy's nominal independence, with the Vichy government remaining in existence but as a de facto puppet state of Germany. Southern France now became subjected to three different administrations: with the Germans, the Italians, and—still—Vichy, all claiming control over various geographic and governmental spheres. On November 27, 1942, in one of Vichy's final independent acts, orders were given for the French fleet resting at the huge naval base in Toulon to be scuttled to avoid capture by the Germans. This defiance was the last expression of a regime that had, since the summer of 1940, been deluding itself as to the level and nature of its freedom.

In the meantime, the French police had been continuing their arrests of Jews. Now, with the arrival of the Germans, the campaign intensified. On May 7, 1942 a senior SS officer, Carl Oberg, was sent to Paris as the personal representative of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler to take command of the SS and SD in occupied France. Responsible for managing anti-Jewish policy and destroying the French Resistance, he was soon dubbed the "Butcher of Paris," as he and others (including the Vichy French police, headed by René Bousquet) were responsible for the deportation of over 40,000 Jews from France to extermination camps in the East. Moving to Marseille in southern France, Oberg then oversaw 6,000 arrests, the displacement of 20,000 people, and a partial destruction of the harbor area.

The Rebellion of Charlotte Sorkine

Against all this activity, Jewish and non-Jewish organizations sought to ease the life of those who had been captured, removed, and imprisoned in camps throughout France. While the OSE of Andrée Salomon and Vivette Hermann found homes and sanctuaries for Jewish orphans, certain members of the AJ, despite its avowed military preference, assumed responsibility for the care of Jewish children and sought opportunities to rescue children whenever they presented themselves.

One such combatant was a young woman named Charlotte Sorkine. Like Vivette Hermann and many other activist Jews, Charlotte, though born in France on February 15, 1925, was, as shown in chapter 1, from an immigrant background. By 1940, however, neither of Charlotte's parents had yet become French citizens, rendering them vulnerable under the Vichy requirement that foreign Jews be interned and deported. Even naturalized Jews were vulnerable. And then, with the intensification of Vichy measures against Jews in 1942, the family's situation, like that of so many others, worsened. From this point on, Charlotte realized that she was adult enough to join in some sort of resistance movement.

In July 1942, French police came on several occasions in the middle of the night looking for Charlotte's father, who was in hiding. Then, on July 16, 1942, two officers came for her mother, who was arrested and taken to the center of Paris during the Vel' d'Hiv roundup. Moving to Nice to join her father and her brother, Leo Serge Lazare (at that time already fighting with the Resistance), Charlotte made false papers to protect her father and arranged to get him out of France. She told him that she would accompany him to safety in Switzerland, but instead handed him over to a passeur, a local resister who led people to safety across the border. Her father survived the war and was able to reunite with Charlotte after the liberation.

In Nice, Charlotte joined the AJ and, by March of 1943, began escorting groups to safety at the Swiss border. Also, in March 1943, working under the direction of Maurice Loebenberg, a resister who specialized in engraving and whose work was dedicated to forging official papers for resistance fighters and escaping Jews, she was responsible for guiding men to Toulouse, where passeurs took them to the Spanish border. Charlotte also worked alongside Loebenberg in creating thousands of false papers to assist in these people-smuggling activities.

In August 1943 Charlotte was involved in an incident involving Charles Archaimbault, a non-Jewish resistance leader. Seeking intelligence from the AJ, he noted that they were "real professionals" (in contrast to his initial fears of them being amateurs unfit to be soldiers). Having established contact with Charlotte and another AJ member, Rachel Cheigam, he learned from them that his group could proceed with a planned attack on a German position. They provided the location and how to prevent the police from intervening, and Archaimbault's assault was successful. He would not have been able to gather the necessary information, however, without Charlotte's activities in forging papers and the connection that had been made through this activity.

On the evening of May 31, 1944, a German patrol arrested another Jewish rescuer, Marianne Cohn, near Annemasse, just 200 meters from the Swiss border (see chapter 6, below). Removed from the circle of those able to serve as a passeur, Marianne's capture and subsequent death saw Charlotte assigned to taking on her role of transporting children, usually to Switzerland but occasionally also to Spain. In line with AJ strategy, some of these young people were keen to make the move so they could join up with the Allied armies. Also, throughout this time Charlotte continued the work of producing false documents, as well as receiving and transporting weapons and money. She also planted explosives in German-held areas.

The day after France's defeat back in 1940, Maurice Loebenberg had already begun his resistance activities, storing Il stocke des armes à Marseille. weapons in Marseille. Then, beginning in 1941, he organized false papers for the AJ. He developed a highly organized operation, contacting printers to obtain thousands of blank birth certificates, family booklets, and baptismal certificates, and then monitoring closely any possible changes in French and German official papers (which were many and frequent). Adopting as his _nom de guerre_ Maurice Cachoud, he created a group of approximately 25 young Jewish men and women who worked in the Jewish underground around Nice. The Cachoud Group was then responsible not only for creating false identity cards but also for finding hiding places, distributing funds, and trying to find French officials who would help in efforts to rescue Jews. Cachoud-Loebenberg directed his operatives to raid any stores likely to hold official stamps that could help legitimize the false papers he was creating. Between September 1943 and March 1944, the group produced an estimated 20,000 or more identity cards.

Loebenberg was more than a simple forger, however. His group also organized the flight of young people to French colonies, where they could enlist in the Free French forces, and set up an intelligence service to combat denunciations and execute those caught denouncing Jews. He was himself, however, caught in a trap set by the French Gestapo (the _Carlingue_ ) on July 18, 1944, while carrying a set of false documents. Though tortured for 36 hours, he maintained that he was only a liaison officer. The brutal treatment he received led to his death, and his body was only found later. He was buried with full military honors at Montparnasse Cemetery on April 10, 1945.

In June 1944, in the aftermath of the D-Day landings and the start of France's struggle for liberation, the AJ, in concert with other Jewish resistance groups, coalesced into the _Organisation Juive de Combat_ (Jewish Fighting Organization, or OJC), and developed an effective operational relationship with the general Resistance movement. On July 22, 1944, however, the Gestapo arrested 24 members of those who had been in the AJ. Charlotte Sorkine, still reeling from the loss of her mentor, managed to avoid this mass arrest. As a member of the OJC, she participated in the liberation of Lyon, Toulouse, Grenoble, and Nice and then took an active part in the liberation of Paris in August 1944.

The Armée Juive: Resistance and Rescue

For all this, it must be recalled that the AJ was not fundamentally created to rescue Jews; it saw itself as a fighting unit. In the words of historian Susan Zuccotti:

Military leaders of the Armée Juive organized young people in Toulouse, Nice, Lyon, and Grenoble into the commando groups called groupes francs. Although they continued to hide and provision fugitives while escorting others into Spain or Switzerland, an equally important objective became the recruiting of partisans and their training in weapons, military tactics, and discipline for eventual group combat against the German Army in the countryside.

In 1970 Anny Latour ( _née_ Gutmann), a former resister who saved hundreds of Jews in and around the town of Condom in southwestern France, published an important study of the French Jewish resistance. In it, she chronicled just how deep the AJ's military preparations ran, from recruitment through training, the creation of an officer class, instilling of discipline, and, of course, taking the oath. Although essentially a military organization, however, it "differed from other groups in the general Resistance movement, by its Jewish and Zionist ideology." Lucien Lublin, one of the founders of the AJ, noted that it was from the very start a highly structured resistance body that was anything but unplanned:

We agreed from the beginning, that when it came to action, our movement had to be incorporated into the framework of the general resistance movement; as an organization of armed opposition—as our name clearly indicated—we had adopted the overall objectives of the French Resistance: to support the Allied efforts, and prepared ourselves physically and mentally, for the liberation of the country; and to execute the tasks ahead of us by the Allied Armies and General de Gaulle's Free French government in London.

Even though the AJ was not a rescue organization as such, therefore, it was nevertheless successful in Jewish rescue. Helping Jews escape from France to Spain and Switzerland, it is, as we shall see, credited with saving more than 300 Jews in 1943 and 1944 alone, as well as ensuring their safety through the forging of documents so essential in Charlotte Sorkine's work. She was one of many young activists who were determined not to allow the Nazis a free rein in their destructive efforts, and in the south of France after they took over, there were others who were equally effective.

One final dimension of the work of the AJ needs to be discussed within the current context. In line with its Zionist origins, the AJ had a commitment to realizing the Jewish home in Palestine promised by the Balfour Declaration of November 1917, and during the first half of 1943, it assisted young Jews seeking escape through Spain; once there, the intention was that they would move on to Palestine and join the fight there. After providing the requisite military training, several were escorted through the extremely hazardous crossing by "safe" passeurs chosen by the AJ, with escape routes to Palestine already worked out. Although the evidence is inconclusive, it is possible that Charlotte Sorkine might have been among the small group of AJ operatives assisting in this activity.

Although specifically assisting Jewish children was not a priority for the AJ, a meeting of AJ leaders in Toulouse in March 1944 saw the creation of a new branch organization, the _Service d'évacuation et de regroupement des enfants_ (Evacuation and Relocation Service for Children, or SERE). In some respects this was an extension of an earlier initiative, the _Service d'évasion et de regroupement_ (Escape and Regrouping Service, or SER), established in October 1943 under the leadership of Jacques Roitman ( _né_ Morel), which had potential soldiers as its focus. (This service to Spain was hit hard in May 1944, when Roitman and several other resistance fighters were arrested by the Gestapo near Toulouse.) The SERE, on the other hand, took as its primary task the evacuation of children across the Pyrenees and to safety in Spain. Again, once there, the intention was to send them on to Palestine.

Of interest is that the initiative for the creation of the SERE came from Andrée Salomon of OSE; while she had been in the forefront of organizing Jewish children to be smuggled into Switzerland, this became increasingly risky from 1943 onward, and Spain—equally hazardous owing to the difficulties of navigating mountain passes and high altitudes—was seen as a possible alternative. There, was, of course, nothing new here; crossing the mountains had been just as much an escape route to freedom as Switzerland had been right from the start. But by 1944, with the end of the war in sight (though still a long way away) and the Nazis seemingly hell-bent on finishing the job of annihilating the Jews, rescuers sought every opportunity they could to save lives. This was not made any easier by the occupiers; in early 1943 the Germans forbade any approaches toward to the border area within 100 kilometers, other than for those with individually negotiated and approved passes. And then, once through, help had to be secured from local passeurs, who often demanded considerable sums of money to cover the risks they were taking (and, all too often, to make a handsome profit).

Where SERE was concerned, this translated into a smoothly run operation. As described by Lucien Lazare, a former resister who has studied all facets of Jewish resistance and rescue:

The SERE took charge of small groups, never larger than twelve children, in Toulouse. The children had been brought there under the responsibility of Andrée Salomon. The route to Spain passed via Andorra. After a night on the march, the little escapees were lodged in a hotel, where a bus took them to Spain. From April 6, the date of the first SERE convoy, until August 1944, eighty-eight children thus arrived in safety.

According to historian Renée Poznanski, this figure is likely to have been higher—up to 134—with 79 of the children known to have embarked on a Portuguese ship, the _Guinée_ , which subsequently arrived safely in Haifa. Overall, Lazare has calculated that the combined efforts of SER and SERE saw the rescue of no fewer than 313 Jews, with 42 men saved in 1943 and 271 adults and children in 1944. Of this grand total, 272 left for Palestine in February and October 1944; two were lost in the mountains, and six were captured and deported, of whom two survived the war.

SERE was succeeded in August 1944 by a non-AJ body, the _Œuvre de Protection de l'Enfance Juive_ (Jewish Child Protection Fund, or OPEJ), which had as its mission saving Jewish children whose parents had been deported or were missing. These children, threatened with arrest and deportation, were placed with kindly non-Jewish families or sympathetic institutions, and in this regard, their fate aligned more closely with the original mandate of the OSE. Thus, the missions of the AJ and the OSE became fully aligned, as members of each organization found ways to work with each other for the common goal of rescuing Jewish children.

Saving Lives

Life for Jews in Vichy France—the "Free Zone," as some saw it—was anything but free as 1940 proceeded toward the even darker times that began in 1942. In response, some Jews decided to find ways to fight back. The AJ, motivated by its commitment to Zionism and the creation of the Jewish home in Palestine, and informed by the teachings of Vladimir Jabotinsky regarding self-empowerment, physical fitness, and military training, was in the forefront of the struggle. Though its major focus was on armed confrontation, nevertheless certain of its members found a preference for other forms of opposition to both the German Nazis and their Vichy French associates.

The most important of these, for our purposes, was through rescuing Jews at risk, particularly Jewish children. Given that the home base of the AJ was located in southern France, much of this activity centered on smuggling activities across the Spanish border, from where the escapees could be transferred, by various routes, to safety in Palestine. This accorded with the AJ's Zionist mission, but it also served the important purpose of saving lives.

It would be too much to say that the AJ saved these people only by default; there were too many missions carried out with the express purpose of rescuing Jews, often at great cost to those carrying out the rescues. It would not be exaggerating, however, to say that saving Jewish lives was not the _primary_ concern of the AJ in the same sense as, for example, the OSE—which, as we have seen, was by definition a welfare body explicitly dedicated to the protection of Jewish children in danger.

Following Vivette Hermann, Andrée Salomon, and Charlotte Sorkine through all this, we have witnessed three women who were at one and the same time both typical and remarkable. Their experiences in certain respects were like those of a great many others: Jewish, young, female, vulnerable to both Vichy and Nazi antisemitic measures, and, in the cases of Vivette and Charlotte, of foreign background (though Charlotte was herself born in France). Andrée, though French from a French family, was also potentially an outlier due to having been born in Alsace, right on the border with Germany.

Beyond these general features, which were shared with many other French Jews, all three women made it their quest to surrender themselves to the greater good of helping to save the lives of Jewish children. For Charlotte, this was one of a number of activities; for Vivette and Andrée, it was their primary endeavor. All three, however, and hundreds like them made the conscious decision to involve themselves in the very human activity of enhancing the life options of others—and in this work their success came to be measured through the lives they saved despite the preferences of those who would otherwise have destroyed life.
* * *

CHAPTER THREE

The Italian Interlude: Shades of Benevolence

In 1942 a little Jewish girl, Claudine Rozengard, turned six years old. Born in Paris, her father was originally from Poland and her mother from Ukraine. They lived a happy life until the war situation forced the family to flee Paris and take refuge in Saint Girons, in southwestern France near the Pyrenees. Regarding settling into their new environment, Claudine remembered, "My father was torn between two apartments; he chose the second one as the neighbor who had shown him round seemed to be a 'good person.'" That same neighbor and her husband later joined in an informal "godparent" relationship with Claudine's parents that enabled her to be hidden in safety for the next two years.

With the onset of increasingly harsh antisemitic measures by the occupying Germans, however, Claudine's parents saw that they had little alternative but to leave. They went first to Toulouse and then Grenoble, at the foot of the French Alps, deep inside Vichy territory. In 1943, after the Germans had invaded Vichy the previous November, they prepared to make the crossing into Switzerland, but this did not come to pass; the Italian occupiers of Grenoble withdrew in September of that year, and Claudine's father died in October.

For Claudine, living in hiding presented all sorts of problems, the biggest of which was overcoming her resentment at having to live like this at all. She also felt that she was betraying her parents by living apart from them. What she did not fully appreciate was that her parents had fled for their own safety as well. As things turned out, she remained safe in hiding; by fleeing to unoccupied France, her parents were ultimately no more secure, though this could not be foreseen at the time.

This demonstrates one of the greatest difficulties facing Jews during 1942: Should they remain where they were or move somewhere else in the hope that their survival chances might be enhanced? The dilemma in which they found themselves was not helped by the changing war situation, over which, of course, they had no control.

Italy and the Occupation of France

On June 10, 1940, the Italy of Benito Mussolini declared war on Britain and France, and in a 10-day campaign, France finally found itself able to hold back an invading enemy. By June 24, however, two days after France had fallen to Germany, Italian and French representatives signed an armistice establishing a small occupation zone around the town of Menton and the mountains of Savoie. An Italian Armistice Commission ( _Commissione Italiana d'Armistizio con la Francia_ , or CIAF) was created: it established a demilitarized zone penetrating 50 kilometers from the former border centering on the city of Nice; the demilitarization of French naval bases at Toulon, Bizerte, Ajaccio, and Oran; and the right of Italians to use the port of Djibouti in Somaliland and the French section of the Djibouti-Addis Ababa railroad.

Despite Italy's own racial laws dating from November 17, 1938, restricting Jewish civil rights, banning Jewish books, and excluding Jews from public office and higher education (among other measures), the CIAF did not take a position regarding French Jews in the occupation zone, preferring to recognize Vichy authority over its own population. As noted by Israeli historian Daniel Carpi, who has made a detailed study of French Jews under Italian rule, even when Italian representatives sent back reports to Rome of Vichy dealings with Jews, the "general tone in these reports is one of disinterest," as "Most of the writers apparently regarded the Vichy legislation against the Jews as a matter of routine, a natural phenomenon in the countries of the Axis camp that did not require any special attention." Of particular interest is that, although the Italians were indifferent when it came to Vichy actions, only a few of those reporting to Rome found any need to add further comment; when they did so, it was "in most cases to commend the Vichy government on the measures they had taken and to express their satisfaction with the fact that it also at last had decided to take a joint stand with the Axis powers on such a sensitive and important matter as the 'race policy.'"

As the Italians stood aside and allowed the Vichy authorities to progress with their antisemitic measures in pursuance of the Statut des Juifs, therefore, little at first changed. Besides, the actual Italian zone of occupation was only small, centering on Menton—a town that had a population of no more than about 15,000 before the war, in a region of about 25,000 overall. Moreover, although Italian influence extended beyond the actual territory occupied (unoccupied Nice, for example, served as headquarters for the CIAF), the relationship between the occupiers and Vichy was much more benign than it was between the Germans and French in northern or western France. This translated to what was effectively a "hands off" policy where Jews were concerned. At this stage they were no worse off under Italian occupation—but no better off, either. Jews had to make their way through the measures imposed by Vichy without interference from the Italians.

A changed Italian position on the developing Final Solution did not come as a bolt from the blue, however. As shown by Jonathan Steinberg in an excellent study from 1990, the rate by which knowledge of the mass murder of the Jews in 1942 penetrated Italian awareness only came slowly. The Italians were "never told about the Wannsee Conference of 20 January 1942," and officially "they knew nothing about the final solution"; not only that, but the more they knew, "the less they dared to talk about it." There was a domestic Italian reason for this: "The war was unpopular enough; public knowledge of the holocaust would make it much more so." Further, the Italians had already taken a stand against the Nazi campaign of destruction of the Jews at least a year earlier, in their dealings regarding Jews in the Balkans.

The Italian occupation of Croatia from 1941 onward created what was considered a safe place for Jews. Despite constant pressure from German diplomats for the Italians to deport Jews from the Italian zone, such demands were constantly rebuffed. Although there was originally only a small Jewish population, it quickly became a refuge for Jews from Bosnia and other parts of Croatia once it was known that the Italians were refusing to engage in deportations. By November 1941 the Italian administration had established refugee camps to house Jews who were coming from other parts of occupied Yugoslavia, and it was well known that in these camps, the Italians were extending the Jews humane treatment. As Steinberg shows, by November 1942 Mussolini authorized that all Jews in the Italian zone were to be interned to ensure their protection from deportation, leading to a situation in which "Italy had now formally committed itself to obstruct the final solution in Europe." Israeli historian Menachem Shelah has calculated that through this intervention, up to 80 percent of the Yugoslav Jews who fled to the Italian-occupied zone were saved.

As Daniel Carpi has written, however, the second half of 1942 was to serve as a "tragic turning point in the situation of the Jews of France." The war situation, coupled with developments in the ongoing evolution of the Final Solution, combined to make the place of Jews more hazardous than ever. Jews started being deported from the Nazi-occupied areas of France to Auschwitz on March 27; one day later, an Allied amphibious attack on a German naval base at St. Nazaire, in Normandy, took place with loss of life on both sides. Although repulsed, the Allied attack signaled to the Germans that security in France had to be tightened more stringently than beforehand. Looking again at the Holocaust, on June 1, Jews in the occupied zone were forced to wear the yellow star; on June 11, SS general Reinhard Heydrich met with Nazi representatives stationed in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands to coordinate more extensive deportation plans for the Jews, resulting in the round-up at the Vel' d'Hiv on July 16 and the start of large-scale deportations. A second (and much larger) Allied raid on the German-occupied northern port of Dieppe on August 19 alerted the Nazis to the possibility of a cross-Channel attack; although it, too, was repulsed, German commanders feared that the Allies would learn valuable lessons from the exercise in the future. Finally—a portent of things to come—on August 26–28, over 7,000 Jews were arrested in the free zone as the Final Solution was extended to southern France.

Fully cognizant of all these developments, the Italian authorities began taking increasing note of the state of the Jews in and around their zone in France. Croatia was one thing, but occupied France was a much bigger issue and Axis diplomacy far more complex there. As Carpi has concluded, there were two main factors "at the root of [the Italian] awakening":

The shocked reaction to the inhumanity revealed in the operations against the Jews—in the course of which thousands of human beings were being arrested under unbearably harsh conditions, families separated, and children torn from the arms of their parents—and the fear that this operation would arouse widespread opposition among the French people, first and foremost in the French Catholic Church, in a way that would in the long run become a lethal weapon in the hands of enemy propagandists.

The Italians, quite simply, were aghast at how things were transpiring, both for humanitarian reasons over the brutality of the arrests and also for practical reasons relating to how the arrests were viewed by French institutions, the Vatican, and, perhaps, by the watching Allies. If ever there was a time and place when a combatant state sought a quiet life, this was it. As the year unfolded, however, neither the Italians, nor the Germans, nor the French—and especially not the Jews—would find anything resembling a slowing down of the situation.

Vichy Invaded and Neutralized

It will be recalled that Operation TORCH, the Allied landings in French North Africa on November 8, 1942, resulted in Hitler's rage at French perfidy. With the French Mediterranean now presenting an exposed flank to his European heartland, his response was swift. On November 11 he ordered that Corsica be occupied, with all of Vichy France following the next day. Philippe Pétain's collaborationist government, now impotent, could do little to stop the Germans and Italians from dividing the country into two zones of occupation. For the Italians, this represented a substantial enlargement of their previous sector, embracing an area over 100 miles at its widest point and 200 miles in length. The ten _départments_ involved (Haute-Savoie, Ain, Isère, Savoie, Drôme, Hautes-Alpes, Vaucluse, Basses-Alpes, Var, and Alpes-Maritimes) included some of France's most important cities: Grenoble, Toulon (which the Germans occupied early and refused to relinquish), and Nice. Plans were made to annex Nice and Corsica to Italy. Marseille was now less than 25 miles from the new border and Lyon little more than 20.

The new arrangements rendered the whole area anything but safe for the Jews. Despite their treatment under Vichy, over 100,000 had fled south during the first years of the war, where they often lived in small towns, albeit under difficult conditions. German officials now expected the Italians to do their part in rounding up and deporting them, though in line with previous practice most Italian officials wanted nothing to do with it. Already during 1941 the Italian areas were known for their relative safety—particularly Nice, where many were able to reestablish their lives in an environment vastly more secure than if they had stayed behind in occupied France or other parts of Vichy. Even though the Italians were initially indifferent, they were at least not hostile—and even less lethal. With time, this was to change to outright support.

The justification given by the German and Italian High Commands for occupying Vichy was that the region needed safeguarding from the possibility of attack now that North Africa had been invaded. The fundamental German position was that the sovereign status of Vichy would not be compromised—but it took little time for this to be shown up as a sham, as the two Axis powers arrogated to themselves "the widest possible powers, including over spheres that previously had been exclusively the Vichy government's."

Yet friction was soon apparent regarding the implementation of Vichy policies over Jews in the Italian zone. With more and more Jews moving south, continued antisemitic measures from Vichy were not received well by the Italian authorities. During December 1942, for instance, Alberto Calisse, the Italian CIAF consul-general in Nice, informed the Vichy prefect that "Italian Jewish citizens were not subject to Vichy decrees," while General Alessandro Trabucchi, of the Italian Fourth Army's General Staff, issued orders to all commanders "expressly pointing out that no Jew in the Italian occupation zone should be interned by Vichy authorities." The Italians prevented the application of German or Vichy anti-Jewish directives in other ways, too. As noted by historian Miranda Pollard, "No Jews in the Nice region were to be forced to wear the Yellow Star, to be coerced into the Foreign Worker Units, to have 'Jew' stamped on their papers or to be removed inland." Subsequent decisions would demonstrate this benign attitude in practice, and rumors of the Italian position, in the words of historian Emanuele Sica, "spread like wildfire throughout France." Nice, and the Riviera generally, now became a magnet for Jews and other refugees seeking some measure of respite from Nazi depredations.

By way of one example—of thousands—the experience of Françoise Frenkel is illustrative. Having lived for several years in Berlin, where she ran a French-language bookshop, the months after November 1938's _Kristallnacht_ were a clear indication that her future in Germany, as a French-speaking Jew born in Poland, was extremely bleak. On August 27, 1939, just days before the German invasion of Poland, she slipped out of Berlin on a train organized by the French embassy and made her way to Paris. With the advance of German forces in June 1940, Françoise fled south. After reaching the town of Vichy, her progress over the ensuing months saw her eventually reach Avignon before settling in Nice.

Living constantly with one eye on the ever-changing situation, her position improved once the Italians took over. As she was to write later, after the occupiers "decreed that persecutions be immediately suspended," things began to look up:

The synagogue of Nice, which had been defaced with vulgar inscriptions, its windows broken, was cleaned, restored and returned to being a place of worship.

Jewish refugees were asked to register themselves at police stations and to go to the prefecture to renew their identity cards and residence permits; all landlords were ordered to return whatever property they'd been holding. The Jewish community was informed of the Italian occupiers' policy of protection of Jews. Thus, those refugees who had survived the roundups were to be seen waiting outside the prefecture. They were only a small group.

The more relaxed situation enabled Françoise, as she put it, to "put my affairs in order." She renewed her residence permit, identity card, and ration card, all the while preparing for a possible flight across the border to Switzerland should the situation deteriorate. Taking advantage of the Italian presence enabled her to make plans for what had previously seemed an unlikely possibility—escape to freedom. She still had to operate within the strictures imposed by a Vichy regime determined to counter Italian orders, however, and her bids for escape—she made three of them—were fraught with danger of arrest and deportation. Only in June 1943, a few days before the expiration of her Swiss visa (procured by non-Jewish friends during the Italian interval), was she successful in breaking through the border wire not far from Annecy.

The End of Italian-Occupied France

Françoise Frenkel's story points to a very important concern for Jews in the occupied zones of southern France: the fact that despite the best efforts of the Italians, Vichy authorities still sought to maintain their anti-Jewish reign of terror. Thus, despite the shades of benevolence characterizing the Italian occupation, a sinister presence remained. Indeed, Françoise was beset with twin fears that had nothing to do with the Italians: deportation to Drancy, from where lay an uncertain future in "the East"; or to Gurs, the French internment camp in the Pyrenees, which had a fearsome reputation due to its harsh geographical location, disease, and privation. And both possibilities were dictated by French, not German, concerns.

Despite the more liberal Italian attitude, moreover, there can be little doubt that the Jews were living a precarious existence. As shown with painstaking thoroughness by historian Wolfgang Seibel, relations between Germans and Italians regarding Jews were fractious from the start and did not improve with time. Jews continued facing arrest, leading to a demand from the Italian military authorities on May 4, 1943, for "a complete list of the Jews of all nationalities, including 'stateless' Jews, who had been arrested or interned by the French authorities and were currently in the Italian zone." This, of course, meant that the order issued by Mussolini in November 1942 regarding the internment of Jews in Croatia now extended to France as well, where the protection of Jews had already been the practice on the ground for some time.

Cracking down on French measures deepened the animosity between Italians and Germans, who felt frustrated by the fact that now that the Final Solution was in full swing in France, it was being endangered by Germany's closest ally. The German commander of the Security Police in France, Helmut Knochen, was especially furious, and in a report dated February 22, 1943, as recounted by Seibel, he gave vent to his feelings:

The championing of the Jews by the Italians has once again proven to the French authorities that the German and Italian perceptions of the Jewish Question are absolutely different. I would like to draw attention again to the fact that the French government, which is approaching the solution of the Jewish Question only with reluctance, is actually being reinforced in this attitude by the measures of the Italian authorites.

Recounting the irony and unacceptability of allowing this hindrance to realizing the Final Solution, he urged that steps be taken to bring home to the Italians the seriousness of the matter; if not, he added, "it must be pointed out that today already there is a question mark over the final solution to the Jewish problem in France."

Added to the mix was the changing war situation itself. Following the Allied victory in Operation TORCH, and the Axis invasion and occupation of Vichy France, developments in the war appeared to speed up: on November 13, 1942, the British Eighth Army captured Tobruk; December 4 saw the first U.S. bombing of the Italian mainland; on January 14, 1943, the Casablanca conference of key Allied leaders resulted in an announcement that the unconditional surrender of Germany was now the major war aim; later the same month, on January 31, German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus capitulated at Stalingrad, a surrender formalized two days later; in response, on February 18, Joseph Goebbels declared that a state of "Total War" now existed for Germany. By May 13, the _Afrika Korps_ and remaining Italian troops in North Africa surrendered to the Allies, with over 250,000 prisoners of war taken. The month of July 1943 proved that the tide had definitely turned; Operation CITADEL (the Battle of Kursk) began on July 5; Operation HUSKY (the Allied invasion of Sicily) began on July 10; Rome was bombed for the first time on July 19; and on July 24, in Operation GOMORRAH, the Allies bombed the German port city of Hamburg in what was, up to that time, the heaviest and most devastating air assault in history.

The walls were closing in, as Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was to find out on July 25, 1943. Deposed by the Fascist Grand Council as prime minister and arrested on order of King Victor Emmanuel II, he was replaced by Marshal Pietro Badoglio, who began secret negotiations for Italy's surrender. On September 3, the Italian mainland was invaded; the same day, General Giuseppe Castellano signed an armistice agreement with the Allies in Cassibile. The agreement was made public on September 8, and the Germans, increasingly desperate to ensure that Europe's southern flank be safeguarded—as well as to be done with vacillation regarding the implementation of the Final Solution—hastened to fill the vacuum this created with a full-scale invasion of Italy.

The announcement was catastrophic for the Jews. On the same day the armistice agreement was made public, German troops invaded the now-former Italian zone and began initiating ferocious raids to find Jews. In Nice, the endgame in the politics of the Final Solution began immediately, and with no quarter shown.

The Focus Switches to Nice

During World War II, Nice saw a series of developments that were both varied and swift. Where once this city of parks, theaters, nightclubs, and casinos had been a lure for vacationers and tourists of all sorts, this human trade had dropped off dramatically—meanwhile, the trains that once would have taken them there on vacation were now commandeered for military use. Under Vichy, Nice and the rest of the Côte d'Azur became a magnet for another type of traffic, as hundreds of thousands of refugees fled there. Rather than carrying significant sums of cash to spend on roulette wheels, their portable currency was reduced to jewels sewn into the linings of their coats or dresses. A black market made many others rich by preying on the needs of a desperate population.

In such a floating population, Nice recovered, albeit in a bizarre fashion. Hotels became full again, with refugees paying for rooms using whatever cash they had managed to bring with them. Cabarets and theaters reopened, and even a trade in regular tourism resumed. With the arrival of large numbers of Jewish refugees, the city became something of a haven, notwithstanding that many of them were sucked dry by unscrupulous loan sharks, black marketeers, and others bent on loot—to say nothing of the Vichy police, who, throughout the time, were often eager to implement the _Statut des Juifs_ and other antisemitic measures.

Under Vichy, Jewish street names had to be changed; Jewish businesses were closed by decree; foreign Jews were no longer given the same privileges as French Jews. On August 26, 1942, with the intensification of the Final Solution, Vichy police rounded up 600 Jews in Nice and had them shipped them to Drancy. And all this was prior to the occupation that November.

As we have seen, the Italian occupation saw a better environment created for Nice's Jews, much to German disapproval. Once the Italians surrendered in September 1943, the regime of tolerance came to a sudden end. German armies moved in quickly; the Gestapo, together with increasingly compliant Vichy police, now tracked down men, women, and children to send to their deaths.

Alois Brunner, the SS officer responsible for Jewish affairs, was placed at the head of units formed to search out Jews, and within five months, some 5,000 were caught and deported. Brunner had a long history of implementing antisemitic directives. In April 1939 he was sent to the new Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia to speed up the emigration of Czech Jews; after war broke out in September 1939, he organized the deportation of over 1,500 Viennese Jews to Nisko in Poland; and over time, he directed the removal of 56,000 Austrian Jews. Brunner became a troubleshooter for Adolf Eichmann in organizing anti-Jewish measures. He sent the entire Jewish population of Salonika, Greece—some 43,000 in total—to death camps in the East in the space of less than two months. In France, as commandant of Drancy in July 1943, he oversaw the transport of 25,500 Jews to Auschwitz, all the while taking special delight in the arrest and deportation of children.

An Italian civilian, a Jewish banker named Angelo Donati, played an important role in trying to counter the changed situation. Already, Donati had done much to convince the Italian civil and military authorities to protect the Jews. Born on February 3, 1885, in the northern Italian city of Modena, Donati came from an aristocratic family of ancient lineage. A lawyer by training, he fought during World War I as an infantry captain before becoming an aviator in 1916. After the war he moved to Paris, where he became an important figure fostering trade relations between France and Italy.

In 1940 Donati left Paris for southern France, eventually settling in Nice. With the arrival of Italian forces in November 1942, he was looked to as the most natural choice to liaise with the occupying authorities on Jewish relations.

In response to protests by the Germans that the Italians were hampering implementation of the Final Solution within Italy itself, Benito Mussolini sought to placate his German allies; in a telegram dated March 18, 1943, the German ambassador to Rome, Hans Georg von Mackensen, reported that Mussolini had told German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop that the Jewish question was one in which the Italian generals "must not meddle." The Duce explained the Italian position by noting that the actions of the officers stationed in France were based not only on a "lack of understanding, but also of sentimental humanitarianism"—a stance that was "not in accord with our harsh epoch." Mussolini promised that the French police would henceforth be given "a completely free hand" regarding the Jews.

At the same time, he also created an Office of Racial Police in Nice under the command of a former police inspector from Bari (who, as it turned out, claimed descent from Marranos expelled from Spain in 1492), Guido Lospinoso. He, in turn, met with Angelo Donati, who convinced him that all issues regarding Jews should be passed through him. An important buffer was thereby created between the Italian authorities and the Jewish community, helping to establish a safe environment for those the Germans were seeking to deport. Donati, for his part, managed to arrange for 2,500 Jews to be sent from Nice to places where they were less vulnerable; on this occasion, the French authorities were instructed not to inhibit or in any way obstruct the transfer.

In Marseille, a French Catholic priest, Père Marie-Benoît, had already been involved in forging papers and finding ways to save Jews from deportation. Moving to Nice, he met with Guido Lospinoso and negotiated a deal to permit the passage of Jews through the city, so they could seek refuge in Switzerland. He also successfully lobbied the Italians not to deport or harm those living or remaining in Nice.

In July 1943 Père Marie-Benoît went to Rome in the hope of soliciting the Vatican's help in realizing a plan revealed to him by Donati for transporting Jews from France, through northern Italy, and from there to North Africa. This would be achieved in conjunction with Italy's main Jewish welfare organization, Delasem ( _Delegazione Assistenza Emigranti Ebrei_ , or Delegation for the Assistance of Jewish Emigrants).

The cost would be enormous. Donati himself went to Rome to discuss the proposed transfer with the new prime minister, Marshal Badoglio, as well as Allied diplomats at the Vatican. The negotiations met with the approval of the British and American governments as well as Badoglio, from whom, Donati stated later, "every assurance was given that the possibilities for carrying out this operation existed." He began to make arrangements for chartering four ships in order to make the transfer, and left Rome for Nice on September 8 to take personal charge of the operation. On September 9, however, German forces moved in on the former Italian positions, bringing the anticipated evacuation of the Jews to an immediate halt.

Moussa and Odette Abadi and the Marcel Network

For one Jewish couple, the response to the German occupation was obvious. Everyone was vulnerable, but the priority had to be to save the children.

Moussa Abadi was a French Jew from Syria who, between 1943 and 1944, created a Jewish rescue network operating in Nice. The Marcel Network, as it was called, saved 527 Jewish children ranging in age from babies to teenagers.

Abadi was born on September 17, 1910, in Damascus to Nassim Abadi and Farida Katran. When he was 12, his mother died, and he was raised by his maternal grandparents in a strictly religious environment. Attending school at the _Alliance Israélite Universelle_ , he obtained a scholarship to enter higher studies at the Sorbonne, and after arriving in Paris in December 1929, he proved to be an excellent student. In June 1933 he obtained a bachelor of arts and a certificate of child psychology, after which he became a graduate student in theater.

In December 1939 he met Odette Rosenstock, a young Jewish woman who had qualified as a medical doctor in Paris and who, during the Spanish Civil War, supported the Republicans and assisted refugees from Spain who were interned in French camps. Odette was born in Paris on August 21, 1914, to a French Jewish (" _Israélite_ ") family. Graduating high school in 1933, she studied law before enrolling in medical school. As a teenager she was a passionate opponent of injustice, and, though not particularly religious, she had a proud identification with her Jewish background.

Moussa and Odette soon fell in love and became engaged. With the German occupation of Paris in the summer of 1940, they fled south and settled in Nice. Here, Moussa taught in a Catholic theological seminary, while Odette practiced medicine until the anti-Jewish laws forced her to stop, after which she worked as a midwife. Around the same time, Moussa published an antifascist article under the pseudonym Marcel Samade. He would use the name "Marcel" again in the future.

During his time in Paris, Moussa had begun a doctoral thesis, studying under a French medievalist, Gustave Cohen, on the origin of fables in the Middle Ages. After Moussa moved to Nice the two were reunited, with Moussa attending several of Cohen's lectures. At one of these, Cohen introduced Moussa to a French cleric, Bishop Paul Rémond. Rémond, appointed bishop of Nice on May 20, 1930, had long been an opponent of Nazism, dating back as far as 1933 when he preached a sermon at the Sacre Coeur Cathedral in Paris condemning what he termed "persecution on account of religion." In May 1940, with France in the thick of the fighting, Rémond visited a number of camps where foreign Jews had been interned and, on the ground that they were refugees and not "enemy aliens," managed to secure several releases. In July 1940, with the establishment of the new collaborationist government under Marshal Philippe Pétain, most French bishops, including Rémond, rallied to the new regime and urged their congregations to give it their support—but he found this difficult to sustain. His anti-Nazi views saw him thoroughly opposed to the anti-Jewish policies of the Vichy regime. With the Italian occupation of Nice in November 1942, Rémond became actively involved in the rescue of Jews, particularly children.

In 1942, after speaking with an Italian Army chaplain fresh from the Eastern Front, Moussa learned that the Nazis were murdering Jews in Poland, Russia, and elsewhere. This gave him pause; if the Nazis had a systematic agenda in place, it was only a matter of time before they began killing the Jews of France, too. Then, when German troops and Vichy French police began to round up Jewish children in 1942, he decided the time had arrived to do something about it.

It was thus in November 1942 that Odette and Moussa organized a rescue operation to prevent the deportation of Jewish children. There was one important logistical question that needed to be answered, however: how was it to be done?

Early in 1943 Moussa approached Bishop Rémond and asked for his help. Without hesitation the bishop swung into action, offering up the resources of the church to ensure that all Catholic institutions in the diocese would open their doors—especially to Jewish children. He also gave the young couple official roles within the church. Odette, under the alias Sylvie Delattre, became a diocesan social welfare representative; Moussa became inspector-general of Catholic education under the alias Monsieur Marcel, and with this the Marcel Network was born.

To help facilitate their work, Rémond provided them with the assistance of several priests and office space at his official residence, where forged papers and baptismal certificates could be produced. He signed a letter of appointment giving them freedom to circulate freely and access to Christian institutions where children could be hidden.

Thus armed, the Marcel Network began in earnest. After the Italian surrender in September 1943, Moussa and Odette began rescuing Jewish children whose parents had already been deported or were in hiding and found them safe hiding places among the Church institutions offered by Bishop Rémond.

Moussa also obtained support from Protestant ministers in the area, such as Pastors Pierre Gagnier and Edmond Evrard, who worked hard to find Protestant families prepared to shelter Jewish children. Throughout this entire time, the lives of the children, as well as of Moussa and Odette, were in constant danger.

While allocating children to welcoming families, a problem was presented in the form of how best the small charges could be camouflaged so they would not give themselves away. Moussa saw that each child would have to undergo a change of identity, with their names and personal histories altered. Accordingly, each would have to lose their Jewish personality and learn a new, Christian one. Moussa called this "depersonalization" and found it one of the more difficult aspects of his rescue initiative—the more so because, when the war came to an end and surviving parents came to collect their children, often a new (and painful) reintegration process would have to begin.

In April 1944 Odette, who continually stayed in touch with "her" children, was denounced and arrested by the collaborationist Vichy paramilitaries, the _Milice_. In May she was handed over to the Gestapo. Tortured during her interrogation, she refused to reveal anything about the Marcel Network. She was first deported to Auschwitz and then sent on to Bergen-Belsen, where she managed to survive until liberation in 1945. After a period of recuperation, she rejoined Moussa, who had managed to avoid capture during the final year of the war in Nice. Later, they were married. In early 1948 they returned to Paris, where they remained for the rest of their lives. Odette resumed her work as a doctor, becoming director of social hygiene, while Moussa spent several postwar years facilitating the reintegration of Jewish children with their families.

In sum, the Marcel Network saved the lives of 527 children, hidden in sanctuaries throughout southeastern France. After the war neither Moussa nor Odette spoke about their work with the Marcel Network, and when it was revealed much later, many people were taken by complete surprise.

On September 15, 1997 Moussa Abadi died two days short of his 87th birthday and was buried in Montparnasse Cemetery. Odette Rosenstock-Abadi committed suicide on July 29, 1999, aged 85, unwilling to live a life without her beloved husband.

The Mouvement de la Jeunesse Sioniste

The city of Montpellier, located near the south coast of France just over 100 miles from Marseille, was the location in May 1942 of a conference of Jewish resisters that saw the establishment of the United Zionist Youth Movement ( _Mouvement de la jeunesse sioniste_ , or MJS). This was the culmination of an effort made by Simon Lévitte, a French Jew born in Ekaterinoslav, Russia (modern-day Dnipro, Ukraine), who had moved to Wiesbaden, Germany, in 1922 prior to emigrating to Palestine with his wife. They returned to France with the task of organizing youth migration to the Mandate. In 1942 Lévitte started liaising between the occupied and Vichy zones, and after several shuttles, he was successful in establishing rescue networks across numerous existing Jewish youth organizations. The MJS was one of these. Montpellier, a university city, contained a large concentration of refugee students and now emerged as the location of a new type of resistance presence, tougher and more intense than some of the earlier groups had been. After a short period, the MJS moved its operational base from Montpellier to Grenoble.

The MJS, true to its Zionist origins, began with a specific focus of providing young Jewish men and women with the educational, physical, and vocational training that would equip them for life in Palestine. Perhaps not surprisingly, given this, many members of the MJS were at one and the same time members of the AJ. Having moved to Grenoble, they began low-level underground activities such as placing anti-Nazi posters and painting messages on walls. With direction from Simon Lévitte and Jules ("Dika") Jefroykin, they learned other activities as well: the intensification of anti-Jewish measures meant they were forced to undertake relief work and resistance through the creation of a Jewish documentation center that forged false papers, ration cards, and other life-saving documents. Among the young people who made contributions was a former refugee from Germany of whom more will be seen later, Marianne Cohn. In the forging operations in and around Moissac, she became coordinating secretary for the organization.

In April 1943, Simon Lévitte went to Brussels, where he recruited Paul Giniewski, a young Viennese-born member of the Zionist movement. His brother, Otto ("Toto") Giniewski, was to prove the MJS's master forger, organizing the false papers department in Grenoble. Paul traveled throughout the region seeking friendly mayors and other officials prepared to provide current blank registration forms and identity cards, before searching for engravers and printers willing to provide counterfeit official stamps and then print the forms thereby created. It was extremely risky work, made even more dangerous as he then had to transport the material to and from his brother's "factory" at Seyssins, not far from Grenoble. After this, the false documents had to be conveyed throughout the region, so they could be distributed to their intended recipients.

The MJS also began finding ways to smuggle Jews to away from the danger zones. While moving people to Switzerland and Spain was the ideal solution, in many cases the most that could be hoped for was removal to safer areas within France to await a further transfer later. This, of course, presented problems—the most important of which included identifying the means to transport them secretly, a place to which they could be removed (and sustained, possibly for an indeterminate period), and, should an opportunity be presented, finding a way to smuggle them across the border—and a guide to assist them as they went.

Money presented a huge problem. Sustaining those in flight was a costly affair, as many of those helping from outside the networks required payment in return for the hazardous work in which they were engaged. Where people were housed for any period, their upkeep had to be paid for as well—and this was more expensive in the cities than outside metropolitan areas. Consequently, rescue activities had often to be accompanied by fundraising activities to pay off those who were putting themselves and their families at risk by harboring Jews or arranging for them to be smuggled from one location to another. And by the time the refugees reached the border, local passeurs often charged very large sums for their assistance; too often, it was far from given freely.

Saving Jewish Lives: The Sacrifice of Mila Racine

One such guide was another foreign-born Jew, Mila Racine, who would ultimately save the lives of Jewish children and others by smuggling them across the border from France into Switzerland.

Born on September 14, 1921, in Moscow, she was the daughter of Georges (Hirsch) Racine and his wife Berthe (Bassia). One of three children, she had a brother, Emmanuel, and a sister, Sacha. Fleeing the Soviet Union and a climate of pogroms in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, the family relocated to France, settling in Paris.

With the Nazi invasion and occupation, the Racine family managed to move out of northern France and into the so-called free zone at Vichy. Mila joined the Resistance on January 5, 1942. While her parents were in a safe house in Nice, Mila, Emmanuel, and Sacha worked for one of the MJS branches, _Éducation Physique_ (Physical Education), a code name for the false documents scheme and rescue operations under the overall direction of the MJS's Simon Lévitte in Grenoble.

Mila, operating under the alias of Marie Anne Richemond, came from a Zionist background and had been an active member of the Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO). In the summer of 1943, she was given command of a unit of the MJS in Saint-Gervais-Le Fayet (Haute-Savoie) in the Italian zone—but her field of operations ranged much wider than this, covering a region that included Toulouse, Gurs, Saint-Gervais, Nice, and Annemasse, under the overall command of Netanel "Tony" Gryn.

Gryn, born in Lublin, Poland on February 20, 1921, was another young Jewish resister who was simultaneously a member of the MJS and the AJ. At the end of July 1943, he was entrusted by Simon Lévitte with the task of organizing a means to enable the smuggling of Jews from France to Switzerland. The network he created brought together a team of about a dozen young people, all members of the MJS, who, collectively, managed to rescue about 100 children. Mila Racine was one of the members of Gryn's network.

After the Italian armistice on September 3, 1943, Mila undertook to drive convoys of children and adults to Annemasse, right on the Swiss frontier, and arranged to have them smuggled across. Her activities, particularly around Annecy, saw the creation of links with local passeurs who, together, functioned as an "underground railroad" running Jews over the border. Throughout September and beyond, she helped hundreds of families and children who fled into her area. From her base in the French Alps, and often working close to German patrols, Mila and the other members of the MJS received children sent from French cities that were often many miles distant. To protect them, they organized the children into small groups and then accompanied them to the border, where they would be helped by Christian rescuers.

On October 21, 1943, she was conducting a convoy that included 30 children from Nice, accompanied by a male member of the MJS, Roland Epstein. After ensuring that his parents and sister were already out of harm's way in the Italian zone, Roland, who had been born in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland), in 1922, had joined the group formed by Mila and Tony Gryn to organize the border crossings. His first such mission was undertaken on September 15, 1943, alongside Mila's sister Sacha, together with Sacha's then-boyfriend (and, later, husband) Maurice Maidenberg. As experienced passeurs, Mila and Roland should have had little difficulty on October 21, but this was a difficult group. It comprised children, an older couple, a young mother with a baby, and another couple with a small child. Without warning, they were intercepted by Germans with police dogs at Saint-Julien-en-Genevois. Gunshots rang out; one woman was killed, and another wounded. Mila, Roland, and the children were taken to Annemasse and incarcerated in the Prison de Pax, right across from Gestapo headquarters.

Suffering relentless Nazi torture, Mila divulged nothing as the Gestapo sought information regarding the smuggling operations. The mayor of Annemasse, Jean Deffaugt, managed to visit the prison and arranged with the Nazis to allow some of the children, including a baby of 14 months, to be freed and placed in a nearby children's home. Deffaugt was later to comment on Mila's courage during her incarceration:

What a beautiful young woman she was! . . . Before leaving, Mila had written some verses on her cell door—the gist was: "For a friend who passes, and one day occupies this cell, remember: always keep your faith and smile, whatever happens—do it for France."

What courage that young girl had! When she knew they were coming to take her, she asked me "Monsieur le Maire, I'd like to look my best when I leave. . . . Can you get me some lipstick and powder? I won't cry, I promise you—when I get onto the van, I won't cry, but I'd like to be beautiful."

Through the underground movement, Deffaugt also managed to provide Mila with an escape plan. This was not something she could accept, however, as she had an instinctive feeling that the children would be punished—or worse—if she was to escape.

Mila and Roland were transferred to the prison at Fort Montluc in Lyon. From there, Roland was sent to Drancy, from where he was deported—not to Auschwitz, but to Buchenwald as member of the Resistance. He lived to see the end of the war, and ultimate survival. Mila was deported, via the Royallieu transit camp at Compiègne, to Ravensbrück. While there, it was observed, her conduct was exemplary, as she sought to maintain morale among the other prisoners and helped them when they were too exhausted to go on.

Her stay at Ravensbrück was not to be permanent. In 1945 a large group of women, including Mila, was transferred from Ravensbrück to Mauthausen, in Austria, where they were put to work repairing railway tracks destroyed by Allied bombing. On March 22, 1945, on the eve of liberation, a British air raid targeted the camp and Mila, then on _Aussenarbeit_ (work outside the camp), was killed by shrapnel.

The work of Mila Racine did not end with her arrest, however. After his sister's capture, Emmanuel Racine sent another resister, Marianne Cohn—the same Marianne Cohn who had forged papers for Simon Lévitte—to replace her in the smuggling of Jewish children across the border. And as we shall see, when Marianne, in turn, was captured on the evening of May 31, 1944, she was herself replaced by Charlotte Sorkine of the AJ. Such importance did the MJS place on the work of these young women that it determined nothing should stand in the way of their rescue activities, even at the risk of their very lives.

After the war, Mila Racine was posthumously awarded the _Medaille de la Resistance_ and the _Croix de Guerre_ by the French government. It is perhaps fitting that the recognition she received in Israel, many years later, was for a kindergarten and nursery in Tel Aviv to be named in her memory.

Simon Lévitte, who was one of the primary actors in creating the resistance and rescue operations in southern France, was arrested by the Gestapo in Nice in November 1943. Tortured for information regarding the rescue network, he could not be broken; he managed to escape and immediately resumed his activities. Participating in the fighting to capture Paris from the Germans in August 1944, he lived to see the liberation of France and in 1949 was instrumental in preparing young French Jews for emigration to the newly independent State of Israel.

Defying the Holocaust

The months following Operation BARBAROSSA saw the beginning of the mass murder of the Jews in the Holocaust. As Peter Hayes has shown, "Three-quarters of the nearly six million victims were killed within only twenty months, from June 1941 to February 1943, and half of the total victims died within only the last eleven months of that time frame." He adds, correctly, that three-quarters of those killed came from Poland, Lithuania, and the Soviet Union; so how does this translate to France in the same period?

While the Vichy authorities were willing (and sometimes even keen) to orchestrate the deportation of Jews prior to being asked to do so by the Germans, the divided nature of the country meant that rates of persecution differed geographically. Beginning as early as October 1940, foreign Jews were being arrested in occupied northern France; this only came to Vichy France in March 1942—at, it must be emphasized, French hands. Eventually, not even French Jews were safe. The worst period of the Holocaust in 1942–1943 saw the peak of anti-Jewish activity in France, as it was elsewhere; but the approximately 76,000 Jews who were deported represented less than a quarter of the 330,000 Jews in France before the war. That said, of those 76,000, only about 2,500 survived, and more than two-thirds all those killed were foreigners. (In this regard, Hayes makes the interesting statement that "more Polish Jews who had sought refuge in France died at Nazi hands than did French Jews.")

At this most extreme period of killing, various factors encroached on the effectiveness of the German and Vichy measures, not least of which was the Italian determination to refuse to permit deportation and mass murder on their watch—particularly after the full Axis occupation of Vichy between November 1942 and September 1943. The Italian zone, embracing southeastern France from the sea to the Alps, became a haven for desperate Jews from all over France, and German anger at their Axis allies deliberately obstructing the Final Solution was palpable.

The concentration of Jews in the Italian zone was, however, a chimera that was to place them in mortal danger once Italy withdrew from the war. Survival options were now few, while flight to a neutral country—and in reality, this translated only to Switzerland or Spain—was the best way to guarantee survival. No one could do this alone, and it was here that Jewish self-help networks became the primary means of rescue. The MJS and the Marcel Network were two such agencies; in the case of the former, a resistance organization developed a rescue function; for the latter, it began that way with the singular aim of saving the lives of Jewish children. And those working with these organizations did not act alone at this murderous period in the Holocaust chronicle. We have seen the work and sacrifice of Mila Racine, but as we will see, there were others, operating through different organizations but with the common desire to thwart the Nazis' deadly ambitions, who also offered themselves with an equal sense of commitment.
* * *

CHAPTER FOUR

An Inclusive Unity: Jews and Christians Link Arms

The year 1942, as we have seen, was momentous in the history of the unfolding Final Solution in France. While attempts were made to evade German Nazis and Vichy French police, many Jews learned that they were not alone, with Jewish and Christian groups and individuals prepared to help them avoid arrest and the deportation that would follow.

Just outside the city of Lyon, an internment camp had been established at Vénissieux. Its several buildings were guarded by 15-foot-high walls and Vietnamese troops directed by French officers. As recounted by historian Douglas Boyd:

Inside the walls, conditions were so appalling that the officials departed, leaving to the volunteer workers of the ecumenical charity Amitié Chrétienne the job of drawing up lists for deportation. They had to deal with 1,300 cases—soul-destroying work, compounded by their commitment to find foster homes for children whose parents had been, or were going to be, deported and killed.

The prior history to this was crucial. In July 1942 the Vichy government undertook to deliver to the SS so-called "stateless" Jews from Germany, Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, and Danzig. Raids then took place on August 23 and August 26, and those arrested were interned at Vénissieux. Other round-ups took place during the night of August 27–28. With the large number of new arrivals, it took no time for the camp administration to be swamped.

Clearly, circumstances had to change, and some measure of organization had to be brought into play. What happened next marked an important moment of departure in the story of Jewish rescue in France. Historian Renée Poznanski was later to recount that from this point on, "Jews now had allies in the general population," with a leaflet circulating widely, proclaiming "You won't get the children!" A screening commission was established within the camp to identify who would or would not be deported, operating from a recently issued directive stipulating that orphans would be exempt—an order that was countermanded by Vichy's secretary-general for police, René Bousquet, who had determined on August 18 that all Jews outside internment camps, including children over two years, were to be arrested. Gilbert Lesage, a Quaker charity worker, had already learned on August 16 that large-scale round-ups had been planned, and he decided to warn as many Jewish and other rescue organizations as could be contacted.

In a desperate measure, they swung into action. Vivette Hermann of the OSE related afterward that on August 28, "the best-qualified representatives" of a number of relief organizations spent "a stormy night" presenting possible scenarios to camp officials to find ways of identifying those who could be exempted from deportation. Those involved were a cross-section of the helping organizations then active in Lyon. They included Dr. Joseph Weill, Charles Lederman, Georges Garel and his wife Lili, and Nina Gourfinkel from the OSE; Claude Gutman of the EIF; Father Alexandre Glasberg, Reverend Pierre Chaillet, and Germaine Ribière of Amitié Chrétienne (Christian Friendship); and Gilbert Lesage of the _Service social des étrangers_ (Social Service for Aliens). At that screening they managed to save 160 adults, 80 of whom were rearrested the next day. They also saved 108 children under the age of 15 and a few older teenagers.

Within days, they were able to negotiate more cases for exemption. Lesage was able to make a case that embraced more than 400 Jews, thereby saving them from deportation. He remembered a directive stating that children left without parents or guardians should be placed in the care of the _Social service des étrangers_ , that is, his own department. On the night of August 28, therefore, Lesage and the others found themselves engaging in heartbreaking discussions with parents at the camp in the hope of being entrusted with the care of their children. Earlier, Lesage had alerted Édouard Simon, who ran the EIF children's home at Moissac, that there might be an influx of Jewish children at some point soon; duly prepared, the children were taken that same night to the home in Lyon, where they would be safe. This was the start of a broader process of rescue, in which the children would always have somewhere they could go if their situation were to change. The rescue was dramatic; it revealed a flaw in the way Vichy went about its tasks and demonstrated that joint action on the part of those determined to rescue Jewish children could be successful.

For her part, Vivette Hermann saw the writing on the wall. A stalwart of the OSE, she understood that the situation had now become altered—permanently. Senior members of the OSE "finally made the decision to swing over to clandestine activity" in what was a "turning point"; the lesson of Vénissieux, she wrote, was clear: "all Jewish children were at risk."

The Circuit Garel

It was in response to this realization that Dr. Joseph Weill, medical director of the OSE, drew the further conclusion that Jewish children grouped in orphanages had little protection if Germans or Vichy police came looking forthem. In response, there could be little other alternative than to arrange for them to be dispersed out to friendly families, preferably in the countryside. Vivette remembered that at the end of 1942, Weill introduced Georges Garel to "a small group he had gathered at Lyon and presented the plan to form clandestine networks for concealing children in non-Jewish families and institutions." This, in short course, would evolve into what became known as the _Circuit Garel_ , or Garel Network.

Georges Garel ( _né_ Grigori Garfinkel, known as Gasquet) was born on March 1, 1909, in Vilnius, Lithuania. In 1912 the family moved to Kiev, and in 1924, to Berlin. In 1926, Garel migrated to Paris. After obtaining French citizenship in 1934, he undertook officer training at the _Préparation Militaire Supérieure_ military college; and on August 30, 1939, he was mobilized as a lieutenant of artillery and fought until France's capitulation in the summer of 1940. In December 1942 Joseph Weill gave Garel his assignment to look after Jewish children under 16 years of age. He would have to disperse them out to non-Jewish environments; give them "Aryan" identities, and, wherever possible, have their well-being monitored by non-Jews.

Jules-Géraude Saliège, Archbishop of Toulouse, had previously met with Charles Lederman and Father de Lubac, a Jesuit priest, who had briefed him on the horrors of the French internment camps, the arrests, and the deportations. On their recommendation, Saliège received Georges Garel in December 1942 and provided him with a letter of introduction allowing him to contact several Catholic charities. Through such contacts, nearly 300 children could be hidden quickly—though being hidden was not sufficient in itself. The children had still to be monitored and have their maintenance guaranteed. Social workers involved in Garel's network therefore undertook to check regularly on the children's welfare, provide them with moral and material support, and ensure they remained healthy and safe. When they could, they would also bring the children news or letters from their parents. More than a dozen Catholic and Protestant organizations would eventually lend their assistance; during 1943 several of the priests, on Saliège's authority, were involved in helping Jews by providing false baptism certificates in their parishes. At its fullest extent, the network covered thirty _départments_ across four regions.

By the summer of 1943, the _Circuit Garel_ was organized along the following lines: the central-eastern region, directed from Garel's base in Lyon and protecting 350 children, covered the _départments_ of Rhône, Ain, Loire, Haute-Loire, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal, and Allier; the southeast region, with 400 children, covered the Drôme, Ardèche, Isère, Haute-Savoie, Basses-Alpes, and Hautes-Alpes; the central region, with 450 children, covered Haute-Vienne, Creuse, Corrèze, Dordogne, and the Indre; and the southwest region, directed from Toulouse with 400 children, covered the Haute-Garonne, the Hautes-et-Basses-Pyrenees, the Tarn, the Tarn-et-Garonne, Lot, Lot-et-Garonne, Gers, Herault, Aveyron, and Lozère. Garel, assisted by Andrée Salomon, took charge of the entire operation.

A highly secret system consisting of coded registers, individual records, and three lists—placed in different locations—allowed those authorized to find all the information concerning the double names of children, parents, and host institutions, the better to enable both parents and children to be reunited after the Liberation. In cases where children were identifiably "Jewish" by their foreign accent, their attachment to dietary laws, or other visible features, they were handed across to passeurs working with Resistance organizations to assist them in crossing the Swiss border or the Pyrenees into Spain. Given this consideration, Garel also ensured that false papers and ration cards were created and kept up to date.

Between January 1943 and the autumn of 1944, the _Circuit Garel_ is estimated to have saved the lives of nearly 1,500 children. For its part, however, the network lost some 30 of its own operatives, whether through capture, execution, or deportation (from which only four returned).

One of those in the Garel Network was Georges Loinger, whom Vivette Hermann described as "an expert in crossing frontiers." Loinger was given responsibility for "working on ways to cross into Switzerland." With this, the transformation of the OSE was complete; it would henceforth move from assisting and housing children in need, to smuggling them across borders to safeguard their very lives.

Born in Strasbourg in August 1910, at the age of 15, Loinger entered the Zionist youth movement Hatikvah and soon became a group leader. In 1930 he attended a lecture from Joseph Weill, who advised him to devote himself to the education of Jewish youth and physically prepare himself for the trials that he believed were likely soon. A champion swimmer, in 1932 he moved to Paris, where he studied for a diploma in physical education and sports. After becoming an educator, he was instrumental in helping to create the city's first Jewish high school. In August 1934 he married his longtime girlfriend, Flore Rosenweig, whom he had known since they were both youth leaders. He taught physical education at the school, and she became a secretary there.

While in this role, Loinger became the chief instructor of physical education of the EIF. In 1937 a leading member of French Jewish society, Baron Edouard de Rothschild, brought 125 German Jewish children, aged between 8 and 14 years old, whose parents had been arrested and interned in camps in Germany, and placed them in the Château de la Guette. In this large property, owned by the Rothschilds near Paris, Flore Loinger was given responsibility for supervising the children's care.

With France's defeat in 1940, Georges Loinger was imprisoned with his unit and interned at Stalag 7A in Bavaria. He managed to escape with his cousin Marcel Vogel and returned to France by January 1941; after a period of rehabilitation, he saw the operation at La Guette dissolved in November 1941, with the children then placed in the care of the OSE. Around the same time, he met with Joseph Weill, who convinced him to become an OSE operative. By January 1943, Georges Garel recruited Georges Loinger to organize a means whereby secure border crossings to Switzerland could take place for several hundred Jewish children in and around Annemasse, in Haute-Savoie. Throughout the period 1943–1944, Loinger managed the successful passage of about 350 children. Some of the ways he was able to achieve these crossings were, as we shall see later, quite ingenious.

The Éclaireurs Israélites de France: The Jewish Scouts

The _Circuit Garel_ operated as a clandestine organization created with the specific purpose of hiding Jews (especially Jewish children), supporting them, and, when necessary, finding ways to ferry them across the border to safety in Switzerland. It was never intended to be a mass movement. The EIF, on the other hand, had a prewar history that was forced to evolve into a rescue and resistance organization. As we shall see, this activity was especially pronounced through the activities of one of its groups, _La Sixiéme_ ("The Sixth"). Though the EIF was neither religious nor Zionist by its nature, its idea of sending the young Jewish people to the countryside was similar to the pioneering ideals of the Zionist movement who sought to prepare young Jews for life in Palestine.

As Lucien Lazare has shown, owing to the urgency of the situation as early as 1940, Jewish communities were forced to reorganize themselves "in the interests of the fight for survival." New groups and organizations were formed, and older ones adapted or were rendered superfluous. Alliances were made, often out of necessity, to present a common front against the forces (both French and German) that sought nothing but harm for the Jews.

The EIF, founded as early as 1923, was one of the first to go into action in the southern zone after the armistice. As an organization that had integrated both native and foreign Jewish youth, it showed the way united action could be directed. Moreover, the EIF was to demonstrate a kindred spirit with the _Circuit Garel_ (and, thus, with its parent, the OSE), taking charge of children, hiding them, and smuggling them across the border. In its first acts of defiance, however, it was "less radically clandestine than the Garel network," particularly owing to its visibility as a preexisting component of French society. To best appreciate this, it is necessary to explore the origins of the EIF before the fall of France in 1940; it will then quickly be apparent that its history is inextricably intertwined with the life of its founder.

Robert Reuben Gamzon was born on June 30, 1905, in Lyon, the son of Lazare Gamzon, a mining engineer from Lithuania, and Esther Naomi, the daughter of France's onetime chief rabbi, Alfred Lévy. As a boy, during a stay in the Massif Central in southern France, Gamzon came across a camp of Protestant Scouts. The concept of scouting interested him, and he became keen to create a new movement of Jewish Scouts.

In 1923, at the age of seventeen, he founded the Jewish branch of the scouting movement, which he called the _Éclaireurs Israélites de France_. On May 27, 1923, the first group took their oath in the synagogue at Versailles, in the presence of Chief Rabbi Maurice Liber.

Gamzon's idea was to utilize the scouting movement to instill a Jewish consciousness among French Jewish youth, and thereby counter the possibility of assimilation. At the same time, the opportunity thus created would encourage the integration of recently arrived Jewish immigrants into wider French society. By 1935 there were 3,000 members in Paris, with groups in Strasbourg, Mulhouse, Lyon, and Marseille; in North Africa, there were EIF groups in Tunis, Algiers, Oran, and Casablanca.

In line with its founding aims, by 1926 Gamzon opened the movement to all Jewish children, regardless of their religious or national backgrounds. He was the main architect behind how the movement developed, including the unification of EIF religious practices in 1932 to encompass a "common minimum" of observance, including Shabbat and the maintenance of Jewish dietary laws ( _kashrut_ ).

In 1933, with the help of a close associate, Léo Cohn (born in 1913 in Germany), Gamzon transformed the EIF again: he launched the idea of a return to manual work and a career orientation that encouraged skilled work and agricultural labor.

In 1930 Gamzon married a fellow scout leader, Denise Lévy, in Paris. With the onset of war in September 1939, Denise succeeded in opening three (and, eventually, five) houses receiving EIF children evacuated from urban centers. These homes also extended to young foreign Jews at a time when their status counted against them. Thus, the centers of Villefranche de Rouergue and Saint Affrique (Aveyron), Saint Céré (Lot), Beaulieu sur Dordogne (Corrèze), and Moissac (Tarn), where the national EIF secretariat was located, were all established. Activities included a training farm, while a carpentry workshop was opened in Paris.

After the armistice in June 1940, the EIF hastened to reinforce its organizational arrangements, appointing paid commissioners devoted to the movement's operations. With EIF's leaders traveling throughout France to revive EIF activities, in short order some 26 groups were created in the southern zone, catering to over 2,000 young Jews. With the approval of the Vichy authorities, Gamzon began setting up children's homes, workshops, welfare centers, and training farms for refugee children, including one in Lautrec in the Tarn. Denise Gamzon was appointed as deputy director, training the new cohort of EIF leaders and assistants.

Robert Gamzon was a regular visitor to Vichy, where he sought assistance from every quarter. Through various sources he was able to learn of likely raids on EIF homes and was thus able to hide young Jews (particularly those of foreign background) and provide them with false papers.

In Moissac, as we have seen, Simon Lévitte of the _Mouvement de la jeunesse sioniste_ created a documentation center; from here, he distributed not only fake documents but also teaching materials of benefit to the EIF in the form of songs and correspondence courses. In addition, a traveling library was created by Lévitte and those working with him.

On November 29, 1941, the UGIF was created, at Vichy insistence and on orders from the Germans, to consolidate all Jewish organizations in France into a single unit and dissolve existing bodies. This included the EIF. The UGIF was far from an independent body and was frequently forced to yield to German and French demands. In January 1942 Robert Gamzon was appointed to the executive board of the UGIF; he reasoned that it would be better to be inside the system than outside so as to monitor developments. At the same time, the now-banned executive of the EIF determined from this point on to commit the movement to clandestine activity for the sake of those within its responsibility—thus, when deportations commenced in 1942, the Scouts played a major part in placing and hiding hundreds of children with French families. Gamzon's organization was one of those that took part in the evacuation of the children of Vénissieux.

In his role as a director of UGIF, Gamzon went to Paris in May 1943 to help coordinate the various covert networks in the capital and to organize underground actions there, culminating in the establishment of an EIF Jewish partisan unit in the Tarn district of southwestern France in December 1943. Those who joined were mainly young people who had been Scouts or had participated in Gamzon's workshops. Gamzon attached his partisan unit to the AJ; by so doing he helped unite all of France's Jewish underground militias.

Overall, the EIF's activities during World War II can summarized as follows: maintaining the scouting movement and establishing new groups throughout Vichy France as well as North Africa; establishing children's homes for Jewish children of foreign background who had been separated from their parents; establishing training groups in agricultural work for possible resettlement in Palestine; creating the means to hide young Jews at risk and sometimes, when necessary, to arrange for them to be smuggled out of the country; and, finally, establishing the EIF underground combat unit in 1944.

La Sixième: At the Cutting Edge

After the roundup of Jews in Paris at the _Vel' d'Hiv_ on June 16–17, 1942, Gamzon instituted a secret rescue network, an underground branch of the EIF, called "The Sixth" ( _La Sixième_ ), whose purpose was to help Jews escape the Gestapo. The Sixième provided Jews with false identity papers, hid young people in non-Jewish institutions and homes, and conducted smuggling operations into Spain and Switzerland. Working under the direction of Gamzon and other leaders such as Marc Haguenau ("Dove"), members of the Sixième undertook much of the work of conveying young adults (as distinct from children, a responsibility left to OSE) to safe houses, arranging for the infrastructure of EIF homes to work properly, and gathering intelligence. At other times, Sixième operatives acted as cross-border passeurs or joined armed Resistance networks.

The Sixième was created as a direct response to the order from the UGIF on January 5, 1943, to dissolve the youth department of the EIF—though its origin lay in the great raids of August 26, 1942, that resulted in the night of Vénissieux. The day before, Robert Gamzon learned from a reliable source in Vichy that a massive police operation was planned against foreign Jews over 16 years old who had entered France after 1936. Unnerved, he thought it imperative that these young Jews leave or be moved into houses run by the EIF.

Once formed, the newly created Sixième, led by Henri Wahl, Ninon Weyl-Haït, and Denise Lévy, began its work through the provision of forged documents and finding safe places. The southern zone was then divided into six regions in which young women were placed in charge of maintaining the link with those who were hidden or to serve as passeurs to the Swiss border; once there, Georges Loinger and his team from the OSE took them across.

As shown by Paula E. Hyman, the underground operations of the Sixième "became the center of illegal activity" after the scouting movement had been closed down, undertaking several lines of clandestine work:

The provision of false identity cards (of high quality, incidentally); the identification of contacts who would provide money, papers, and hiding places to those who escaped the roundups; and the rescue and placement of Jewish children in safe homes in the countryside. To prevent their discovery and capture, the scout leaders opted for decentralization of authority, with regional leaders meeting together monthly.

Homes had to be broken up and their inhabitants dispersed after the intensification of German efforts from October 1943, but this did not stop members of the Sixième from trying to find ways of protecting their charges; indeed, private homes came to be employed more than ever before, with the EIF continuing to provide for the children's upkeep. This included all the necessities of daily life, such as clothing (increasingly scarce), shoes (less and less easy to come by owing to a shortage of leather), and toiletries, as well as compensating the host families for the food being consumed by the young refugees.

The efforts of Georges Loinger and the teams of passeurs he assembled were, on the whole, successful in arranging the passage of convoys of children and youths to Switzerland. Two, however, were intercepted. The tragic story of Mila Racine we have already seen. That of Marianne Cohn, which will be covered in chapter 6, had a bittersweet outcome; Marianne, tortured and murdered brutally, lost her life, but thanks to the intervention of the mayor of Annemasse, Jean Deffaught, all of the children in her care were released and survived the war.

The Sixième, as a thoroughly clandestine outfit, was something of an enigma to the German occupiers. Indeed, as Anny Latour has written, to the Gestapo, "the Sixth was simply some secret, sinister organization," with little appreciation of what it was or where it originated. Latour, born Gutmann, joined the Sixième in December 1942 and was involved in the production of false papers. She noted later that despite its secrecy, the Sixième nonetheless worked closely with other Jewish bodies such as the OSE and the MJS, particularly when organizing border crossings. And as Hyman has shown, the work in which they were engaged was dangerous: "of its eighty-six (or according to one source, eighty-eight) workers, thirty met their deaths in France of through deportation to Nazi death camps." Those deported without returning counted among their number many of the leading members of the organization, including Claude Gutmann, Léo Cohn, Édith Pulver, and Marc Haguenau, and Mila Racine. And Marianne Cohn was not the only member of the Sixième who died during their torture and interrogation.

Overall, the hazardous and heroic work of the Sixième saw the rescue of up to 1,200 children and young adults—protected in EIF homes or private houses—and the transfer to sanctuary in Switzerland of another 500. Hyman has concluded that "Of the more than 500 residents in the EIF children's home, only one was seized and deported"—a singular achievement in the story of Jewish youth rescue during the whole of the Nazi period.

And lest it be thought that the Sixième operated only in the border areas of Haute-Savoie and vicinity, it must also be pointed out that it organized passage for adults through the Pyrenees to Spain from time to time, as efforts were made to save Jewish lives at every opportunity.

Catholic Support for Jewish Children: Amitié Chrétienne

Abbé Alexandre Glasberg was a French Catholic priest born to a Jewish family in Zhitmomir, Ukraine, in 1902. His parents had him and his brother, Vila, baptized when they were both children. In 1921 Glasberg went to Vienna to escape anti-Jewish pogroms after the Russian Revolution, and while there undertook religious studies. In 1933 he moved to France, where he entered the seminary of Moulins prior to being ordained in 1938. He was appointed vicar of the parish of Notre-Dame de Saint-Alban, a poor suburb of Lyon, whose pastor, Father Laurent Remilleux, was a pioneer in providing welfare and relief to refugees.

After the Germans occupied France in 1940, Glasberg was appointed by Cardinal Pierre-Marie Gerlier of Lyon as delegate to the Committee to Aid Refugees, and from here he began playing an active role in the French Resistance. He started by hiding political refugees from the Nazis but extended this to working with the OSE.

In late 1941 the first stirrings of what became Amitié Chrétienne ("Christian Friendship") took place in Lyon, with the goal of assisting Jews and other victims being persecuted by Vichy and German decrees. By early 1942, Abbé Glasberg, alongside of Father Pierre Chaillet, Jean-Marie Soutou, and a young student, Germaine Ribière, gave his organization concrete form with the specific purpose of helping Jews and resisters from being interned. He created a network of five absorption centers stretching throughout southern France and established shelters, taking in hundreds of Jews who had been released from French camps.

Germaine Ribière, born in Limoges in 1917, was raised as a Catholic and studied at the University of Paris, where she witnessed anti-Jewish discrimination from which she recoiled. Abandoning her studies during the German occupation, she left home for Vichy, where she became involved in the journal _Cahiers du Témoignage Chrétien_ as well as Amitié Chrétienne, devoting herself to saving Jewish children.

With the start of large-scale arrests of Jews in southern France, Abbé Glasberg began forging the identities of those he was trying to rescue and stepped up the pace of his activities. Germaine Ribière took care to provide false papers to those in need and to supply the necessary materials to produce them to members of the Resistance. Glasberg was a leading player during the night of Vénissieux in August 1942, after which he and Germaine worked hard to move Jewish children to safety, fighting hard to ensure that the children were moved with false papers into Catholic institutions (though with the close supervision of the OSE). In this endeavor Germaine and Glasberg were at one, determined to ensure that Jews living in Catholic shelters were not pressured into converting to Catholicism.

In December 1942 Abbé Glasberg was forced to go into hiding after French police and the Gestapo tried to arrest him. Soon thereafter, in early 1943, a fictitious position was created for him by Pierre-Marie Théas, Bishop of Montauban, under the false name of Father Elie Corvin. He was appointed pastor of the Honor-de-Cos in the hamlet of Léribosc, in the _départment_ of Tarnet-Garonne. During this period he was an active member of the Resistance, occupying a position within the Departmental Liberation Committee chaired by Paul Guiral.

On January 27, 1943, Germaine Ribière attended an emergency board meeting of Amitié Chrétienne in the home of a Swiss Protestant minister, Roland de Pury, in Lyon. The intention of the meeting was to try to find a way to warn Jews arriving at UGIF headquarters in the hope of obtaining false papers that the offices on Ste.-Catherine Street were watched by the Gestapo; a trap had been set that would ensnare anyone entering the building. The solution found was that the next morning, Germaine would pass herself off as a cleaning lady scrubbing the stairs and would warn arriving Jews not to enter. An unknown number of lives were saved through this stratagem.

While this was being played out, and Abbé Glasberg was in hiding, his brother, Vila, took charge of rescue activities; but on August 16, 1943, the Gestapo, mistaking Vila for the Abbé, arrested, deported, and murdered him. After this Abbé Glasberg continued to evade the Gestapo and survived the war in hiding. He died in France in 1981. In 2004 he and his brother Vila were both recognized as Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem. An argument was put forth by many observers at the time that if they had still been alive, the brothers would probably have preferred to have been identified as Jews rather than those "among the nations." It was acknowledged, however, that owing to the fact that the status of "righteous" is only awarded to non-Jews, they could not have been recognized for their work by Yad Vashem if that had happened.

One of Amitié Chrétienne's operatives in the field, Rolande Birgy, performed functions similar to some of the Jewish rescuers we have seen thus far. Born on April 12, 1913, in Paris into a Catholic family, from 1928 she was affiliated with the _Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne_ (Christian Youth Workers, or JOC) in Annecy, near the Swiss border.

In 1940 Rolande left Paris for Marseille. Working as a switchboard operator in an insurance company, she engaged in Bible study with Dominicans and Jews; on one such occasion, she met Adrien Benveniste, a young Jewish teacher who had been stripped of his position owing to the _Statut des Juifs_. A member of the EIF and the Sixième, he provided Rolande with an entrée to the work of rescuing Jewish children.

In Marseille she was asked to hide Jewish children, but on April 10, 1942, the _Béret Bleu_ ("Blue Beret"), as she was nicknamed, was arrested by French police for taking Jews through to Switzerland. Sentenced to one month's imprisonment, upon her release she immediately resumed her clandestine work and put herself at the disposal of the OSE under Georges Garel, who sent children to Rolande at Annemasse. Here, she handed them over to Georges Loinger for transfer across the Swiss border. In Annemasse she also worked with the MJS and kept an eye on the children she had dispersed to families throughout Haute-Savoie, paying them regular visits and ensuring their upkeep was in order.

Although Catholic, Rolande became a member of the Sixième, the better to be successful in smuggling Jewish children to safety. Risking her life, she participated directly in many of the rescues herself, accompanying the children right into Switzerland. In all, hundreds of children and entire families were smuggled into Switzerland as a result of Rolande's efforts.

Protestants Rise to the Occasion: The Work of CIMADE

While Amitié Chrétienne was essentially a Catholic body, it had its Protestant counterpart in the _Comité inter-mouvements auprès des évacués_ (Inter-Movement Committee for Evacuees), better known by its acronym, CIMADE. This organization was unique among refugee-relief concerns in that it was started and run by women alone. One of its primary early interests was in easing the conditions of interned Jews, but after Vénissieux it undertook to facilitate their refuge in safe places and, in due course, their escape to Switzerland.

CIMADE's secretary general was a woman named Madeleine Barot. Born in Châteauroux in central France, she studied history at the Sorbonne and later worked as a librarian at the _École française de Rome_ from 1935 to 1940. Active in Protestant youth organizations through the French Federation of Christian Student Associations, in mid-1939 she was active at the World Conference of Christian Youth held in Amsterdam and was a member of the research group that wrote the _Thèses de Pomeyrol_ (Pomeyrol Theses) in 1941, which emphasized the resistance of the French Reformed Church to Nazism.

A leading member of the church, Pastor Marc Boegner, arranged for Madeleine to be appointed to the secretariat of CIMADE, which was set up in September 1939 by a French Lutheran from Alsace, Suzanne de Dietrich of the Protestant Youth Council, and a leading member of the _Fédération Française des Éclaireuses_ (French Federation of Girl Scouts, or FFE), Georgette Siegrist, as an umbrella organization for several smaller Protestant youth movements. At first, CIMADE provided welfare for evacuees from Alsace-Lorraine along the Franco-German border, but the emphasis shifted after the defeat of 1940 to victims of the Vichy regime, especially foreign Jews.

When Madeleine Barot took charge of the organization in 1940, she saw a need to look after those requiring whatever assistance she could provide, taking it upon herself to establish a presence for CIMADE in the internment camps. This began at Gurs, deep in the southwest, where, along with another CIMADE activist, Jeanne Merle d'Aubigné, she talked her way into the camp as an aid worker and then visited it every day. After receiving permission from the camp commandant to open a branch of CIMADE within the camp, she took up residence there. She then began working for the release of inmates and was successful in getting children as well as the sick and elderly transferred to reception centers under CIMADE auspices at Protestant strongholds such as Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. Beginning in the summer of 1942, she began preparing false papers and other means to enable Jews to flee to safety in Switzerland. As recalled by Anny Latour, Madeleine became "a specialist in border-crossings"; overall, owing to her initiatives, it is estimated that her activities saved the lives of hundreds of Jews.

Madeleine Barot's work served as an inspiration to others in CIMADE as well. Mireille Philip, _née_ Cooreman, was born on November 10, 1901 in Paris. The daughter of a Protestant pastor, she married French Socialist politician André Philip in 1924 and had five children with him. During the German occupation, she lived in Chambon-sur-Lignon, where she was active in CIMADE. Her husband having left France in 1940 to join Charles de Gaulle's Free French forces, Mireille not only fought to keep the family together but also began leading small groups of young Jews from Le Chambon to the Swiss border, where they were then smuggled to safety. Her escape routes embraced Saint-Étienne, Lyon, Annemasse, and Geneva.

In June 1942 she was appointed as a CIMADE official, with responsibility for Swiss border crossings. Her many activities now included identifying areas for clandestine crossings, ensuring the reliability of guides, and making false ration cards. In this latter endeavor, she was so successful that in a single night, she produced a sufficient number of cards to last until 1954. Not content to act alone, she recruited additional volunteers, while others working with CIMADE obtained Swiss entry visas. To obtain these visas, Mireille herself crossed into Geneva on several occasions, where she picked them up in Geneva. When visas were not immediately forthcoming, she would be forced to wait (sometimes for days), hiding the Jews in border towns such as Annecy and Douvaine.

In January 1943 she turned over her duties in CIMADE to another activist, Pierre Piton, who worked as a counselor at the _Collège Cévenol_. He already had experience in taking care of Jewish children, escorting them to their host families from August 1942 onwards. In December 1943 Mireille left France _via_ Spain to join the _Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur_ (French Forces of the Interior, or FFI) in North Africa. When leaving the border, she was comfortable in the knowledge that Piton, an experienced guide, was in place to continue her work.

Another CIMADE activist was Geneviève Pittet-Priacel (known as Tatchou), who also saved Jews by conveying them across the border. Born on February 27, 1918, she had trained as a nurse before turning her attention to theological studies and working for CIMADE. In the summer of 1942, she was instructed to prepare a zone through which passage to Switzerland could be made. She worked in close collaboration with Pastor Paul Chapal and Abbé Camille Folliet, both from Annecy, and received help from several other Catholic priests in the border area. Refugees waiting for transit often had to be moved from temporary shelter to temporary shelter before a way could be found to cross safely. Beds in the Annecy hospital sometimes served children waiting to be transferred, while Geneviève often sheltered Jews by sending them to _Mas Soubeyran_ , the so-called Désert Museum, beloved in the memory of French Protestants in honor of their persecuted ancestors.

Beginning in October 1942, several routes into Switzerland were developed, between Annecy, Annemasse, Évian, and Thonon. By the end of the summer of 1943, all the roads around Annemasse became the focus of attention from French police, leading to a slowdown in crossings with a greater level of caution being shown by many who had been forthcoming with their assistance. Still, much goodwill remained. Colette Dufournet, operating under the alias of Brigitte Lambert, traveled tirelessly from Annecy across France, looking for Jews at risk, particularly children. Taking them to the border, she passed them to people she knew, who would then host them until they were ready to travel. If they were too numerous, they went _en bloc_ for temporary stays in Catholic schools: the girls to the orphanage of the Sacred Heart run by the Sisters of Charity and boys to various Capuchin institutions.

In 1940 one Jewish family, the Veils, found sanctuary in Grenoble. One of their daughters knew Geneviève Pittet-Priacel from the days of theological study in Geneva, and in late 1943, the family contacted her, asking for help in smuggling their son, Antoine (then active in the Resistance), across the Swiss border. Taking up the suggestion, on Christmas Eve 1943, she escorted Antoine to St.-Julien, close to the border, and then walked him across. By February 1944 Geneviève had also smuggled the Veil parents and one of Antoine's sisters across. What is most remarkable about these efforts—and needs to be remembered always—is that the border area was heavily patrolled and that, as we have seen, several guides who helped Jews and other refugees were captured, imprisoned, and, sometimes, executed. In sum, it has been estimated that from August 1942 to December 1943—before she, like Mireille Philip, decided to leave France and join the Free French forces in North Africa—Geneviève Pittet-Priacel managed to evacuate around 400 people to safety in Switzerland.

Saying No to the Nazis

The period following the critical night of August 28, 1942—the night of Venissieux—did not see the start of efforts to help Jews, but it certainly intensified them. What is most remarkable about the next two years is the degree of Jewish self-help and non-Jewish outreach to those with whom they did not share a faith doctrine but who, on the simple ground of a shared humanity, needed help. The forms such assistance took varied from the provision of forged documents, to supplying food, shelter, and sustenance, to a vigorous pursuit of human (and quite illegal) smuggling across borders.

Why did people engage in such behavior? For the Jews, perhaps, there was little option, and what we are really discussing here—resistance—took many forms, ranging from armed confrontation to a passive defiance that simply sought to maintain dignity and a sense of what it meant to be human. Resistance also embraced those people who sought to save lives threatened, through rescue, concealment, or any other forms of denying the Germans and their Vichy collaborators the chance to realize their nefarious goals.

Every act of helping, encouragement, and cooperation that took place disproved the claim that an attitude of self-reliance could not be maintained, and individuals, groups, and resistance movements all sought to establish and maintain this attitude.

In this regard, the modern notion of the upstander is important. Unlike bystanders, who, for whatever reason, generally do not get involved in situations in which moral choices need to be made, upstanders will intervene in some way, choosing to take positive action in the face of injustice or in situations where others need assistance. Upstanders in France during World War II went out of their way to rescue Jews, literally "standing up" for what they believed was the right thing to do when they could otherwise have chosen to do nothing. Put this way, upstanders actively defended those needing to be defended.

Saying no to the Nazis was a choice people made, and it took exceptional courage and commitment to do so. Moreover, saving lives was difficult—sometimes next to impossible. The period of the Nazi occupation was a time when living space, food, sanitation facilities, and medicine were at a premium, and those who hid Jews or sought to smuggle them across borders risked their own lives as well as those of their families. Given the enormous risks involved in undertaking rescue efforts, it is remarkable that any of these initiatives took place at all. Perhaps, then, when we ask why there were so few examples of upstanding during the Holocaust, the question could more readily be, in view of everything people faced, how come there were so many?

In many cases, people who helped to save lives did not feel as though they did anything special. For these people, their actions simply constituted what they refer to, over and over again, as "the right thing to do."

For some Jews, such as Georges Garel, the task was existential; if he was not successful, the Jews would be destroyed. For Georges Loinger, a highly successful passeur, there was a job to be done—and any way he could bring each crossing to a triumphant conclusion meant one more Jewish life saved. Similar thoughts inspired others, like Robert Gamzon, who had a vision for what a cohesive Jewish life in France could be, and the heroic activists of the Sixième who offered their lives to rescue Jewish children (and others who, all too often, were equally vulnerable).

Not all Christians, it must be admitted, went out of their way to assist Jews to the same extent as Amitié Chrétienne and CIMADE, featured in this chapter. That said, however, perhaps the very actions, to say nothing of the existence, of these organizations brings some measure of redemption to the reputation of the Christian Churches at this most challenging of all crisis eras. Abbé Alexandre Glasberg, Germaine Ribière, and Rolande Birgy all had their own reasons for breaking ranks with an otherwise overall unhelpful Vatican position relative to the Jews during the Holocaust, as did the Protestant women—Madeleine Barot, Mireille Philip, and Geneviève Pittet-Priacel—themselves coming from a minority faith tradition in France, when working with and through CIMADE. All, however, had one thing in common: a concern for the lives of their fellow human beings. That must be simultaneously the benchmark and the starting point for any consideration of the various groups in France that sought to save Jews during the crisis years of the occupation.
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CHAPTER FIVE

Entr'acte: Rescue on the Border

Vallorcine is a tiny Haute-Savoie municipality right on the border between France and Switzerland. Within this mountainous area is the village of Le Buet, an important starting point for mountaineers who seek to conquer mighty Mont Blanc, at 4,808 meters the highest mountain in the Alps and the highest in Europe west of Russia. For those less intrepid or adventurous, Mont Buet, at 3,100 meters, presents a sufficiently daunting challenge: the course to the summit is long, the altitude high, the weather unpredictable. The area is one to be respected, and attempting to traverse it without an experienced local guide can be an act of folly.

Just south of Vallorcine is the commune of Francin, in the _département_ of Savoie. Located here is the headquarters of the French Mountain Guide Association ( _Syndicat National des Guides de Montagne_ , or SNGM), established in 1945 to regulate the practices of those conveying travelers through the mountains. The movement of people is an ancient exercise requiring intimate knowledge of the terrain, a sixth sense as to changing weather conditions, and an ability to enforce the level of discipline needed to ensure that travelers arrived safely at their destination.

One such mountain guide was Louis Pache. Born in Vallorcine on August 28, 1896, he was raised in the mountains and became a professional guide. He served during World War I, after which he returned to his home in Haute-Savoie.

On September 28, 1942, two Jewish teenagers—Alexander Rotenberg (formerly from Belgium) and Ruth Heppner (formerly from Germany)—sought a passeur who could help them find a way into Switzerland. Their original mission, entrusted to them by a resistance group in France, was simply to make contact with such a person, but on learning that their arrest was imminent, they were forced to modify their plans and move quickly for their own safety. Through the help of the owner of Le Buet's only inn, a connection was made with Louis Pache. His assistance, together with that of his wife Franceline, enabled Alexander (known as Ali) and Ruth to prepare for what was to be a thoroughly taxing crossing of the border. Described in grueling detail in Ali's memoir, Pache force-marched the teenagers through the treacherous mountain terrain, where they were compelled to confront freezing temperatures, slippery rocks, few breaks for food, drink, or rest . . . and this was only to get to the border, which then had to be traversed. Pache had to leave them there but instructed them on what they should do once they got to the other side.

It is often overlooked that crossing the border meant confronting other than manmade hazards. The mountains, interestingly, rarely feature in popular accounts of passage between France and Switzerland; if all we had to go on were movies such as _Das Boot Ist Voll_ (dir. Markus Imhoof, 1981) or _Le Voyage de Fanny_ (dir. Lola Doillon, 2016), we might only have an image of forests and fields, with the mountains in the background. It must not be forgotten, however, that the whole region of Haute-Savoie is dominated by its landscape. An important consideration when assessing the difficulties facing passeurs and refugees alike must always be nature as well as Nazis.

The Hazards of Flight

To say that Jews seeking sanctuary in Switzerland faced obstacles is a massive understatement. In fact, given the difficulties of crossing the border, it is less surprising that there were so few successes than that there were so many. Often the decision to attempt the crossing would be long-contemplated, but rarely did the opportunity arise to choose when it should be made. In a vast majority of cases, the urge to flee was sudden, forced upon Jews due to changed circumstances over which they had no control. Plans might be made carefully in advance, but rarely could they be acted upon; all too often the run for the border had to be an improvised, sudden affair.

The decision having been made, the next realization that had to be faced was that crossing the border was invariably not something that could be done without help. Most of those seeking sanctuary were alien to the region; indeed, many were not originally from France at all but had fled earlier from Germany, Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Poland, or elsewhere in the Nazi empire. Success demanded the assistance of a third party (at least), to which the refugee was obliged to entrust his or her life (and often the lives of his or her accompanying family members). Usually, neither the refugee nor the rescuer knew each other, which could intensify the risk for the person in flight.

This extreme level of trust was often to prove ill-founded. Local passeurs rarely undertook the high-risk practice of taking people past German or Vichy police out of the goodness of their hearts, and frequently they would exact recompense for their efforts. Such payment occasionally ran to tens of thousands of francs; how much, they reasoned, was a Jewish refugee prepared to pay for their life and that of their family? The money handed across, moreover, did not always result in the sought-after salvation. In too many cases, unscrupulous passeurs blackmailed the refugee for more money as payment against denunciation; sometimes, once the money had been handed over, the passeur would abscond with the cash, abandoning the refugee and leaving him or her either to make his or her own way or, more likely, to be picked up by a passing patrol.

An Austrian refugee, Moriz Scheyer, made an especially trenchant observation of such passeurs when writing of their smuggling activities between occupied and Vichy France. In a contemporary account composed while he was in hiding, he set the scene that would be repeated time and time again across the Swiss border with Vichy: "The harder the Germans made life in the Occupied Zone, the higher went the prices of the passeurs." At the start, he wrote, "it was 500 francs per person; by the end it had risen to 50,000 or more." Added to this was an additional factor: the opportunities to look the other way on the part of corrupt officials, who on occasion would work hand-in-glove with the passeurs so that each could turn a handsome profit from the distress of the Jewish refugees.

Presuming successful transportation to the border, a further problem arose once the refugee arrived. Passeurs rarely crossed the border with "their" refugee, unless the area was as remote as those traversed by the likes of Louis Pache (and even he usually declined to enter Switzerland with his charges). For the passeur, the issue was one of getting back unnoticed; after all, their home and work were in the area through which the refugee was simply passing.

For the refugee, having reached the border, the question was invariably one of what to do next. Getting through the border could be problematic enough. In some areas, the Swiss authorities had established a 12-kilometer-wide zone in which refugees who were caught had to reckon with being turned away. On either side of that zone were barbed-wire fences; admittedly, these precautions were as much to aid Swiss security in the event of a German invasion as of refugee restriction, though that was small comfort for those seeking sanctuary. And then what? Turn left? Turn right? Go to the nearest village or town and declare oneself? Go to the first house seen and hope for the best? The issues were complex and accumulating for the Jewish refugees who managed to cross the border. Getting there was only part of the problem. Traversing it and then negotiating the next steps led to additional dilemmas that did not always have a successful outcome.

Swiss Refugee Policy: Acceptance or Return?

Switzerland was in a state of armed neutrality during World War II. A small, industrialized country with virtually no raw materials, its industry had always depended on exporting fine machine tools, pharmaceuticals, and luxury goods such as watches. A scarcity of raw materials in a country with high population density and a deficit of arable land saw Switzerland heavily reliant on food imports from its neighbors, Germany, Austria, France, and Italy—countries that, during the war, were controlled either by Nazis or fascists. With all its major trade partners under the German or Italian thumb, this rendered Swiss policy a hostage to _realpolitik_ concerns from which it had very few options of escape.

With the onset of war in 1939, the Swiss readied for any eventuality. On August 30 General Henri Guisan was elected to command the Swiss military, and by September 3, he reported to the Federal Council that "when at 12:10 Central European time, Great Britain declared war on Germany, our entire army had been in its operational positions for 10 minutes." The Army's general mobilization saw the border areas protected by up to 430,000 trained citizen soldiers, but the challenges facing the country given Germany's rampage through Europe in the first half of 1940 gave the Swiss pause for reflection. Realizing that any defense of the frontiers against Hitler's armies would likely not be successful, a new strategy of defense in a secure and focused alpine redoubt ( _réduit national_ ) could bring a greater chance of victory–at the same time sealing off the country from further attack. The main strategy now shifted to deterrence rather than fighting, in the hope of preventing bloodshed as much as to find a winning formula to defend the country.

Such precautions against invasion were indeed necessary, and it is possible, if not entirely likely, that Germany seriously considered invasion in 1940. Germany started planning the invasion of Switzerland as Operation TANNENBAUM on June 25, 1940, the day France surrendered. Initially the operation called for an invasion from 21 German divisions, but the plan underwent several revisions over the next few months. Ultimately, the plan settled on an attack from 11 German and 12 Italian divisions, but even this did not materialize due to a "wait and see" approach in which consideration was given to the possibility of a negotiated occupation in which the Swiss would be cowed into acquiescence by the threat of invasion. Ultimately, Hitler never proceeded with Operation TANNENBAUM. It is still unclear why he made this decision; perhaps the soldier from the Great War trenches was actually put off by the idea of a bloodletting across no-man's-land from fixed positions where the war of movement had been rendered unworkable; perhaps his racial ideas made him wary of waging war against a state that was 73 percent German-speaking; perhaps, indeed, he saw a need for a neutral Switzerland for economic or diplomatic reasons in a continent dominated by conflict. Of importance is that Switzerland, though racked with tension throughout the war, nonetheless managed to retain its neutrality and independence.

Its military vulnerability to one side, Switzerland had also to contend with the reality of its record as a haven for refugees in times of war. The first years after Hitler and the Nazis came to power in Germany saw thousands of Jews attempting to gain entry to Switzerland, leading to a national discussion on how many should be admitted. Switzerland, like most Western countries at this time, was suffering high unemployment and already housed substantial numbers of foreigners. The German annexation of Austria on March 12, 1938, saw an immediate start to Jewish persecution there, with Austrian Jews now also seeking sanctuary in Switzerland. In response, the Swiss government decided to divide such people into three groups: political refugees, who were granted immediate entry; Jews, who were granted entry for a short period of time and only allowed to use Switzerland as a transit country to a further destination; and other refugees (unspecified), who were rejected and removed as soon as possible. Then, on August 18, 1938, the Swiss government closed its borders to Jewish refugees attempting to flee Nazi Germany. Every movement of Jews crossing into Switzerland was declared to be illegal, and refugees were forced back to Germany or Austria.

To act as a further deterrent, in October 1938 the government asked Germany to stamp the letter "J" on all Jewish passports so Swiss officials might more easily identify (and, thus, reject) Jews. Accordingly, the "J" stamp appeared on all German passports and other official documents, whereby the bearer was identified as a Jew according to Nazi legislation. Stamping the letter "J" on the passports of German Jews served the purpose of assisting what were now becoming increasingly restrictive policies regulating the entry of Jewish refugees. With this measure, Swiss border authorities could, with some degree of ease, be even more selective of those who crossed into the country. The policy was spelled out in a memorandum to all police chiefs from the Federal Police and Justice Department in Bern, dated October 4, 1938: "German citizens with German passports who are not Aryan according to German law (German Jews), who arrive at any Swiss border crossing, are to be admitted into Switzerland only if they have confirmed permission to stay in Switzerland or confirmed permission of transit through Switzerland entered into their passports by a Swiss consulate." Given that "some time will pass" before the "J" stamp took effect on all German passports, the directive demanded "that you turn back all those who have no confirmation by Swiss Consulates," and that "Those who have come from Germany are to be turned back to Germany"—while the same should apply to those who entered from Italy and soon, it was hoped, also from France.

The architect of this policy was the head of the police division of the Federal Department of Justice and Police, Dr. Heinrich Rothmund. Seeing himself as Switzerland's primary gatekeeper, Rothmund was determined to ensure that there would be no "foreign inundation" of "alien elements." What this translated to, in his mind, was a determination to keep Jews out of the country on the ground that "if we do not wish to create a justified foundation for an anti-Semitic movement unworthy of our country, we must protect ourselves with all our strength and, when necessary, without mercy, against the immigration of foreign Jews, most especially those from the east." Thus, to forestall the development of anti-Jewish sentiment, the strange logic of Rothmund's position was that his agency would do all in its power to keep Jews out.

In October 1939, only a month after the start of the war, the Swiss government began to approve a series of laws making it even more difficult for immigrants, particularly Jews, to enter. Then, with the possibility of a German invasion, the Swiss government effectively closed the border. The most likely to be admitted were henceforth young people under the age of 16 (or 18, depending on the circumstances), families with small children, and pregnant women.

The question therefore needed to be addressed: How did this align with Switzerland's national persona of welcome to all those oppressed by war? The answer rested much more on the question of who should be turned away than on who should be admitted. In this context, the policy of _refoulement_ ("forcing back") was crucial. This saw the introduction of a policy in 1938 that would ensure that Jewish refugees fleeing Germany without satisfactory means or documentation would be returned to Germany upon arrival. The motives behind such a policy were several: a fear of being swamped with refugees; antisemitism among certain sections of the government and bureaucracy; and concerns about German countermeasures, even aggression, should Switzerland be seen to be adopting a pro-Jewish (read anti-Nazi) policy. The policy received an enormous boost through the introduction of the aforementioned "J" stamp, as Swiss border guards could now much more easily identify Jews and proceed accordingly without further ado.

By 1941 the Swiss government began accepting some Jewish refugees from Belgium and the Netherlands, but in 1942 Heinrich Rothmund's police began acting on a new regulation refusing travelers the status of "refugee" on racial grounds, which meant that for Jews, their background—the most fundamental justification of their need for sanctuary—denied them the protections of a refugee. Overall, by the end of the war, Switzerland had taken in approximately 300,000 people in need from across Europe, but perhaps only about 25,000 of these were Jews. Up until the spring of 1944, a large proportion of all refugees who made it to Switzerland and were refused entry were Jewish. It is impossible to tell how many of these were children, but the balance of probabilities would suggest that the figure numbered several thousand.

Switzerland and the Refugees: Two Case Studies

While the risks were enormous for passeurs and others who, for whatever reason, sought to help Jews, they were often just as hazardous for those on the other side of the border. As crossing without a valid visa or other documents was forbidden, any Swiss citizens facilitating such movement were effectively breaking the law—notwithstanding the noble motivations underscoring their actions. They were, in the words of Israeli historian Mordecai Paldiel, "punished for showing compassion," with little in the way of flexibility or understanding shown for the circumstances of the situation.

The celebrated case of Paul Grüninger provides an excellent illustration of the ethical duality accompanying such scenarios, where breaking the law was a laudable act that saved lives but invited government retribution.

Paul Grüninger was a Swiss police commander whose actions on the border with Germany before World War II saved several thousand Jews who otherwise would have been refused sanctuary. Born on October 27, 1891, in St. Gallen, the son of a cigar shop owner, he lived a fairly simple lifestyle and was not especially involved in matters outside his hometown. During World War I, when Switzerland was neutral, he served in the Swiss Army as a lieutenant. After the war he joined the border police, rising to the rank of colonel; by 1919 he had become border police commander for St. Gallen Canton.

When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, many Jews fled to neighboring Austria, but with the _Anschluss_ on March 12, 1938, persecution began there immediately. As Jews from Austria then sought sanctuary in Switzerland, and the Swiss government responded by clamping down on admissions, Paul Grüninger found himself approached every day by German and Austrian Jews seeking asylum. As he heard their stories, he could scarcely believe what they told him. Faced with choosing between following state laws or staying true to his moral code, his sense of compassion made it nearly impossible for him to turn the Jews away. Many other border commanders, similarly torn between these two conflicting approaches to right and wrong, had their subordinates deal with the issue. Grüninger realized he could have taken this easy way out and absolve himself of responsibility; he could just as easily follow the commands of his superiors. On the other hand, he saw that he could do what he considered to be humane and right—even though doing so would be putting himself at risk. Ultimately, he believed that saving lives was far more important than preserving his job, and, as a result, he admitted over 3,600 Jews by falsifying their passports and entry papers or turning a blind eye when required. He even used his own money to buy winter clothes for refugees who had been forced to leave all their belongings behind.

In addition, he would record the Jews' date of entry into Switzerland as prior to March 1939, when Switzerland further tightened its borders, enabling the arrivals to be treated as legal refugees. They would be taken to a camp established at Diepoldsau on the Austrian frontier, where, aided by Jewish organizations, they could await permits for a temporary stay in Switzerland or their departure to a final destination.

On April 3, 1939, however, Grüninger arrived at work to find a young cadet, Corporal Antón Schneider, standing in front of his office, blocking his way. Schneider had not been informed of the reason for the order to deny Grüninger entry to the building, which came directly from the office of the commander-in-chief. Grüninger, however, knew why he was being stopped.

A friend working at a border post in Bregenz, Austria, had informed him that he was on the Gestapo's blacklist due to his having helped a Jewish woman, whom he had already assisted in escaping Austria, to recover her jewels. She had left them at a hotel in Bregenz, and Grüninger contacted Ernest Prodolliet of the Swiss consulate in Bregenz to collect the jewels for her. Prodolliet and Grüninger had worked together on missions like this before. The woman was so grateful for Grüninger's help that she wrote about his kindness in a letter to some friends. The Gestapo intercepted the letter, imprisoned the hotel owner, confiscated the jewels, and began to keep an eye on Grüninger. This news did not, however, dissuade him from continuing to assist Jews in need.

Soon after this, the Swiss authorities learned of Grüninger's illegal activities and dismissed him. He was placed on trial in January 1939, and in March 1941, the court found him guilty of a breach of duty; he was imprisoned, had his pension revoked, was forced to pay trial costs, and fined. Although the court accepted that his actions were honorable, they declared that as a state official, he should have followed his orders, refused entrance to Jews, and not falsified official documents.

Grüninger was publicly humiliated and lived the rest of his life with a prison record, making it practically impossible to find steady work. He did not seek redress or recognition for his actions, instead focusing on surviving and supporting his family. In 1954 he claimed, "My personal well-being, measured against the cruel fate of these thousands, was so insignificant and unimportant" that he never even took the consequences of his actions into consideration. His family would live in near poverty for decades.

In December 1970 the Swiss government sent Grüninger a letter of apology but, at the same time, still refused him his pension. Then, a year before his death at age 81 on February 22, 1972, Israel's Yad Vashem recognized him as one of the Righteous among the Nations. Any other recognition came posthumously. In 1994 the Swiss government published a Declaration of Honor on his behalf before finally annulling his conviction one year later. In 1998 the Parliament of St. Gallen Canton agreed to compensate Grüninger's descendants, and his family put the money into the Paul Grüninger Foundation, an organization that works to reward outstanding acts of humanity and courage that align with Grüninger's actions. Although most recognition came after Grüninger's death, his decision to save those in need has served as a model of moral behavior for the world today.

Between 1937 and April 1938, Paul Grüninger is estimated to have saved approximately 3,600 German and Austrian Jews from death or deportation to concentration camps. He did so risking his career and safety to help others, even though he had no apparent Jewish connection in Austria or Germany. He was an upstander to Nazi persecution who used his position as a Swiss civil servant to save as many Jews as he could, against direct orders.

Paul Grüninger's story was at once dramatic, heroic, and tragic. As a public official—and an officer of the law—he was absolutely compromised between his professional duty and his personal moral conscience. How did this play out for those not in his complex and confronting position?

Aimée Stitelmann was born on New Year's Day in 1925, in Paris. The daughter of a Russian-Polish father of Jewish origin who had taken Swiss nationality in 1910, in June 1940, with France's defeat imminent, the family decided to flee with just 48 hours' notice. Aimée went first to Lyon, prior to moving to Geneva with her parents—which, given their dual Swiss-French citizenship, did not present any problems. Despite this, Aimée was not one to settle into a quiet compliance during the war; instead, she tried to find ways to help those less fortunate than herself. A member of the socialist-Zionist youth organization _Hashomer Hatzair_ , she had a strong activist streak that valued helping where it was needed. In 1941, for example, she received a citation from the police for sending dried fruits to a Polish internee, which was a form of fraternization not permitted by the authorities.

At the end of 1942, however, her activities became bolder. In what became her first illegal relief operation, she crossed the border into France at Annemasse, collected two Jewish children—a sister and brother, Hella and Uriel Luft, formerly from Berlin—and then accompanied them back into Switzerland. In Geneva they were allowed to remain. By her own admission, she was a novice when it came to making illegal border crossings: still a student, she knew little about subterfuge, and on the night she rescued the Luft children, she was wearing high-heeled shoes and a bright dress. She was to become more familiar with what was required, however, and over the next three years, she made more rescues from France into Switzerland. By the end of the war, in addition to the Luft children, she had facilitated the journey of some 15 other children, most of them orphans, who were then entrusted to friendly Swiss citizens. She was not the only Swiss citizen to act as an "emigrant smuggler" or "escape assistant," as the practice came to be known. Indeed, such people began to appear almost as soon after Hitler came to power in Germany. Aimée took things further, however, and toward the end of the war, she even freed young members of Zionist groups from Swiss internment camps and returned them to liberated France.

In 1944 she was arrested in Veyrier, on the border with France, for helping two refugees to make the crossing. After her release, she was again arrested by Swiss border guards on March 22, 1945, for illegally helping internees to leave Switzerland for now-liberated France, as well as attempting to take several Jewish children to Grenoble. With the occupation of France at an end, many of those who had spent the war in Swiss internment camps or elsewhere under restricted conditions now sought to return. This was forbidden, however, and Aimée was sentenced in July 1945 to 18 days' imprisonment, of which she served 15. Her offence, it was stated, was arranging illegal border crossings and "disobedience."

Thus duly punished for doing, as she saw it, the right thing in spite of the law, it was not until 2004 that her story came full circle. With the example of Paul Grüninger's rehabilitation motivating her, she sought to clear her name under a new Swiss law intended to pardon those who had been penalized for helping victims of Nazism. When the law was passed, Aimée was one of the last living "escape assistants" from the Nazi period, and she was determined to seek justice. In March 2004 a federal commission formally decided that Aimée should be rehabilitated, though—as a final dishonor—without compensation. On December 20, 2004, Aimée Stauffer-Stitelmann, by then almost eighty, died in Geneva.

The Other Side of the Frontier

It is a truism, of course, that saving Jewish lives, whether from German Nazis or Vichy police, was always perilous. What is often not considered is that evading the authorities formed only one part of the equation. Reaching the border undetected was obviously crucial, but getting across it brought its own problems. Immediate sanctuary was far from a given; in fact, being turned around and thrown back into France was an ever-present possibility. And while this is not the place to discuss Swiss refugee-relief agencies or welfare bodies, thought must also be given to how the refugees were to hold body and soul together if they were allowed to stay. The problems, in short, did not end once a person reached the border or even managed to step over it.

It must never be forgotten, therefore, that rescuing Jews was an illegal act in both France and Switzerland. Violating the law requires a certain frame of mind, being willing to rebel against what is deemed to be legitimate authority, and not all people are brave enough or committed enough to act when their moral conscience is challenged to the extent of standing out from the crowd and facing the consequences of doing so. If being a resister had its drawbacks, so also did being a rescuer.

This offers us a reason as to why the Jewish rescuers discussed in earlier chapters are so worthy of note. Unlike the broad mass of the population, Jews in France did not have choices, and as persecution intensified they were, by virtue of their very existence, beyond the law. Having to ensure their own freedom, they joined, or helped to form, various types of resistance or rescue organizations; with this achieved (so far as it could be), they then set themselves the task of saving the lives of as many other Jews as they could—particularly children. And unlike local passeurs living in border communities, the Jewish rescuers worked to facilitate passage into Switzerland as a life-saving cause rather than for profit or personal gain. The risks they took were immense; without homegrown community support networks, always on the run from gendarmes or soldiers, they could not expect any quarter if captured. As we will see in the next chapter, while the dangers were great and the rewards heartwarming, the costs could also be catastrophic.
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CHAPTER SIX

Annemasse: The Limits of Courage

Annemasse is a municipality in the _départment_ of Haute-Savoie, located on the French-Swiss border. Located just 2 kilometers from the Swiss canton of Geneva and 8 kilometers from downtown Geneva itself, it is now part of a trans-border conurbation. Some 45 kilometers from Haute-Savoie's administrative center at Annecy, Annemasse is second only to that city in population size within the _départment_. Its proximity to Switzerland during World War II made it the focus of a majority of escape attempts.

When war came to Annemasse, rescue activity began almost immediately. The intensification of anti-Jewish persecution from 1941 onward saw efforts made by members of the clergy, in particular a Protestant pastor named Bach, to save Jews by sending them through his church's presbytery to a safe house on the other side of the church, and from there to Switzerland. The pulpit served as a secret mailbox, and it was through Bach and others that some 150 Jews and Resistance fighters were able to cross the border to safety.

Bach suspended these activities during 1942, preferring to work as an underground operative with the Resistance. His rescue work, overseen by CIMADE, was taken over by two pastors from Geneva, Henri Mottu and Benoît de Roulet. These actions were not embraced by all parishioners, however, some of whom felt that the transformation of the presbytery into an escape route for Jews could place the church in jeopardy. Nevertheless, rescues were held to be one way Christian charity could be extended to those in need, while at the same time working to undermine the pernicious effects of Vichy and the German occupation. In many instances, children (especially) were brought from places of refuge farther away—for example, Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, where Pastor André Trocmé, Roger Darcissac, and Pastor Eduard Theis were all arrested while hiding thousands of young Jews and arranging for their transfer to the border. After his release, Theis joined CIMADE with the express purpose of helping Jews escape to Switzerland; he would send them to the Annemasse presbytery, where they would immediately be entrusted to passeurs who would take them over the border.

Marianne Cohn, Passeur

One of these rescuers who sometimes worked with CIMADE was Marianne Cohn, mentioned already in chapter 4 regarding her activities working with Simon Lévitte and the MJS. Born on September 17, 1922, in Mannheim, Germany, she was the eldest child of Dr. Alfred and Grete Cohn, _née_ Radt. The family was Jewish, though not religiously observant. In 1929 they moved from Mannheim to Berlin, and in 1934, following the Nazi seizure of power the previous year, to Barcelona in Spain. With the onset of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, they moved again in 1938, this time settling in France.

When World War II started, Marianne's parents, as German nationals, were detained at the Gurs internment camp, and Marianne and her younger sister, Lisa, were sent to a farm run by the EIF in Moissac, in southern France. Marianne lived and worked there for the next three years, helping to take care of recently arrived refugee children and learning how to engage in resistance work under the tutelage of Édouard Simon, who ran the home, and his friend Simon Lévitte. This work was an important element of the MJS, which had been founded in May 1942 by Lévitte and Jules ("Dika") Jefroykin. Using the EIF home at Moissac as a base, Lévitte organized training programs to ensure the protection of those housed there. Soon instrumental in Lévitte's forging operations in and around Moissac, Marianne quickly became his coordinating secretary. The false documentation center, which Lévitte entrusted to Otto ("Toto") Giniewski, became Marianne's training ground; when this moved to Grenoble, she followed. Here, she assisted in providing food, shelter, and medical care to Jewish refugees. This was just the beginning, and soon she would find herself in the position of smuggling Jewish children out of France.

Convoys of children would often leave Limoges (where many Jewish refugees were concentrated) in order to reach Lyon. From there they would be conveyed to Aix-les-Bains or Annecy, where they were handed over to Georges Loinger, assisted by young Jewish helpers such as Mila Racine or non-Jews like Rolande Birgy. During the summer of 1943, Marianne Cohen, then still learning her craft as a passeur, was arrested by Vichy police with another MJS operative originally from the Netherlands, Jacques Klausner ("Marcel"). As a novice rescuer, it was almost inevitable that Marianne would be found out. She was threatened with deportation and imprisoned in Nice for three months, and her ordeal served to alert her as to the trials she could face in the future if she was to continue her acts of defiance. It was during this period that she wrote her famous poem " _Je trahirai demain_ " ("I Shall Betray Tomorrow"). In its English translation, this immortal statement of rebellion and loyalty in the face of persecution read as follows:

I shall betray tomorrow, not today.

Today, pull out my fingernails,

I shall not betray.

You do not know the limits of my courage,

I, I do.

You are five hands, harsh and full of rings,

Wearing hob-nailed boots.

I shall betray tomorrow, not today.

I need the night to make up my mind.

I need at least one night,

To disown, to abjure, to betray.

To disown my friends,

To abjure bread and wine,

To betray life,

To die.

I shall betray tomorrow, not today.

The file is under the window-pane.

The file is not for the window-bars,

The file is not for the executioner,

The file is for my own wrists.

Today, I have nothing to say,

I shall betray tomorrow.

At the end of the war, one of the children saved by Marianne Cohn passed the poem to the head of the MJS. It is a testimony of courage and one of the great poems of the Resistance.

Marianne returned to Grenoble and remained there after her release, assisting passeurs in their efforts to escort Jewish children to Switzerland and undertaking hazardous missions for the MJS. It was now that the sacrifice of Mila Racine, recounted in chapter 3, had its greatest impact on Marianne's life and activities.

Rescue: From Mila Racine to Marianne Cohn

It will be recalled that on October 21, 1943, Mila Racine was conducting a convoy that included 30 children from the city of Nice, accompanied by a male member of the MJS, Roland Epstein. At Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, they were captured, with Mila, Roland Epstein, and the children taken to Annemasse and incarcerated at the Pax Prison. Soon, Mila and Epstein were transferred to the Montluc prison in Lyon. From there, Epstein was sent to the transit camp at Drancy prior to being sent to Buchenwald. Mila was deported, via the Royallieu transit camp at Compiègne, to Ravensbrück. As we have seen, she was then sent to Mauthausen, where, on March 22, 1945, she was killed during an Allied air raid.

Mila Racine's capture was far from an end to the process of rescuing children, though activities effectively closed down for three months after her arrest. Her younger sister, Sacha, had already been closely involved in the process of arranging passages through the ski resort of Morzine; her network included Maurice François Maidenberg, Tony Gryn, Roland Epstein, and Rolande Birgy (as well as, of course, Mila). They also organized convoys of children from Saint-Gervais and Annemasse. After Mila's arrest on October 21, 1943, however, Sacha decided to stop engaging in this dangerous work.

Their brother, Emmanuel Racine ("Mola"), was an organizer who had been working for some time already with Georges Loinger, Robert Gamzon, Simon Lévitte, and George Garel organizing and transporting children across the border. He now approached Marianne Cohn with the request that she continue the work of his arrested sister. She accepted immediately, continuing Mila's work in a newly formed rescue line to Switzerland organized by Emmanuel Racine through Aix-les-Bains. Using the false identity of Marie Colin, and working with another operative, Hélène Sax ("Friquet"), Marianne then undertook nine further transfers of children without interruption, leading them to the border before handing them over to passeurs who took them across. Her effectiveness was enhanced through also teaming with Rolande Birgy of Amitié Chrétienne, who had earlier worked with Mila Racine (though Marianne preferred to undertake the transfers alone so as not to place Rolande in jeopardy). They, in turn, were part of a larger team numbering five or six resisters, including also Hélène Bloch and Colette Dufournet. Marianne was the most active of the group, bringing a total of 207 children to safety in April and May 1944.

One such operation was recalled by a passeur, Emile Barras, in a testimony recounted by former resistance fighter Herbert Herz, who wrote that between May 20 and 23, 1944 some 30 children transferred by Marianne were sent by train to Viry (near St. Julien-en-Genevois), where they were met by a waiting passeur ready to take them across the border near Soral, Geneva. All the children were admitted to Switzerland, and after the operation, Marianne went immediately back to France to pick up another group.

The Passion of Marianne Cohn

Marianne conducted these operations between January and May of 1944. One final movement would take place on May 31, 1944; the MJS preferred that passeurs remain active for no more than three to four months so as not to arouse suspicion among locals that could jeopardize the broader rescue program.

Late in the afternoon of Wednesday, May 31, 1944, Marianne took charge in Annecy of a group of 28 Jewish children (according to some accounts, 32; the exact number varies according to witness statements), ranging in age from 4 to 15 years. This was part of a convoy that had been organized by Emmanuel Racine in Lyon. Once in Marianne's care, they were transported by truck in the usual manner to Viry, from where Emile Barras was to drive the group to safety. As it turned out, Barras was replaced at the last minute by another driver, Joseph Fournier.

When the truck was only 200 meters from the border, it was stopped by a German patrol. Using her alias, Marie Colin, Marianne stated that she was escorting a group of children "from the North" to a summer camp in Pas-de-l'Echelle (near the border, at Annemasse). The guards were suspicious in view of the lateness of the hour (it was now past 8:00 p.m.) and held up any further advance of the truck. It is unclear why they did not accept Marianne's explanation, though one theory is that the group had been denounced—perhaps by a local villager or a poorly paid passeur with a grudge from a previous crossing. Joseph Fournier, the driver of the truck, was released. The children and Marianne were interrogated—some beaten—and were taken to the German customs office in Annemasse. All were then handed over to the Gestapo at their headquarters in the Hotel de Pax (one of four hotels requisitioned by the SS in Annemasse).

The Pax Prison was first created by the Italians in June 1943 during their occupation of Annemasse. Established in a warehouse opposite the hotel, it took little time for the prison to develop a reputation as a place of terror. With an appalling level of hygiene, seemingly always overcrowded, and suffering stifling extremes of heat, after the arrival of the Germans in September 1943, the prison became even more congested. It became a place of detention, torture, and summary executions, feared by all. The Vichy-appointed mayor of Annemasse, Jean Deffaugt, petitioned the German authorities to improve conditions in the prison; as recorded later, "the mayor had made such an impression on the Gestapo commander that he gave him a permit allowing him access to the prison to see all the prisoners there." In this way, before each visit, "Deffaugt collected food, medicines, blankets, and other vital necessities," and the prisoners were also able to use him as a conduit for the receipt and delivery of mail.

Born on May 31, 1896, Deffaugt was a textile merchant who settled in Annemasse in 1935. After the debacle of the military collapse in 1940, he saw to the welfare of evacuees from the north, and eventually over 12,000 French men and women from the occupied area were housed in Annemasse in what was, at that time, Deffaugt's private initiative. In 1942 he became mayor, and in 1943 he made contact with organizations and individuals taking fugitives to Switzerland. One of these was the ubiquitous Georges Loinger.

By May 1944 Deffaugt thus had a reputation for standing up for those oppressed by Vichy authorities and the German occupiers. Now, with the arrest of Marianne and the children, he was on the alert. He already had an idea that something was up when stopped in the street by a little girl (whom he identified as Blon-Blon), who told him, "You know, Mr. Mayor, we'll have a convoy!" Sometimes there were fewer secrets in occupied France than the Germans or the Vichy police would have preferred to acknowledge.

With the arrest of Marianne and the children, Emmanuel Racine contacted Deffaugt seeking his intervention with the Germans as a means to mitigate whatever fate they had in mind for the convoy. Deffaugt, in turn, managed to obtain the provisional release of an initial group of 17 of the younger children (aged 4 to 11), who were sent to local orphanages. The 11 older children and adolescents (five boys and six girls) were to remain in prison, though paroled to work in the kitchen at the Hôtel de France in Annemasse during the day; they would leave the prison at 10:30 each morning and return, under guard, at night. Deffaugt was also successful in acting as a go-between for Marianne and her network, with both he and his assistant, Ernest Balthazard, risking their lives to smuggle messages into and out of the prison.

By his own admission, Deffaugt was "not always very knowledgeable about the details of the organizations" with which he worked, and he "never wanted to belong to any of them, except the Gilbert network" (a resistance organization under the command of Gilbert Renault, who operated under the name Colonel Rémy). He saw, however, that his duty was "to render the services that I could"—whether they be to those locked up at Annemasse, or those seeking to cross the border. He knew that he "played [with] my life every day," but he was less concerned about death than he was about torture. He had witnessed such cases: a 65-year-old woman who had survived cruel treatment at the hands of her interrogators and repeated to him, "I said nothing, I said nothing," and a poor Spanish boy, who had been beaten repeatedly with a blackjack but did not break. Deffaugt was always concerned that he might not be able to sustain a posture of defiance if he was tortured, and after the war, he admitted his fears: "I was afraid, I confess. I never went up the Gestapo steps without crossing myself or murmuring a prayer."

Deffaugt described Marianne as "a very nice brunette, stocky, awake, and full of faith and dynamism." Owing to his previous contacts with the Resistance, he knew she was one of Emmanuel Racine's operatives and recognized that he would have to offer whatever help he could. First, the children had to be protected, and with that objective secured, he and Racine concluded that "come what may, Marianne had to be helped to escape." Deffaugt recalled:

There was only one possible time—when she and the children are en route to the hotel. If a car were standing at the corner, Marianne could be thrown inside and rushed off; it's risky, but there seems no other way.

I spoke to Marianne about the plan, keeping my voice low, because the children were in the same cell. She answered: "It's out of the question: these children were entrusted to me; I have no right abandoning them." I said, "It's the only way we could think of. Give it thought." I contacted a reliable man who agreed to participate—also, of course, at great personal risk.

That evening, Marianne told me: "I have given the matter thought, Monsieur le Maire. Please give my thanks to Monsieur Racine, but understand that I cannot leave the children—the Germans would only take revenge on them. No, I must fulfill my duty to the end."

What Deffaugt's account does not tell us is that Marianne was interrogated by the Gestapo daily and tortured horribly for information regarding the MJS, the Sixième, and the smuggling network in which she was involved. Undaunted, she did not break and refused to divulge any information that could be of use to the Gestapo. In her defiance, she refused to hide behind her alias of Marie Colin, and she revealed her true identity as Marianne Cohn. Tortured now as a Jew as well as a resister, she did not speak—other than to say that she had no regrets for her actions, and that "I have saved more than two hundred children, and if I am set free I will continue to do so."

While they were in the prison, moreover, the captives were forced to rely on the goodwill of Deffaugt and the people of Annemasse. As Deffaugt related later: "It was not the Germans who fed the prisoners; it was the Reception Center of Annemasse Town Hall." He and Ernest Balthazard searched for donations from all over town, and he was delighted when "I met people in the street who said to me: 'Are you the Mayor of Annemasse?' and who then slipped me a note." He never received any money for the prisoners' sustenance from Vichy authorities; indeed, when later he presented the government with an account for 52,000 francs, he was told "It was not for you to feed the prisoners, you took this initiative, too bad for you."

Without such initiatives, it is conceivable that the prisoners would have been left to starve. And on their way to and from work, sympathetic citizens smuggled the children treats of various kinds, which were much appreciated by those in Marianne's care.

On July 3, 1944, a special Gestapo squad was sent from Lyon to Annemasse. Their assignment was to extract whatever information they could and, once this had been done, to remove Marianne and five other resisters (named Bord, Duprac, Jacquaz, Regard, and Madame Perrin) from the Pax Prison. During the night of July 7-8, 1944, they were taken out and (so it seemed) were about to be conveyed to Lyon (possibly to the prison at Montluc, though this was never stipulated). They did not get very far: three kilometers later, at the Bois des Rosses at Ville-la-Grand, Marianne and the other prisoners were tortured again before being brutally murdered and thrown into a mass grave. The general conclusion drawn by resisters and others after the war was that they were hit repeatedly with shovels and kicked until they were dead, while conjecture exists that Marianne could have been raped as well.

Deffaugt suspected that something was not right, for on July 8, the day of Marianne's murder, he noticed during a visit to the Pax that six of the prisoners were missing. Upon inquiring as to their whereabouts, he was informed that they had been transferred to Annecy. This, of course, was a lie intended to curtail any further questions, but Deffaugt was not finished. After noting Marianne's disappearance, and conscious that the war was definitely turning against Germany, Deffaugt hurried off to see to the head of the Gestapo, an officer named Mayer, to forestall a possible transfer of the children to Lyon—where they would be cast into the hands of _SS-Obersturmführer_ Klaus Barbie, the infamous "Butcher of Lyon." The other possibility was that they might all be shot in Annemasse. As recounted by historian Mordecai Paldiel, Deffaugt pleaded with Mayer for the children's lives, appealing to his own sense humanity as a father. Mayer's response was, "All I know is that I must get rid of them." Deffaugt contacted the Resistance, who gave him a message for Mayer: "The German occupation is coming to an end. If you kill the children, you'll pay with your life, as we have your address in Germany. But if you don't touch them, we will let you escape to Switzerland." Deffaugt promised Mayer that he would take care of the matter. Deffaugt's efforts on behalf of the children were successful; Mayer agreed to release the 11 children who had been imprisoned with Marianne and the 17 younger ones who had been dispersed elsewhere, while Deffaugt pledged to return them if Mayer ordered him to. On the last Sunday of July 1944, the 11 older children joined the 17 younger ones, and all were placed in a summer camp at St. Joseph in Bonne under the protection of the Resistance. On August 18, 1944, the day of the liberation of Annemasse, the children were taken over the border to Geneva, where they were placed in the care of local Jewish welfare organizations. Historian Caroline Moorehead has offered the altogether credible suggestion that if Marianne had taken up the offer to escape, "it was unlikely that they would have lived."

A few days later, Emmanuel Racine and Jean Deffaugt discovered the hastily buried and mutilated bodies of Marianne and the others in an open grave at La Rape, near Ville-La-Grande. As Deffaugt recalled, "Marianne was almost naked, wearing only a little blouse and a pair of yellow shoes Racine had bought her."

The liberation brought a measure of respite—but also a period of intense mourning. Vivette Hermann (now Vivette Samuel, having been married on October 8, 1942) learned of Marianne's death around August 25, the day Paris was liberated and "General de Gaulle was walking down the Champs-Elysées." Vivette and the OSE "learned through Georges Loinger and Emmanuel Racine of the last drama of the underground network," conflating the death of Marianne Cohn and the arrest and deportation of Mila Racine. It was a significant blow to the rescue process for which the OSE and all the other organizations had labored so hard during the war years. Countless Jewish children had been saved, but the price had been high.

As for Jean Deffaugt, after the war he kept in touch with the children, and even 20 years later, he was receiving mail from them in other parts of France, in Britain, and in Israel. On February 25, 1966, he was recognized by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem as one of the Righteous among the Nations for his work in saving Jewish lives. The Yad Vashem directorate noted at the time that the survivors "often mentioned Marianne Cohn, who gave her life for them" in their correspondence. Moreover, the work undertaken so willingly by Deffaugt in trying to save Marianne (and earlier, Mila), and the success he had in saving the children, were not isolated events. As shown by Anny Latour, he "saved other Jewish children, even entire families," and through to the end, "he openly stood his ground against the Germans."

The activities conducted by Mila Racine and Marianne Cohn continued after their enforced removal. Marianne's arrest, at this late stage of the war, saw Charlotte Sorkine of the AJ brought in to take the reins, and she, too, maintained an escape line for Jewish children into Switzerland until redeployed to serve during the liberation of Paris in August 1944.

Marianne Cohn was not forgotten. As recorded by historian Ruth Fivaz-Silbermann, "Marianne Cohn, at the sacrifice of her young life, helped to resist Nazi barbarism." The more than two hundred children she saved during 1944, who survived in Switzerland to see the end of the war, literally owed their lives to her—though it must also not be forgotten that in most cases, Marianne was the last link in a rescue chain that began long before the children reached her. The final stage of salvation—finding a way to get the children across the border—was arguably the most dangerous, and Marianne's selflessness in ensuring that all those in her care reached safety was undertaken at enormous peril that eventually took her life.

This debt was recognized later. Marianne's funeral took place on September 26, 1944, in Grenoble, in the cemetery of Petit Sablon a la Tronche, alongside that of another resister, Ernest Lambert. A guard of honor mounted by soldiers of the Resistance and members of the MJS accompanied the bodies. Prayers were recited, and Georges Sehenc, representing the Grenoble MJS, made a speech in which he paid them a last tribute in the name of the Zionist youth of France and the EIF—the Jewish Scouts, of which Marianne had been such a proud member. After the burial, two salutes were fired, and the ceremony ended with the singing of the Zionist anthem, "Hatikvah." Some members of the MJS and children saved by Marianne in the Pax Prison then conducted an all-night vigil over Marianne's grave.

Other accolades followed. On November 7, 1945, she was posthumously awarded the _Croix de Guerre_ by the military government of Lyon, and in 1956 a memorial was dedicated at the place where she and those with her were murdered at Ville-la-Grande. Also, near the same location, a street was named in her honor. In 1982 a garden was dedicated to Marianne in Jerusalem to symbolize both her sacrifice and that of others in the fight against Nazism. The garden was inaugurated by French François Mitterand, who made a speech in which he promised to make sure that Marianne's message of courage would be heard everywhere. On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the liberation in 1984, a school was named for her in Annemasse; this initiative came from several of those who had been children with Marianne at the Pax Prison in 1944. And finally, in November 1988, a school for the handicapped was named in her honor in Berlin.

The moving, inspirational story (and tragic fate) of Marianne Cohn not only underscores the heroism that underlay resistance but also shows how humanity was sustained during this most challenging of times. Not only was the rescue of Jews, particularly Jewish children, at the center of her activities; what we see here is a young woman who, as a Jew, risked everything to save other Jews. Marianne's story demonstrates how the value of human life could be embraced (even sanctified) despite the complexity of the situation during a period in which the life of every Jew, ipso facto, was predestined to a fatal outcome by German Nazis and Vichy French collaborators.
* * *

CHAPTER SEVEN

Voices of the Rescued: The Children Speak

How did those who were rescued respond to their experience? The secrecy (and often trauma) surrounding their departure and passage through hostile territory, followed by finding sanctuary in Switzerland, generated memories that in many cases lasted a lifetime. This chapter explores how those who had firsthand familiarity with the efforts of the passeurs have remembered their experience. Where possible, the chapter will provide specific recollections of the passeurs through whose hands the children passed. This will be the first time that a considered treatment of this kind has been made in English—and in many instances it will bring to light accounts that have not yet been made public at all.

Jewish children who entered Switzerland illegally during World War II, and who were then allowed to remain in the country, found themselves housed in a variety of accommodations. These differed in terms of location, type, sponsor, and quality. Immediately after entering Switzerland and being arrested by Swiss border guards, refugees were taken to a nearby guard post and questioned. Although some spent the first few days in prison, many were taken directly to installations known as _camps d'accueil_ (reception camps). An individual in need of medical care might be taken to a quarantine camp. The refugee was confined to the reception camp for an undetermined period of time—generally, a few days to a few weeks—while awaiting a permanent placement. Organized and supervised by the army for the EJPD ( _Eidgenössisches Justiz- und Polizeidepartment_ , or Federal Department of Justice and Police), the reception camps were set up in various types of structures, including single-family residences, hotels, factories, and military barracks. Camps d'acceuil situated in the canton of Geneva included Champel, Charmilles, and Le Bout du Monde, a place whose name means "The End of the World."

While in a reception camp, Jewish children typically experienced feelings of relief mixed with anxiety and uncertainty. Out of imminent danger of arrest and deportation, and with their basic needs met, after months of concealing their true identities, they could finally speak openly about who they were. Some reunited with friends and acquaintances or found people to whom they could relate by virtue of common country of origin or language. At the same time, many lacked information on the whereabouts of immediate family members and feared for their safety. Awaiting permanent placement, some worried that they might yet be expelled from Switzerland.

The refugee child would eventually be assigned a permanent placement in a foster family or institutional setting. Children who had crossed the border unaccompanied by parents or other close relatives and who were younger than 12 would generally be placed with foster families. The nondenominational woman's organization known as the SHEK ( _Schweizerisches Hilfswerk für Emigrantenkinder_ , or Swiss Relief Work for Refugee Children) was the organization primarily responsible for arranging the placement of Jewish children in foster families. Many child survivors recalled their experiences of living with non-Jewish Swiss families. The experiences were quite varied. Some enjoyed the months or years they spent with their hosts and developed lasting attachments with family members. Others did not feel well-integrated and suffered feelings of alienation and anxiety. In some cases, a placement did not work out, and it was necessary to transfer the child to a different family or to an institution. It was not only children without parents in Switzerland who were placed in foster families; some were separated from parents or other close relatives with whom they had crossed the border. The children in these cases were placed in foster families, and the adults sent to work camps. Finally, there were many Jewish Swiss families who accepted refugee children, but this was organized by the Jewish community, not the SHEK.

Adolescents were generally placed in institutional settings, mainly children's homes. (As used here, the term "children's homes" also encompasses orphanages.) Children's homes were established, sponsored, and and/or operated by various religious and secular organizations and by private benefactors. The Jewish organizations OSE ( _Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants_ ), _Hashomer Hatzair_ , and VSJF ( _Verband Schweizerischer Jüdischer Fürsorgen_ , or Association of Swiss-Jewish Welfare Organizations) played a prominent role, as did the SHEK and the Swiss _Croix Rouge_ (Red Cross). There was a large concentration of SHEK homes in the greater Zürich area as well as in mountainous towns or communities. A small number of Jewish refugee children were placed in convents.

The _Institut Monnier_ , _Les Mureilles_ , and the _La Maison de la Forêt_ were the key Jewish children's homes located in the canton of Geneva. In these facilities, teachers and administrators sought not only to care for and educate refugee children but to also reinforce, reestablish, or establish the child's connection to Judaism. Shabbat was observed in some way, and Jewish holidays were celebrated. The _Institut Monnier_ , located in Versoix and operated by the Hashomer Hatzair, was inspired by the Zionist ideal, organized like a kibbutz, and prepared children for migration to Palestine ( _Aliyah_ ). Educators and children were all refugees, which allowed them to form strong connections to each other and to Judaism. These homes also allowed for an attempt at restoring a sense of normalcy for children.

Nondenominational children's homes had been established to receive refugee children without regard to religious affiliation or ethnic group, but because of the nature of the humanitarian crisis underway, the majority of their occupants were Jewish. The SHEK and VSJF were key funders of the nondenominational homes.

Reflecting the realities of the wartime situation, living conditions in the children's homes were far from luxurious. Meals provided little more than sustenance, and heat and hot water were strictly limited. However, the men and women responsible for administering the homes and instructing the children were, for the most part, professionally trained teachers, nurses, and social workers. They genuinely cared about the children and sought to meet their needs—physical, psychological, and educational—to the greatest extent possible.

The Interviews

Chapters 7 and  in this book are based on 61 oral histories and life testimonies, conducted between 2010 and 2012, with those who were Jewish children rescued clandestinely to Switzerland to escape Nazi persecution. Each of these children had an experience with a passeur like the women highlighted in earlier chapters. The interviews were conducted in Switzerland, the United States, Britain, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, and Israel, in French or English, and were all recorded and transcribed. While passeurs, now in advanced years, were not easy to interview or find, given that many had already died or were not lucid enough to be interviewed in an ethical way, the memories and perspectives of these interviewees provide essential and insightful information about their involvement with the Jewish children they assisted. More specifically, while much research has been done about the routes of rescue and what happened on the French side of the border, research about what happened to these children when they successfully crossed into safety in Switzerland has, for the most part, not been conducted.

Reactions to Refuge in Switzerland

Jewish children who were clandestinely taken to Switzerland to escape Nazi persecution experienced varying degrees of trauma, including alienation, lack of a sense of belonging, identity crises, loss of normal childhood, constant fear of the unknown, and more. Psychological trauma, as defined by Judith Herman, is:

an affiliation of the powerless. At the moment of trauma, the victim is rendered helpless by overwhelming force. When the force is that of nature, we speak of disasters. When the force is that of other human beings, we speak of atrocities. Traumatic events overwhelm the ordinary systems of care that give people a sense of control, connection, and meaning. . . . Traumatic events are extraordinary, not because they occur rarely, but rather because they overwhelm the ordinary human adaptations to life. Unlike commonplace misfortunes, traumatic events generally involve threats to life or bodily integrity, or a close personal encounter with violence and death. They confront human beings with the extremities of helplessness and terror, and evoke the responses of catastrophe.

While the interviews conducted do not measure trauma or serve to evaluate the type and severity of trauma that these Holocaust survivors experienced in a medical sense, it is clear that their passage and life in wartime Switzerland led to traumatic feelings nonetheless.

First, these traumas depended on where they were placed when they arrived and were granted temporary safe haven in Switzerland. Children under 12 years old were generally placed in Swiss foster families, while children over the age of 12 were often placed in communal homes. Here, the treatment varied. Children who were in Swiss foster families had highly diverse experiences. While none were treated like family, some were treated well, with enough to meet their essential needs, including food, shelter, and basic health care. Other refugee children were treated like servants, caring for other children in the house, serving the family, sleeping in maids' quarters, or even caring for elderly and ill family members. One Jewish refugee, who was 13 years old when she entered Switzerland, discussed her life when living with a Swiss foster family. She said:

Shortly before the end of the war, they [the Swiss family] had a very distant relative in Bern who was very, absolutely desperately ill and needed day and night care. And they asked if I was prepared to go and look after this woman. And I did. And I loved her. She had gangrene, and I gave her injections almost, you know, a few times a day. When she died people came to ask who had cared for her, when they asked if I gave the injections they didn't believe it was me.

As can be imagined, the Jewish children who lived this experience had exceedingly mixed feelings about Switzerland. Some survivors were thankful that they were free from the direct threat of the Nazis but felt that Swiss citizens they met did not treat them with human decency. This often happened with children who were placed in non-Jewish foster families. The same woman who cared for the elderly Swiss woman had a formative and traumatic experience at the young age of 13. This lack of choice in placement, combined with harsh treatment and disdain by families who housed Jewish children, showed a general attitude held by the outside community. However, the story is not that simple. A follow-up email from this survivor mentioned that she might have been happier in a children's orphanage than alone in her situation in Switzerland.

The refugees interviewed who were in foster families stated that they immediately noticed the difference in treatment between themselves and children who had been born into the family. The refugee children often had no opportunity to study or leave the home compound without supervision, and they even had to do physical labor and cleaning. In rare cases, some were physically abused by host parents. Additionally, many Jewish children believed that their host families took them in as a status symbol, a way to show their humanitarianism or charitable acts, even though they did not treat the children well. The Jewish children were often discussed and shown off in social gatherings, with much pity expressed for their hopeless situation.

The psychological needs of children placed in foster families also suffered greatly. While these children were in the families, they were often isolated. They sometimes did not speak the same language as their foster parents and were not sent to school to learn Swiss German, German, or French. They had almost no news of the whereabouts of their friends or family members from back home, including their own parents. They often did not know much about the wartime situation, though the older children did listen to the radio whenever they could.

Children who were older and placed in group homes felt more of a sense of community with the other refugee children around them. Information was passed between the children and the counselors or caretakers, many of whom were also refugees in Switzerland, just older in age. They also started their own classes where the children could study and keep occupied, which distracted them from the loneliness of their situation. Though there was no professional care for their psychological needs or early experiences of trauma, the fact that they were with other children who had similar experiences helped improve their morale and quality of life. The group homes did not have great amenities, as wartime Switzerland suffered along with other countries in Western Europe in terms of access to coal, wood, food materials, water, and the like.

Most children who remained in Switzerland survived the war and were able to immigrate to the United States and Israel or go back to Europe afterward. Although their feelings about how they were treated in Switzerland varied based on each individual situation, once they were safe in Switzerland, they all had a real chance to survive. The establishment of homes like _La Maison de la Forêt_ for boys in Geneva shows the commitment of some organizations to provide a "normal" lifestyle for the refugee children, many of whom had been arrested; spent time in concentration and detention camps; and lost parents, siblings, and other family members during the course of the Holocaust. The rescue of Jewish children into Switzerland turned into a major operation that may have saved generations of Jews. As long as a balance remained, there was an infrastructure created to care for the refugee children, some of whom even had a chance of leading a normal childhood.

Most Jewish children who were rescued survived physically, but only some knew what was happening in Nazi-occupied territories. Many were shielded from the fate of their families and only found out later—often in a very traumatic way. Jewish refugee children's wartime experiences therefore require a sense of relativism. Although the children who made it into Switzerland survived the war, they experienced extraordinary trauma and hardship. Many could have just as easily had been deported, and they live with this knowledge every day.

The wartime suffering of children and the trauma they endured was evident in all the interviews. What was it like for children not to know the fate of their loved ones? Separation was highly traumatic, knowing that things were abnormal but obligated to adapt to a situation over which they had no control. Other difficulties included the concern about what happened to their families followed by the discovery of the deportation of family members, and what that entailed. When asked how she felt when she reached Switzerland, one survivor said, "At first I was relieved. But, they separated me from my mother, so. . . . It was again not very . . . a little bit frightening. I don't remember if it's a trauma because we were actually used to be separated from them."

Some children had more positive experiences in Switzerland, despite the general hardships of wartime life. One survivor recounted his time in Zürich: "I did want to say that the Swiss police gave us identification cards. And that identification card was also for rationing chocolate and little things for us. We got some money also, every week. Not big money, just change, so we were able to go to Zürich on our own and spend a day or half a day in Zürich for our own entertainment. Usually a movie maybe or go find a girl to go around with. I was at that time, 19 and a half years old."

Another survivor also described his reflections about Switzerland as compared to what he went through in France, while in transit. The question was asked: "How did you feel as a refugee and a young man?" He answered, "During the war, children were chased, were persecuted just as if they were the biggest criminals in the world. The worst thing is blaming children and chasing children, arresting children. As a child you lost your youth. Because before going to Switzerland, there was a year and a half where I was in hiding sometimes, in homes, running away, being able to train myself, crossing boundaries. So this is the best thing that happened to me. Switzerland was heaven for me. Because before I got to Switzerland I went through hell."

Another survivor discussed the reality he eventually had to face when he learned what happened to his parents and siblings who were left behind in Poland. He said, in disbelief:

We still had dreams that suddenly our parents would reappear like in a fairy tale and say "Hi! I was in Poland in a beautiful beach place, we had so much to eat and everything was lovely." It was after the war that little by little, gradually we started to know the truth. It's typical of the young people that we almost always blocked it out. If somebody said, "they killed them all." That's not possible. . . . That's not possible. They didn't kill my brother because he was five years old. They don't kill like that. . . . OK? My sister was nine years old. They didn't kill her either. You don't kill a child.

The stories of those Jewish refugee children rescued to Switzerland show the complexities and hardships of wartime life, of international conflict and persecution, and of interrupted childhoods for all of the children interviewed. This situation created lives of premature loss of education, family, opportunity, friendship, development, and childhood.

In addition, Swiss policy required the forcible return of refugees, including children, when the war ended in 1945. Transports via train began—back to France, Germany, and other places. Youth Aliyah ships were also prepared to take some Holocaust survivors through Spain and Portugal to ships that would bring them to then Palestine. The Jewish children felt that the Swiss did not want them, and they did not let them stay. Official policy stated that the Jewish refugee children were temporarily in Switzerland, seeking passage and refuge, and the assumption was that they would eventually leave Switzerland and go home if or when the war ended. Going back to the country or community where their loved ones had perished and where neighbors had betrayed them was often not an option for these children; life had changed too much to go back and recreate a sense of community there, among perpetrators and surrounded by physical reminders of the Holocaust.

The testimonies revealed information about the different _kinderheims,_ or children's homes. The survivors describe the camaraderie between the refugees and the educators—who were often also refugees—as very close and familial. Some of the children did not yet know that their parents and families had been deported. The homes provided some sense of normalcy of childhood, as the children attended classes, they could sometimes go to the public schools in Geneva, and they had a sense of community.

The _Institut Monnier_ in Versoix, outside of the city of Geneva, was a Youth Aliyah home run by the Swiss and international Jewish communities. A number of the survivors interviewed lived in this home in Versoix. The home operated like a kibbutz, a communal living space modeled after Zionist Israeli life. The children each had jobs, including cooking, cleaning, and gardening; Jewish holidays were celebrated; and classes were attended in Hebrew and French. In this home, both children and teachers were Jewish refugees from the Holocaust. The children were shielded from the menaces of the outside world, but they also had limited contact with Swiss life and community. Most of the children who lived in this orphanage made aliyah and moved to Israel after the war, when the Swiss government required all emigrants and refugees to leave the country and repatriate to their home communities.

Practical Challenges of Smuggling

Swiss historian Ruth Fivaz-Silbermann discusses the fate that awaited most Jewish children at the border, the reality of _refoulement_ , or being refused entry and turned back to their places of origin in France and elsewhere. Most who were refused or denied entry to Switzerland died in concentration camps after being sent back, and few if any survived the Holocaust. By being refused, their fate was sealed.

As discussed in previous chapters, the smuggling process was met with many challenges. After discussions and interviews with rescuers who worked with the _Reseau Garel_ , the Sixième, the OSE, and the MJS, many disclosed stories of going into transit camps in France to convince parents to give their children up to be smuggled, not knowing their fate. They dressed as Red Cross nurses to gain access into camps in France like Gurs and Rivesaltes, and returned with children, who would go through the long process of hiding, moving between children's homes supported by these rescue organizations, and finally the passage across the border to Switzerland. Archival records show that most children were arrested at the border, and their dossiers cite the " _crainte de déportation_ " (fear of deportation) as the reason for fleeing their home country and seeking refuge in Switzerland. This reason appeared in the archival documents as early as 1941, when many of the children smuggled would not have known about concentration camps or deportation. It may be that the passeurs prepared them with what to say if they reached Switzerland.

After 1940, Jewish refugee children did arrive at the border, and the border guards had some idea of what was happening. They may not have known about the organizational aspect or the specific passeurs, but they did realize that these children's lives were in danger, and their only option was to seek safety in Switzerland. Children did not know if they would be sent back into the hands of German or French border guards, or if they would be arrested and imprisoned. They also did not want to disclose the identities of the _passeurs_ , who risked their lives to save them. These factors made interrogation a traumatic experience for most children.

While some passeurs smuggled children as an economic opportunity, a business that often coincided with their former work in contraband trade, those like Mila Racine, Charlotte Sorkine, and Marianne Cohn were women of conviction when it came to saving the lives of Jewish children. Like Mila and Marianne, they risked their lives and even paid the ultimate consequences of torture and death in their endeavors. Jewish children describe the passeurs as illusory, hero-like people. In reality, and when reflecting on their passage, these survivors realized that the passeurs were often teenagers, no older than 19 or 20 years old; and only after the war did the survivors learn of the intricate smuggling network that was planned through these organizations.

One woman describes her passage at age 13, in 1944. She said:

She organized for me to go to, to escape to Switzerland. And we were supposed to leave that same night from Annemasse. But the guide who was supposed to take us across the border, said "No, it's not safe tonight." Because last night, or the previous night, Germans caught some people trying to get to Switzerland and they had intensified the surveillance. So we crossed the following night. And, he [the passeur] said, "I can't go." He took us across one barbed wire and said, "I can't go any further, because, you know, I can't." I don't know whether he couldn't or wouldn't. Now, he gave us directions and I don't know whether we were wrong, or he was wrong. I thought he told us to turn right. And we heard German voices, so we knew we were going the wrong way. So, we came back and Ruth (sister) said we have to try the other way and we found the barbed wire. We got across and were met by the Swiss Border Guards. And they said, "We saw it all. You were very lucky."

She continued:

And they put us in this police van that took us to the _Camp de Charmilles_ , which I saw was surrounded by barbed wire. And they were patrolling with dogs. It was fairly big. I would say perhaps, I don't know, a thousand people? It was quite big. And I was ill, and there was no medical attention. I was absolutely soaking every night from perspiration, and they later discovered that I had tuberculosis in the tubes, actually. There was no schooling. There was no supervision whatsoever. There was no assistance at all.

Of the passeurs, she said in amazement:

Suddenly you are somewhere, and a woman appears, or a guy and he says, "Bonjour I am Jean Paul Dupont" or "Lucille" for her. And I'm going to take you there. I'm a passeur. It's unbelievable that you immediately trust the lady.

Another survivor described crossing the border into Switzerland. He said,

And I entered Grenoble, we were a group of eight Jewish kids ready to go towards Switzerland. And well, they [the passeurs] were very well organized, and we looked like scouts with the hat and the scarf. . . . I couldn't sing French songs, because I couldn't speak French, but I worked on it. And we were part of a very difficult trip. We were brought to the Swiss border and on the French side, the village is Douvaine, and there was a Catholic priest in that village. He was in touch with another member of the OSE people who was based in Annemasse, in the border. You might have met him, Georges Loinger. OK, I made it there and I was hidden there. I was hidden to until the next night.

A Passeur's Perspective

Georges Loinger was an instrumental passeur in the Reseau Garel, working with the OSE to rescue Jewish children and take them into Switzerland. During an interview conducted at his home in Paris in 2012, Loinger explained of the OSE operations:

There were 10 Jewish resistance operations. . . . Many missions of these networks were to help the Jews. All of the sudden they closed their shops, their businesses, the people [Jews] had been driven out of the university, the Jews were suddenly without a choice, without a financial option. So, then, these networks had to pick up money to give to the families. Some of the work was that we got in touch with the town halls for protection, because if you wore a Jewish star, you were nothing. You could not buy anything. It was absolutely organized death. So, these networks like us, all of the missions was to allow the Jews to survive.

He continued:

They needed false papers, they were given fake food cards, we helped people to live in insecure, hidden in some way with a new identity. It was a start. And all of these networks then created their mission.

Dr. Joseph Weill, a Director of the OSE during the war, talked to Loinger:

"So, you have to bring the children to Switzerland." That's what Joseph Weill asked me, "do you accept? This is a difficult mission, but we do not have anyone to do it but you. You know how to cross the borders. You are a French, and you have an official contact." I then went to Annemasse to see the mayor because I was in a French resistance organization before then. When I came from Germany to my wife's house I knew nothing of the whole life of resistance. Since I did not know, I signed up right away in a French resistance organization, as I wanted to resist immediately, I found a network in Clermont-Ferrand. . . . We [the OSE] worked especially in the free zone, not in the occupied zone. In the free zone we could travel without anyone asking. There were already fourteen children's homes, so I was told there that these kids are there. . . . Joseph Weill and I met, and he told me, "We have a terrible problem with these children, we cannot continue to hide them. We must dissolve, and we cannot hide them in France because where will we hide them?" So, he found one solution, to bring them to Switzerland, where the general management of the OSE had moved and could take care of them from Geneva.

Describing the missions, Loinger explained how he eventually ended his involvement smuggling Jewish children to safety:

In the winter I could not smuggle children, it was too difficult. In the summer of 1942 until late 1943 I passed children, but after that, I was spotted myself. The Germans knew, they saw groups arriving in Switzerland and, because after 1943 it was the Germans who were at the border. So, I decided to find smugglers who knew the passages, the patrol hours. They knew at 3 past 10 there was a patrol, at 3:45 there was a patrol. It was necessary to go between the patrols. These smugglers were looking for gold coins, they were involved in trafficking of gold coins because money was no longer valid. So, they were mainly gold coin smugglers, but at last they knew the hours of passage, so they made a lot of money because they gave for each child they would receive forty or fifty francs for them.

The most well-known stories about Georges Loinger's life as a passeur include his heroism as he helped smuggle Jewish across the French-Swiss border by staging games of football, taking children on hikes, and then assisting them across the border during these activities. However, what is less known is the seriousness with which he undertook his missions. Loinger said, "I think all the horror and injustice of the war are focused, for me, in that one moment, the departure of children, all these groups of children frightened and saddened by the separation from their families." In the interview he discussed how the future of the Jewish people after the Holocaust rested on the rescue of the children, and therefore smuggling operations were the most important contribution to combatting Nazi genocide and the destruction of the Jewish people. It was in the rescue of these Jewish children that the Jewish people could survive and recover after the Holocaust. Chapter 8, below, will build upon this sentiment by providing a considered treatment of what happened to the rescued children once their safety had been secured. The chapter considers what rescue represented in the long term and what its impact was on those who were saved.
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CHAPTER EIGHT

Afterlives and Legacies

This chapter considers the vital topic what happened to the rescued children once their wartime safety had been secured. For some, this meant staying in Switzerland and building a life free of the pains experienced during their time living under the Nazis or in hiding; for others, the aftermath was one of returning to France, Germany, or other places, only to find that their loved ones had perished. The chapter weighs up what rescue in Switzerland represented in the long term and what its impact was on those who were saved.

Ellen's Story

The story of one German-born Jewish child shows the difficulties of crossing into Switzerland and the luck that was necessary when children finally reached the border. Ellen was born in 1924 in Sandhofen, a small town in Germany near Mannheim. Her father owned a cigar factory and was a successful businessman, but in 1933 the factory and their house were taken away by the Hitler regime. Ellen, her parents, and her brother then moved to Mannheim, where her father became the caretaker at the Jewish hospital. Ellen remembers that, to the best of their ability, her parents did not let the war get in the way of her childhood. "For me, the Jewish community was my cousins, my uncles, and my family." Ellen became aware of the dangers that awaited European Jews like herself when she moved to Mannheim. "In Mannheim, walking outside, kids would throw things at us and call us dirty Jews on our way to school."

Ellen's family stayed in Mannheim until _Kristallnacht_ in 1938—one of her worst memories. The synagogue was destroyed, and the only reason her family remained safe was because they hid on the hospital grounds. After Kristallnacht Ellen's father applied and received papers to go to the United States that would enable them to leave in October of 1940. It took two years to get the papers and visas. Two days before the family was to leave Germany, there was a knock on the door. The German officials told them they had half an hour to get their things together. Despite having visas to America, they were being deported.

The train into which they were placed had locked windows and doors, and Ellen noticed the names of the towns changing from German to French. They had been deported to a transit camp, Gurs, deep in southwestern France. Ellen and her mother were put in the same barrack block; at that time, Ellen was eight years old. Despite the terrible conditions, Ellen says, "We still had hope that we would get out of there." Because Ellen's brother spoke French and German, he became a "go-for" for the French soldiers. In the Jewish school in Mannheim, Ellen's brother insisted on taking French as a second language even though he was supposed to immigrate to America, and little did the family know that this would save their lives. He was able to go from block to block and pass messages between the family members. He also earned favor in the eyes of the French guards. After a year and a half, Ellen and her family found out that Auschwitz had been built and that they were already transporting inmates from other camps there. The French soldiers in Gurs gave her brother passes to get his parents and sister out. He first rescued his father and then his sister, and he hid them in a farmer's barn where other Jews were hiding. When he went to look for their mother, she had already been transported to Auschwitz. They never saw her again.

After a few days, Ellen, her brother, her father, and a friend of her brother's took the train to the Alps. They found someone who smuggled contraband goods and who was now smuggling people to Switzerland. He told them it would take three days and nights to get to the border. They spent the days hiding in farmers' barns and the nights walking. The farmers often left bread and milk for them. During the trek, Ellen tripped and cut her leg badly and begged to be allowed to remain where she was (even, she said, to die there), but the passeur would not let her. On the third night, the passeur sent them by themselves so he would avoid arrest, but he remained at a distance, keeping an eye on them as far as he could. The family finally crossed the border, only to be met by Swiss soldiers who said that they were not permitted to let anyone into Switzerland. When they looked at her father and saw how sick he was, they said, "Come on," and they sent Ellen and her father to a hospital. They stitched Ellen's leg, and when it healed, they said that they could not send her back to France at that point.

Ellen was sent to a Salvation Army home, where she was treated well. She had to sleep on the floor but was thankful to be somewhere safe at last. The Salvation Army could not keep her for more than a few months, but they found her a French convent school for girls. Ellen remembers the Swiss nuns fondly. They would always tell her, "You are Jewish, and never forget that." After two years with the Salvation Army and in the convent, Ellen received a high school diploma. The nuns found Ellen another school in Zürich, the _Institut Minerva_ , and paid for her to get a two-year degree as a laboratory technician while she lived with a host family. By then, the war had ended, and she was reunited with her father and finally migrated to the United States.

The Salvation Army and nunnery for girls are examples of places that harbored refugees during the Holocaust. In addition, the Swiss military had to create places to house the great number of refugees at " _camps d'acceuil_ " (reception camps), including those named _Le Bout Du Monde_ , _Champel_ , and _Charmilles_ , all of which were created to facilitate the process of documenting and finding places for all of the refugees. Many individuals, especially adolescents, were transferred from "camps d'acceuil" to quarantine camps, to family _maisons_ , homes, or orphanages, depending on whether they had parents or not. Most Jewish refugees were considered as "emigrants," who, it was expected, would not remain in Switzerland after the war; they received documentation stating that they were required to leave Switzerland after 1945 or 1946, despite the fact that many Jewish refugees were considered stateless and could not or did not want to return to places like Germany or Austria.

Georges Loinger's Story

Jewish groups began smuggling children into Switzerland in early 1942 but smuggling by non-Jewish groups began even before then. Many people paid a heavy price for their smuggling actions. We do not know the full story of the smuggling operations, or exactly how many individuals were involved and how these operations ended. The interviews with Georges Loinger, an organizer of rescue efforts in Annemasse, are representative of the smuggling activity organized by the OSE from France to Switzerland.

During several interviews conducted with Georges Loinger, one of the leaders of the _Reseau Garel_ , which rescued Jewish children by smuggling them into Switzerland under the auspices of the OSE, he paints a picture of what it was like to be charged with the mission of smuggling Jewish children across the border, one of the most dangerous forms of resistance. As he recalls: "I was personally responsible for the lives and destinies of these children, and had no right to fail." His actions included a risky meeting with Jean Deffaugt, the mayor of Annemasse, to ask him to turn a blind eye as the children left France. Deffaugt agreed, and Loinger's plan was set in motion. "I was supposed to accompany children who came to participate in sporting events." That was the cover used to bring the children to the border. In addition, and along with many others in the network, he chose to use professional passeurs, people who knew the landscape of the border and were committed and strong-willed. Many of the passeurs were not Jewish, although some were, and others had been involved in transporting contraband goods, which provided them with a specific knowledge of the border area. Passeurs risked their lives in order to help the Jewish children survive, and many of their stories are still untold because of the heavy consequences they experienced, including threats of death.

Remembering that time, Loinger says of France that it was a country "where Jews are prisoners sentenced to death." When reflecting on the Jewish rescue missions, he recalls:

Many missions of these networks were to help the people. But all of a sudden, we had no more freedom, they closed our shops, our businesses . . . the people have been driven out of the university, the Jews were suddenly without a return, without a financial return. So, then, we had these networks had picked up money, the networks started giving money to the families, we got in touch with the town halls, if your star showed "Jewish" then you had no more positive identity. . . .

You were nothing, you could not buy anything, it was absolutely organized death. So these networks like us, the mission was to allow the Jews to survive. They needed false papers, they needed ration cards because you could not buy anything without the ration card. They were given fake food cards, we helped people to live, but insecurely, hidden in some way with a new identity, it was a start. All these networks had done that and, and in short each network has created its own, its own mission, specializing in something. These networks worked to adapt to the truth, it was not abstract instructions that birthed the resistance, but it was of daily needs.

It was out of necessity that the Jewish resistance groups were born, and they continued to adapt to the needs of the moment. As the war continued and the Nazis' extermination plans regarding the Jews developed, the resistance movements had to adapt, and this included rescue as a form of resistance, to ensure the future survival of the Jewish people. Loinger reminisces, "It is the children who will be the future of Judaism. That is why we put all of our effort in rescuing and saving the children."

Hierarchies of Victimhood among Holocaust Survivors

For many Jewish children who spent the war years as refugees in Switzerland, the question of what it means to be a Holocaust survivor is ever present in their minds. Many interviewees expressed that they had to confront hierarchies of victimhood and survivorship within the Holocaust survivor community, as well as that imposed from the outside.

Hierarchies of victimhood exist after conflict and extreme cases of human rights violations like the Holocaust and other genocides. At times, victims compete for reparations, resources, validation, and acknowledgment that they are the true victims of the situation at hand—in this case, the Holocaust. While "victimhood" might not be finite, and victims do not have to compete with each other, sometimes, when resources are limited, when political decisions and compromises must be made in the postgenocide society, or when certain victims' experiences are denied or threatened into extinction, victims claim their rights and status, often at the exclusion of other victims. Therefore, hierarchies of victimhood develop in a practical sense, and at times, some victims claim that their suffering is greater than that of others.

In the case of Jewish children who were rescued to Switzerland during World War II to escape Nazi persecution, many of them did not feel that they were the "real" survivors of the Holocaust. During the interviews, many respondents question why "outsiders" are interested in their stories. "I did not survive a concentration camp," they would say. "I suffered, but not in comparison to other Jews in that period." Whether they truly felt this way, or others who had survived concentration camps or as hidden children in occupied Nazi territories had demeaned their experiences and altered their sense of victimhood, is not known in this case. However, these rescued children have often felt that their stories are not as valid as those "real victims" who survived in more extreme ways.

For some of these survivors, the sense of feeling less like a victim meant that they did not often talk about their experiences, including what they endured on the way to the border, in Switzerland, and what happened to them when the war ended. Some of them did not speak in schools or publicly, or decided to do so only recently, as more concentration camp survivors and hidden children died of advanced age, illness, and other causes. They filled the gap out of necessity, not because their sense of victimhood changed.

Part of the significance of this research, especially documenting the female passeurs and their networks and actions, serves to validate the experiences of the rescued Jewish children, to give them a space and a time to speak about their experiences without feeling a sense of guilt or shame. Comparing victimhood, especially among the same people who were targeted for genocide (in this case, Jews), may serve a political or tactical purpose. But in terms of validating the experiences of Holocaust survivors in order to help them make sense of what they experienced and to allow them to move forward and conceive of a successful life in a world that was shattered by the inhumanity of the Holocaust, comparison of victims' experiences is not useful. Many rescued Jewish children interviewed for this research said that no one had been interested in their stay in Switzerland or what had happened to them when they crossed the border safely. They believed that this was not an exciting or physically life-threatening part of their life history, and so it was comparatively less important. By researching the subject and interviewing these survivors about their _sejour en Suisse_ (their time spent in Switzerland), many realized the importance of discussing and documenting this aspect of the history.

Lasting Impact on Survivors

Most Jewish children who were rescued to Switzerland during World War II physically survived the war, although most of their family members who remained in France, Germany, and other occupied territories perished at the hands of the Nazis. Refugee children led various postwar lives. Some continued school and earned higher degrees. Others lived with intense physical and emotional trauma. Some could not have children because of the malnutrition and other diseases they contracted during the war period. Others had large families, often citing the fact that they lost their families and wanted to have a big family to replace their loss. But they did survive, and once they entered Switzerland, the likelihood of being killed, targeted, chased, or dying as a result of hunger, sickness, and general privation was low.

One survivor, Norbert Bikales, reflecting on the Swiss people he met during the war, describes them as follows:

I would say this was not terribly hospitable, you know, they sort of tolerated you and made you understand that you were there because they're such "good people" [laughs]. But they were not. By the way, at night you couldn't go out. I have here still a police permission to go out at night, one had to actually have an official piece of paper to be allowed to do that.

He continues:

The day the war ended the boys there from _Hôme de la Forêt_ decided to go into the center of the city and march. And so we did, with the big march of the Communists in Geneva, the Communist leader had organized a parade to the "wonderful" Russian liberators and all that. We decided we'd walk to the French consulate, so we went to the French consulate and we started to yell, _Vive du Gaulle_ , _Vive de Gaulle_. . . . Oh god, that was a big day when the war ended. The guys, we all looked at each other and said, Yep, we survived. You know? Yep, we survived. You know you never knew until the war was over that you were safe.

Norbert's wife, Gerda, who was also a Jewish refugee rescued to Switzerland, recounts:

[The French soldiers] accelerated the pace, and every hour that you survived was incredible, it was one trap after another. And rumors reached us about Switzerland, that children could possibly be accepted in Switzerland. I was not interested, and my mother wasn't interested, but really it got to be where there wasn't any choice.

She discusses Jewish organizations that assisted Jewish refugee children in Switzerland, in amazement, although she did not know about their operation at the time:

The Jewish organizations there—the miracle is there were still Jewish organizations functioning at some level—they were very keen on getting the children out. I mean, they knew if they wanted a future, a Jewish future, it wasn't going to happen with those kids still in Grenoble. And so we did. It's only lately that I found out who was, which group was behind it, and it was the _Mouvement de Jeunesse Sioniste_ that brought me over. These were young people who risked their lives to get the children out. At that time, I was 11. And it was heart wrenching; I didn't know what would happen to my mother. Even if _I'd_ be safe, and that was very questionable, because they did send back people, including children, even if I was safe, I mean, what was going to happen to her? She wasn't going to be safe. And I understood that, I mean at age 11, all these kids were pretty smart, they understood.

She continues:

I had the exact same reaction as Norbert, I saw these [Swiss] uniforms and it was scary. And they took us to police headquarters or border patrol headquarters, and I was bleeding and I asked for some help in stopping it. And nobody helped me. I think I went to the bathroom at some point and found some paper, some toilet paper. Anyway, it stopped bleeding after a time. But, let's say, I did not find any sympathy among the people who were there.

She describes interrogation at the French-Swiss border, and how the Jewish children who were smuggled were advised by the passeurs not to share any information about the rescue operations. Even as young children, Gerda was amazed at how her fellow children understood and took the passeurs' words seriously.

When we crossed the border, we were interrogated all the time. Now the interrogation basically, at least with me, I don't think Norbert ever felt that it was, they wanted descriptions of who these people were, what did we know. I mean they wanted to go after these people and have them killed if they could find them because obviously they were importing more and more people, and that was the line of interrogation. And we had been warned about that. They said, "You don't tell them anything." I didn't tell them anything, but I heard some of the other interrogators and they were pretty good, but the [other children] didn't say anything either.

Such interviews as these add an important element to the history of the rescues. After analyzing the interviews, some clear themes presented themselves. The first theme is that the wartime experiences require a sense of what is relative. While the children who made it into Switzerland survived the war, they frequently experienced tremendous trauma and hardship. Many of them could have just as easily had been deported, and they live with this knowledge every day. In addition, the wartime suffering of children and the trauma they endured was evident in all interviews. What was it like for children not to know? Separation was highly traumatic, knowing that things were abnormal but obligated to adapt to a situation over which they had no control. Other difficulties included the concern about what happened to their families, the discovery of the deportation of family members, and what that entailed.

Some of the stories show a positive experience in Switzerland, but the children's lives were far from secure and supported. After 1940, Jewish refugee children did arrive at the border, and the border guards had an idea of what was happening. They might not have known about the organizational aspect or the specific passeurs, but they did realize that these children's lives were in danger, and their only option was to seek safety in Switzerland. Children did not know if they would be sent back into the hands of the German or French border guards, or if they would be arrested and imprisoned. They also did not want to disclose the identities of the passeurs, those who risked their lives to save them. These factors made interrogation a traumatic, difficult experience for most children.

The children who remained in Switzerland mostly survived the war and were able to immigrate to the United States and Israel or to go back to countries in Europe after the war ended. Although their feelings about how they were treated in Switzerland vary based on each individual situation, once they were safe in Switzerland, they all had a genuine chance to survive. The establishment of homes like _La Maison de la Forêt_ for boys in Geneva shows the commitment of some organizations to provide a "normal" lifestyle for the refugee children in Switzerland, many of whom had been arrested; spent time in concentration and detention camps; and lost parents, siblings, and other family members during the course of the Holocaust. The rescue of Jewish children into Switzerland turned into a major operation that may have saved generations of Jewish people. As long as a balance remained, there was an infrastructure created to care for the refugee children, some of whom even had a chance of leading a normal childhood. The complexities of life in wartime Switzerland are therefore shown through the survivors' testimonies.

"What the Survivor and the Historian Know," Remarks on the Treatment of Testimonies

In his article "What the Survivor and the Historian Know," published in 2012, Holocaust scholar Michael Berenbaum discusses the symbiotic relationship between survivor memory and the work of historians to tell true stories and to establish factual truth. The truth that is established through survivors' testimonies and memory are representations of the history—are narratives around what was taking place—and each serves a unique but complementary purpose to portray a full, candid, and accurate picture of what happened during the Holocaust. According to Berenbaum:

Elie Wiesel, the preeminent survivor, set the bar impossibly high: "Only those who were there will ever know, and those who were there can never tell." Survivors' testimony was privileged. They alone could know. Nothing could be said by my generation, born after the war; what could we know?

Following this line, he continues:

Primo Levi, the great Italian Jewish writer who was an inmate at Auschwitz, wrote of the difficulty of language: "If the _lagers_ had lasted longer, a new, harsh language would have been born, and only this language could express what it means to toil the whole day in the wind, with the temperature below freezing, wearing only a shirt, underpants, cloth jacket and trousers, and in one's body nothing but weakness, hunger and the knowledge of the end drawing near." He suggests caution, for we use ordinary language to describe the extraordinary conditions of the death camps and the brutal circumstances of its prisoners. Caution is required, even modesty—even by historians who are writing monumental works that require courage and tenacity.

Conversely, historians know what the survivors could not know at the time of the Holocaust, being able to compare, contextualize, and triangulate oral history testimonies with diaries, letters, and archival records, as well as policy documents from the Axis and Allied powers, speeches, and other documents.

In addition, documenting oral history testimonies from Holocaust survivors provides more than a "data mining" for information. The way people who survived such experiences feel, how they perceive the world around them, how they relate to others, and questions about trauma, about good and evil, and about humanity can all be answered when speaking to the Holocaust survivors themselves. By conducting such interviews, the interviewee can validate their experience, restoring their humanity by listening and empathizing with their situation. As Wiesel and Levi say, those who did not live through the horrors of the Holocaust cannot truly know what it was like. Ordinary language is lacking when it attempts to describe the sheer breakdown of humanity that occurs during the Holocaust and genocide. However, should historians and other academics simply give up on trying to understand such phenomena, their causes, their impacts on society, and on the individuals who survived? If we do not attempt to discuss such issues and put language and context to these horrific events, then the consequences can be even worse. Society won't listen; society won't learn. Whether the Holocaust is considered as unique and incomparable, or as an example of genocide whose patterns can be understood, compared, and learned from in contemporary society, simply documenting historical fact at the exclusion of oral history testimonies will generate less accurate and useful results.

Legacies

Jewish children who survived the war in Switzerland were considered "emigrants," and most could not receive legal status to remain in the country once the war ended in May 1945. Even prior to then, Jewish children were being put on trains and required to return to where they had come from. For many of the survivors, they could not conceive of returning to their homes in France, Poland, Yugoslavia, Belgium, or other places from where they had escaped. Their lives and communities had been destroyed there. Many Jewish children recall receiving letters in Switzerland from the International Red Cross, simply stating that their father, mother, or another relative had "died in Auschwitz" or another concentration camp. However, when they read these letters, the children had no conception of what Auschwitz meant. It took time for them to understand the concept and try and fathom the fate their loved ones had met. Many Jewish children, when required to leave Switzerland at the end of the war, made aliyah to Israel, taking ships from Spain and Portugal, and then being detained at reception camps upon arrival. Others went to Britain or the United States, if possible. Some did return to their hometowns or countries of origin, only to find their entire lives destroyed, their property taken and ravaged, and only then moved to Israel, the United States, or Britain once their circumstances permitted. Left without any surviving family members or friends, it became challenging to start a new, postwar life. Many Jewish refugees had lost their childhoods, had missed years in school because of fleeing and hiding, and had to catch up in order to be able to start leading successful lives. Some never got over the trauma of what they experienced, or the grievance, shock, and horror of what happened to their loved ones who were deported and murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators.

As can be imagined, the Jewish children who lived this experience had incredibly mixed feelings about Switzerland. Reflecting the realities of the wartime situation, living conditions in the children's homes were far from luxurious: meals provided little more than sustenance, and heating and hot water were strictly limited. However, the men and women responsible for administering the homes and instructing the children were usually professionally trained teachers, nurses, and social workers. They genuinely cared about the children and sought to meet their needs—physical, psychological, and educational—to every extent possible.

According to American scholar Alexander L. George, writing in 1979: "The 'lessons' of history are often inconsistent, if not contradictory, and generalizations are hazardous if not carefully qualified. It is the task to identify the many conditions and variables that affect historical outcomes and sort out the causal patterns associated with different historical outcomes. By doing so, they account for the variance in historical outcomes; it clarifies the apparent inconsistencies and contradictions among the 'lessons' of different cases by identifying the critical conditions and variables that differed from one case to another."

Each testimony conducted was unique in story and context, yet there were themes that presented themselves throughout all of the interviews. According to those who lived in orphanages or group homes, they had a chance at restoring some sense of normalcy in childhood despite the harsh realities of the wartime situation. Especially in the Jewish orphanages, they established classes; contributed to their community by having specific jobs and chores, as they might have had at home with their families without the wartime interruptions; and formed mentoring and caring relationships with the counselors and staff at the homes, who were often also refugees themselves. The standard of living was higher than in some foster families, and abuse was rare. However, Jewish refugee children in group homes had little contact with the outside world. Many did not know any Swiss individuals, as they were isolated within the villages and cities. Foster children, however, were integrated into local schools and often had foster siblings within the Swiss families. They experienced the realities of antisemitism in Switzerland, especially in the German-speaking part, and were often called cruel names by other children. Refugees in the group homes did recount listening to the radio about the war efforts but were still shocked when Red Cross letters addressed to them came with news of family members deported and murdered in concentration camps. Overall, the quality of the foster care system was inconsistent, and it was difficult to say for what reasons a child had a positive or negative family experience. In the group homes, however, there was more chance at restoring a normal sense of self through activities, strong familial bonds, and camaraderie of other Jewish refugee children and teenagers.

According to theories of transitional justice—a specific form of justice that occurs during a community and society's transition from conflict to peace often after extraordinary crimes like those occurring during genocide—validating victims' and survivors' experiences of the harm they suffered is one way to help them reconcile their experiences and conceive of continuing to live despite what happened to them. While theories of transitional justice developed after the Holocaust, the treatment of testimonies, giving individuals a chance to speak about their life in Switzerland during the war, remembering and honoring the passeurs who assisted them in surviving, whether their names are known or not, has provided positive impacts on Holocaust survivor communities as a whole. While the risk of retraumatization or "interview fatigue" has been considered and calculated for this research, the overwhelming majority of Holocaust survivors interviewed were happy that they had agreed to be interviewed. They also shared their memoirs, diaries, letters, and photographs, both published and unpublished, to help express their understandings of their experiences as Jewish refugee children rescued to Switzerland during World War II. It is through their acts of strength that the passeurs are remembered, as many were murdered during their smuggling and rescue activities or died due to age or sickness before their stories could be fully documented. Some of the Holocaust survivors themselves died soon after they shared their testimonies for this book, making these stories the last they shared for public purposes. Their dedication to education and making sure that the horrors they experienced are not repeated through making their histories known has been a clear theme present while conducting this research.
* * *

CHAPTER NINE

Coda: Remembering the Passeurs

In 2016, an excellent essay by Israeli historian Renée Poznanski asked a provocative question. The title provided the setting for the argument that followed: "Was the French Resistance Jewish?" The importance of the Resistance in France, she argued, "cannot be measured solely in terms of the military exploits of its member groups or by its contribution to the liberation of France." With this, Poznanski echoed the sentiments of Holocaust survivor and scholar Saul Friedländer, who wrote in 1996 of "the resistance of those who acted within Jewish resistance movements to wage a battle for survival."

Of course, the French Resistance, taken in its totality, was not wholly Jewish, but that was not Poznanski's point. Rather, she sought to place the contribution of Jews into a context, explaining how the "French Jews—under a double jeopardy of anti-Semitic law (French and German), stripped of their possessions, interned in camps, then sent on to Auschwitz—contributed in full to the story of the Resistance."

Elsewhere, Georges Wellers, a Russian-born French historian who survived the Holocaust in Auschwitz and Buchenwald, also wrote of the distinctive nature of Jewish resistance:

True resistance was that which helped Jews hide by finding them a secure hiding place; by forging counterfeit identity papers for them, such as false baptism and birth certificates, and false ration cards; by giving them safe passage over the Swiss or Spanish border, or across the demarcation line; by providing them with a minimum of financial means necessary for their daily, clandestine existence; by ridding them by force of arms of informers and "Jew hunters;" by helping and instigating the escape of Jewish detainees; by composing, printing, and circulating news meant to give the persecuted people moral support and arouse sympathy for them among the non-Jewish population.

All the activities, initiatives, and stratagems to which Wellers referred were employed by the women and men, in their various organizations, outlined in this book.

A more orthodox definition of the French Resistance came in the aftermath of the liberation of France in 1944. According to this, France in arms became a dominant narrative, demonstrating an effective unified response to the German occupation. Moreover, this was _armed_ resistance; as shown by Olivier Wieviorka, "the resistance is defined in the first place by its actions," that is, "its aim was to do battle concretely with the German occupier, and even its Vichy ally." That said, according to Wieviorka—and in contrast to the view expressed by Wellers—"a smuggler who transported Jews [Wieviorka qualifies this by use of the term 'for money'] cannot be considered a resister, even if by his actions he thwarted the genocidal ambition of the Nazi regime."

Indeed, Wieviorka holds that while most Jews in France survived in hiding rather than through being smuggled, it is clear that those who engaged in smuggling were, to a large extent, Jews themselves, with the organized Resistance playing little part in helping to save Jewish lives. As he concludes, "the resistance remained silent even as genocide on an unprecedented scale was being perpetrated." British military historian M. R. D. Foot, in a highly acclaimed study of the phenomenon of resistance across Nazi-occupied Europe, went even further in 1977, when he wrote, "Tremendous efforts were made to save Jews, many of them by Jews, many of them by resisters"—as if the two were mutually exclusive categories—but reinforced Wieviorka's point by stating that the rescue of Jews was "not the brightest page in resistance history."

How resistance can be defined, therefore, depends on a number of disputed factors. It could involve (1) rescue and other activities dedicated to undermining or avoiding the will of the occupier; (2) military combat (only); or (3) the former with no assistance from those engaged in the latter.

Yet a fourth possibility also exists. As Wieviorka notes, the Jews themselves were anything but passive, and they should not be likened "to minors unable to take their own fate in hand." Many escaped on their own without organizational support, enlisting the help "of family members, professional contacts, or friends." Under such circumstances, some Jews expressed their own form of resistance—in this case, resistance to what the Nazis intended to be their ultimate fate. What was the significance of such behavior? British historian Robert Gildea has expressed this clearly: "The majority of the Jewish population in France, which was progressively excluded from society and then faced destruction, fled or hid rather than resisted. But with less to lose and fewer hiding places, communists, Jews and foreigners had greater incentives to resist than the average French person." What this translated to, Gildea concludes, was that "it may be more accurate to talk less about the _French_ Resistance than about resistance in France."

Defining resistance was thus as complex during wartime France as it has remained to the present day. It should be obvious, however, that it encompassed more than the fighters who confronted the Nazis in combat, more than armed cells engaged in guerrilla warfare tactics, more than the agents of Britain's Special Operations Executive or the American Office of Strategic Services, and more than Charles de Gaulle's _Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur_ (French Forces of the Interior, or FFI). Rather, resistance must be viewed as the widest expression of anti-German and anti-Vichy endeavors designed to nullify the dictates of the occupier or the collaborator.

The perspective of Canadian historian Lynne Taylor illustrates the position regarding the exclusive nature of an armed resistance as the only form of opposition to the Nazi occupation. For her, the story of the Resistance "is the story of a few thousand brave souls who refused to admit defeat, who were determined to continue the war and drive the Germans from French soil." Her discussion examines the underground press, sabotage, and military options; where she refers to rescue, however, the focus is on assisting Allied airmen and the like to find sanctuary through being smuggled through France and into neutral countries. The rescue of Jews is not mentioned; for Taylor, this did not constitute resistance as it did not have as its object a singular, straightforward, goal: "to liberate France."

Written Out of History?

Doreen Rappaport is an award-winning author of books for young people. Her website relates that her focus is on topics "that celebrate multiculturalism, the retelling of folktales and myths, history, the lives of world leaders and the stories of those she calls 'not-yet-celebrated.'" Arguably her best-known work is _Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance during the Holocaust_. Unlike many academic texts written for adults, Rappaport has no hesitation in including rescuers among those to be considered resisters. Indeed, she dedicates an entire section of her book, titled "Saving the Future," to precisely that topic, including subsections on Georges Loinger and Marianne Cohn. While not unique within the literature of resistance or rescue, Rappaport's book is a rare example of the two being synonymous. (In this regard, it must be said that Lucien Lazare's important volume, _Rescue as Resistance: How Jewish Organizations Fought the Holocaust in France_ , defines the entire theme.)

It is a truism that when resistance is mentioned in the context of World War II or the Holocaust, more often than not, people's thoughts do, indeed, turn to some form of armed conflict. A few brief examples will suffice. In Margaret L. Rossiter's study from 1986, _Women in the Resistance_ , the focus is on women who helped facilitate the escape of Allied military personnel, spying and espionage, sabotage and guerrilla operations, and women from overseas (particularly the United States) who made a commitment to the anti-Nazi struggle. In Marie Rameau's _Des femmes en résistance 1939–1945_ , a collection of personal accounts from women who participated in France's fight against Nazism, all were involved in the same sort of activities covered in Rossiter's volume—and none engaged in the kind of rescue activities recounted in this book.

Finally, in American author Margaret Collins Weitz's volume _Sisters in the Resistance: How Women Fought to Free France, 1940–1945_ , not only does the author showcase women who engaged in battle, but she also highlights the ways in which the struggle took place—as couriers, translators, nurses, and in maintaining the underground press. Though Weitz does offer a brief treatment of the women who engaged in rescue activities—which she somewhat dismissively refers to as "support services"—her handling of those occupied in rescue actions is wildly inaccurate. She places Marianne Cohn, for example, as having led 28 children to the _Spanish_ border (not Switzerland), where two-thirds were able to cross (none were in fact able to do so until after Marianne's death and the war was effectively over), while she asserts that Marianne's grave was discovered on D-Day (not many weeks later, as it was), with her body so badly beaten that "only her shoes enabled her brother to identify her" (Marianne did not have a brother but rather a sister, Lisa—who was not present when Marianne's body was found). References to rescue organizations in Weitz's book focus only on CIMADE, though none of the other organizations (Catholic, Jewish, or nonsectarian) profiled in this volume are mentioned.

Similarly, some histories do not even recognize rescuers when perhaps it would have been advisable to do so. British author Agnes Grunwald-Spier, for example, in an investigation of women's experiences during the period of the Holocaust, makes no references to the rescue of (or by) Jewish women at all. A otherwise excellent and detailed recent study by French historian Jacques Sémelin entitled _The Survival of the Jews in France 1940–44_ , while true to its title in many ways, does not spend as much time on passeurs conveying Jews across the border—whether to Switzerland or Spain—as the topic would have warranted. His conclusion is an important one, however, noting that the difficulties involved in smuggling people across borders "reminds us how precarious individual destinies were," with many accounts suggesting "that people were painfully aware of their extreme vulnerability." While this is far from a reason not to offer more on border crossings, it does, nonetheless, explain the fragility of the topic in a larger study of Jewish survival in France during the war.

What, then, can we say about those who rescued Jews by smuggling them across the Swiss border and to safety? Even several regional histories do not mention the rescuers, while focusing closely on armed combat (or preparation for it) from those loosely grouped as _maquis_. It is as if the rescuers—in their capacity as resisters—have disappeared down a memory hole. Rescue, for many, did not equate with resistance; and thus, those engaged in the dangerous—sometimes fatal—practice are in peril of being written out of history. As Renée Poznanski has written, while rescue actions could cost the lives of "young social militants" such as Mila Racine and Marianne Cohn, "this rescue was not recognized as an entirely independent element of the Resistance except, of course, in the Jewish world."

Rescuing the Rescuers

There are, however, some writers who do give due recognition to the _passeurs_. Lazare has already been mentioned. Elsewhere, perhaps the most significant study is by another resister, Anny Latour, who, writing in 1981, argued that while "there was the French Resistance, which covered itself with glory," she could also speak of "another elite: those who, subjected to the torments of shame and humiliation, awakened to their Jewishness and rose up against the Nazi enemy as Jews." For Latour, all due credit had to be given to the French Resistance, which was essentially "political and military." But, she wrote, "If we Jews had not created rescue networks, tens of thousands more unfortunates would have fallen into the hands of the Vichy police and the Gestapo, and been sent to the death camps."

Were these actions, therefore, _resistance_? For Latour, unquestionably: "These networks did not materialize out of thin air, but had their origins in Jewish social services and groups of varying political leanings already in existence prior to the Occupation." However, the threat of danger led these agencies to go underground, at which time they "became resistant." This was achieved through "giving shelter to children and adults, inventing a thousand forms of camouflage," and in so doing, "they thwarted the enemy's infernal machinations." They moved, in short, from being social helpers to being rescuers—and then, by definition, to becoming resisters.

What this translates to is a view of resistance that is at significant variance with the notion of resistance as combat alone. And with this we arrive at what contemporary scholarship refers to divided memory. The connection between past and present is tangled, and far from straightforward. Historians and others today often speak with near-reverence of the distinction between history and memory, as though one is so divorced from the other that the two have little relevance for each other. But when looking at French history during World War II (indeed, at practically _any_ aspect of that conflict, anywhere), we realize that it was arguably the most traumatic, contentious, and problematic event for France during the 20th century. And in the aftermath of the Allied victory and the direction of postwar discourses emanating from the supporters of Charles de Gaulle and the Free French movement relating to how the war was won, a dominant discourse relating to resistance— _the Resistance_ (with a capital R)—all other manifestations of anti-German opposition assume secondary importance.

The issue therefore becomes one of who shapes the memory of the anti-Nazi phenomenon in France, especially as it has become institutionalized as an ongoing military struggle of defiance across the period 1940–1944. Within that public space, is there any room left for collective remembrance of the rescuers, and if so, how is that to be manifested? There is a need to reconsider the relationship between what might be termed the "official" act of remembrance and those who fall outside of it.

The reconstruction of France after the war resulted in a narrative arguing that the liberated country possessed a united resistance against forces that were imposed by the German occupiers acting in conjunction with collaborators who did not represent the "real" France. Consequently, there was little room for duplicate narratives from Jews, communists, or other major actors. The only way in which their contributions could be recognized was through localized forms of remembrance and an alternate historiography—such as that from Renée Poznanski with which this chapter began—and which many of those mentioned throughout this book have echoed.

In view of this, what can we say that actually _is_ beyond dispute? We have been looking in this study at several quite remarkable young women who, seeing the vulnerability of Jewish children, refused to allow that vulnerability, and that Jewishness, to be a cause of their death. And an emphasis should be placed on the youth of the women under discussion. If we take as a base 1940, the year of France's defeat, we are struck by their ages: Andrée Salomon was 32, Madeleine Barot was 31, and Rolande Birgy was 27. After that point, we find ourselves discussing teenagers or those only barely out of their teens. In 1940, Geneviève Pittet-Priacel turned 22, and Vivette Hermann turned 21. Mila Racine was 19, Marianne Cohn was 18, and Charlotte Sorkine, the baby of the group, was just 15 years of age. All, of course, would grow older beyond their years as a result of their activities in the war, and by 1943 and 1944, they were seasoned workers in the field of rescue; in this context, their actions can certainly be read as _resistance_. Their means of fighting differed from that of military combatants, but their struggle—and willingness to pay the supreme sacrifice—was no less deserving of the name.

What, then, is so special about this topic, given that it is a subject of divided memory within France, omission on the part of some historians, and ignorance within the wider population? What we have witnessed in this book are the stories of ordinary young women who made extraordinary efforts on behalf of their fellow human beings in a time of the most horrible darkness. Whether or not they were aware of it, we can say that they showed remarkable courage and set a moral compass for others to follow. As written by historian David Diamant: "These young people, in great numbers, became martyrs." He identifies especially Mila Racine and Marianne Cohn but adds others also deserving of mention: Eugene Bass, Léopold Waksman, P. Kipper, Norbert Finkel, Suzanne Kraika, Lol Rappoport—"dead due to deportation."

Remembering the Passeurs

How have they been remembered? Indeed, does anyone remember them today? The short answer is yes, though this is much more on a local than a national level. The case of Marianne Cohn is, once again, instructive. By way of example, we can show how she has been remembered, both as a resister and as a rescuer. On May 3, 1984, prior to the 40th anniversary commemorations marking the liberation in 1944, the chief rabbi of France, Rabbi René-Samuel Sirat, visited Annemasse. After meeting with M. Borrel, the mayor of Annemasse, and enjoying lunch with various leaders of the local Jewish community, a party of dignitaries led the chief rabbi to a monument to Marianne that had been created at Ville-la-Grand, close to the location of her murder. In the presence of "a strong delegation of former resistants and widows of resistants," as well as the chief rabbi of Lyon (Rabbi Richard Wertenschlag) and local luminaries, a public address was made by Herbert Herz, a veteran of the Resistance and a member of the armed Manouchian Group during the war. He reminded the audience of Mila Racine's counsel to always have hope no matter what, and then offered a prayer that Mila and Marianne "remain united in remembrance as they were in action."

Then, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the liberation on August 18, 1994, survivors of the Pax Prison—the Jewish children saved by Marianne's refusal to abandon them at the cost of her own life—gathered at the monument to Marianne at Annemasse to honor their savior, recognizing, at the same time, "the courageous intervention of Mayor Jean Deffaugt." Monuments and memorials to the rescuers exist throughout France, even though, as we have seen, there is some ambiguity in respect of the legitimacy of claims to their status as resisters. This book's core position is that no one can be left in any doubt as to the credentials of the passeurs in this regard; they were, unquestionably, every bit a part of the anti-Nazi resistance as those who took up arms and fought a courageous military struggle for the liberation of France.

And while there are monuments to rescuers, there are also monuments to the victims. In Annecy, the jumping-off place for so many rescues during the Vichy collaboration, the Italian interregnum, and the German subjugation, there is today a monument not too far from the _Hôtel de Ville_. Built into a rock, the plaque bears two statements. The first remembers those who the _passeurs_ did not manage to rescue, erected by the city of Annecy "in tribute to its missing children in Nazi concentration camps and fascist prisons so that their memory remains alive in the city." The second statement is a direct condemnation of Philippe Pétain's collaborationist _État française_ : erected in the name of the French Republic, it states that it has been created "in tribute to the victims of racist and antisemitic persecution and crimes against humanity," which took place "under the authority of the so-called 'Government of the French State.'" The words do not reference those who undertook rescues; they do not have to. They show simultaneously that the victims are recalled and that those who made them victims are to be reviled. Anything else, in that context, would seem to be excessive.

Back to the Future?

With the end of the war, Vivette Hermann—married on October 1, 1942, to another aid worker, Julien Samuel, and mother to a daughter, Françoise, and a son, Jean-Pierre (another daughter, Nicole, would be born in 1948)—threw herself into the work of repatriating and resettling the Jewish children who had been saved as a result of her and others' efforts. As she recalled, the OSE office in Paris found itself engaged in "immense activity," as everything had to be rebuilt, the office was short of personnel, "their needs were enormous, but the future was secure." She then did a quick tabulation of the situation of Jewish children in France by the end of the war. Altogether, 11,600 Jewish children had been deported, "all of whom perished in the camps." Despite, this, 72,400 under the age of 18 survived. Some 62,000 managed to stay with their parents or were entrusted by them to institutions or non-Jewish families. The most vulnerable population, however, were Jewish children of foreign background—and of these, Jewish organizations were responsible for transferring between 8,000 and 10,000 to safety in Switzerland and Spain, to countries overseas, or to placement with friendly non-Jewish families within France. She concluded that "it must be assumed that it was easier for families born in France or of French culture to shelter their children," but that it was "the children of foreign families that the OSE had to take charge of and hide." And with that, the situation prevailing for Jews during the interwar years—in which the community was divided into French-born " _Israélites_ " and foreign-born " _Juifs_ "—was both reinforced and confirmed.

Reflecting on her work as a rescuer of Jewish children during the years of the German occupation, Vivette made the conscious decision to move ahead with her life and not dwell on the past or turn it into the focus of her future. She did not want to define herself by what she had lived through, at the same time never forgetting the experience of the war years. As she wrote in the memoir that has been featured throughout this book: "I've decided to turn the page, not to forget but to learn from the past and to struggle against today's evils, which are the same as those of yesterday—exclusion, rejection, and intolerance." She then decided to commit her recollections to paper as "an inheritance" and "a history to transmit." She wanted "to bring its actors to life, to testify about the response necessary in the depths of the night, and to affirm—for all times and all places—the absolute primacy of life over death." No more fitting tribute could be made to the passeurs, and all those with whom they worked, than this.
* * *

APPENDIX A

Exeunt: Beyond the War Years

_The list that follows traces the experiences of many of the key figures discussed in this book. As can be seen, those who survived the war set out on a variety of paths, though nearly all remained involved in helping activities for those in situations less fortunate than themselves. It will also be noted that several received military decorations for their war service—a recognition of their work opposing the Nazi and Vichy forces bent on destructive and nefarious ends._

Moussa Abadi

Moussa Abadi married Odette Rosenstock on November 3, 1959. After the war he hosted a program called "Images and Faces of Today's Theater" at _Radio France Internationale_. Between 1959 and 1980 he produced over a thousand radio interviews. From 1977 to 1981, he was President of the Dramatic Creation Commission, and was also a member of the commission for young companies. Moussa died on September 15, 1997, at the age of 87.

Madeleine Barot

In 1953 Madeleine Barot became head of the "Men and Women in the Church and Society" department of the World Council of Churches, from which she launched a campaign for increased participation of women in the church. At the same time, her involvement increased in several church-related organizations. These included France's Protestant Federation, Christian Action for the Abolition of Torture, and Religions for Peace. She also maintained her work with CIMADE. In 1988 she was recognized by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem as one of the Righteous among the Nations. She died in December 28, 1995.

Rolande Birgy

Rolande Birgy, the " _Beret Bleu_ ," was named as one of the Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem in 1983 for her work in saving Jewish children. She was also awarded the _Croix du combattant volontaire de la Résistance_ (Cross of the Resistance Volunteer) and joined the Republican People's Movement (MRP) in 1945. She was also a passionate anti-abortion activist right through to her death on April 21, 2002.

Marianne Cohn

Marianne Cohn ("Marie Colin") was arrested on May 31, 1944, when she was smuggling a group of 28 children near Annemasse. She was taken into the woods near Ville-la-Grand where she was bludgeoned to death on July 8, 1944. She was posthumously awarded _Croix de Guerre_ with a silver star by the French Military government on November 7, 1945.

Jean Deffaugt

After the Liberation Jean Deffaugt remained mayor of Annemasse until 1947, continuing as a municipal councilor from 1947 to 1959 and again from 1965 to his death, aged 74, on July 1, 1970. He was appointed a _Chevalier de Légion d'honneur_ , and on October 19, 1965, Yad Vashem recognized him as one of the Righteous among the Nations.

Colette Dufournet

Colette Dufournet ("Brigitte Lambert") was the first federal leader of the Young Christian Women in Annecy. Traveling ceaselessly throughout France, she searched out people (especially children) at risk and took them to the border with Switzerland, from where they were transferred to safety. In Annecy, the local hospital was employed for the purpose of caring for the children while they were awaiting transfer across the border. When there were too many people to move, girls were taken to the orphanage of the Sacred Heart in Paris (run by the Sisters of Charity), and boys were housed by Capuchin monks. After the war, Colette withdrew to civilian life.

Robert Gamzon

After the war, Robert Gamzon ("Castor") founded the Gilbert-Bloch d'Orsay school to train cadres for a community traumatized by the war and the Holocaust. Its object was to teach students to be proud of their Jewish identity and to live as leaders and builders. Gamzon made aliyah (immigrated) to the newly-formed state of Israel in 1949, bringing with him 50 of his former students. After several moves during the process of resettlement, he eventually put down roots in Rehovot, where he joined the staff of the Weizmann Institute. On September 1, 1961, he accidentally drowned while swimming at the beach. Gamzon was decorated with the 1939–1940 _Croix de Guerre_ , the 1944 War Cross, the _Médaille de la Résistance française_ , and appointed a _Chevalier de Légion d'honneur_.

Georges Garel

The child rescue network of Georges Garel ("Gasquet") was created in the aftermath of the night of Vénissieux in 1942. In 1943 he married Lily Tager ("Élisabeth-Jeanne Tissier") in Lyon, after which they had seven children. In 1944 Garel was appointed director general of the OSE-France, and in 1948, under peacetime conditions, he resumed his post as an engineer with the _Compagnie Électro-Mécanique_ (CEM), a French electrical engineering manufacturer. He remained there until 1974, at the same time continuing as a member of the board of the OSE. In this capacity he was president between 1951 and 1978. He died on January 9, 1979, in Paris of a heart attack.

Otto Giniewski

In May 1942 Otto Giniewski ("Toto") started the Montpellier branch of the MJS, uniting all French Zionist youth organizations under the leadership of Simon Lévitte and Joseph Fischer. After moving to Grenoble to pursue a doctorate at the university, he set up a resistance unit which became an important center of Zionist activity and rescue operations. His chemistry laboratory became a secret headquarters for a variety of underground activities, including the forging of identification papers and a temporary hiding place for Jews on the run. In January 1944 he was hunted by the Gestapo at the university but escaped and removed evidence of his illegal activities. In November 1944 he received his PhD in chemistry from Montpellier University, and in March 1945, he was elected secretary general of the MJS at a convention in Paris. In July 1945 he and his family immigrated to Palestine, where, two years later, he joined the faculty of the chemistry department at the Hebrew University.

Abbé Alexandre Glasberg

After 1945 Abbé Glasberg helped facilitate the emigration of Holocaust survivors to Palestine, participating in the activities of _Aliyah Bet_ , the illegal campaign helping Jews migrate from Europe to what was then still Mandate Palestine under the British. He was closely involved with the ship _Exodus 1947_ , a celebrated case in which some 4,515 Jewish refugees and displaced persons forced their way into Palestine under the guns of Britain's Royal Navy. After the establishment of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, Glasberg also worked with the Israeli intelligence organization Mossad in assisting the migration process. In 1951 he participated in the airlift organized by Mossad to evacuate Iraqi Jews, Operation EZRA AND NEHEMIAH, and assisted in the mass emigration of Jews from Morocco and Egypt. Abbé Alexandre Glasberg died in France in 1981. In 2004, he was recognized as Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

Netanel "Tony" Gryn

In October 1943, Tony Gryn founded the _Service social des jeunes_ (Youth Social Service, or SSJ), and together with activists from the Sixième, they set up a laboratory for forging identity and other documents with Gryn in overall command. As the situation worsened in the Paris region, the Jewish Combat Organization (OJC) formed a free corps with Gryn as second in command. He retained the leadership of the SSJ until the insurrection of the capital in August 1944, where he participated in various military actions alongside of the French Forces of the Interior. After the war he was appointed a _Chevalier de Légion d'honneur_. In 1989 he died at age 68.

Vivette Hermann

On October 1, 1942, Vivette Hermann married another aid worker, Julien Samuel, and became a mother to two daughters, Françoise and Nicole, and a son, Jean-Pierre. In 1950 she took a position at ADIR, an organization that was dedicated to supporting survivors while also continuing her work with OSE. Her work with the organization helped facilitate orphanages in North Africa for victims of the Holocaust as well doing work with the Open Educational Action Service. She then continued her career in social work throughout the 1960s and 1970s, working with both the National Association of Social Work Assistants and National Union of Family Assistance Funds. Eventually she became the director general of the OSE, in which position she remained until her retirement in 1985. She died on July 16, 2006, in Paris.

Dovid and Ariadna Knut

Dovid Knut was forced to escape to Switzerland in December 1942, when the Gestapo came close to apprehending him. Ariadna ("Régine") stayed behind in Toulouse. While holding an AJ meeting at her apartment one day in July 1944, she was ambushed and killed by members of the _Milice_. Knut returned to Paris in the fall of 1944. He worked at the _Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine_ (Contemporary Jewish Documentation Center), which had been established in 1943 as a clandestine organization with the objective of documenting the Holocaust by gathering together all the information and documentary evidence collected by the various Jewish organizations during the war. In 1946 he became editor of the magazine _Le Monde Juif_ ( _The Jewish World_ ). In 1947 he published a book, _Contribution à L'Histoire de la Résistance Juive en France 1940–1944_ ( _The History of the Jewish Resistance in France, 1940–1944_ ), and in October 1949, he migrated to Israel, settling in Tel Aviv.

Anny Latour

After the war Anny Latour, a former member of the Sixième, began to write about her time in the Resistance, publishing _La Résistance juive en France (1940–1944)_ in 1970. This rich and highly detailed work appeared in English as _The Jewish Resistance in France (1940–44)_ in 1981 and is a key resource on its topic.

Lucien Lazare

Turning 20 years of age just after the liberation of Paris in 1944, Lucien Lazare had undertaken his secondary education in Lyon during the war. A member of the EIF, he joined the Sixième and was active between 1942 and 1944 before becoming a fighter of the Marc Haguenau resistance unit named by Robert Gamzon, during which he participated in the rescue and smuggling of Jewish children. After the war he became secretary of the Jewish Community of Strasbourg, completing a doctorate in history at the University of Strasbourg in 1967. He became an authority on the military and rescue history of the Jewish Resistance in France. In 1968, Lucien Lazare and his family settled in Israel, where he became a member of the Commission for the Designation of the Righteous Nations of Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.

Simon Lévitte

In January 1944 the Committee of Union and Defense of the Jews was formed in Paris, and Simon Lévitte was given responsibility for representing the south of France. With the liberation of France imminent, he asked Tony Gryn to organize the safe passage of hundreds of children to Switzerland. Sent to Paris, in August 1944 he participated in the fighting for the liberation of the city. In 1949, after the creation of the state of Israel, he established a number of houses to prepare young French Jews for migration to Israel. Soon after this he disappeared from public view, and all attempts to trace him during the 1950s came to nothing.

Maurice Loebenberg

While Maurice Loebenberg ("Maurice Cachoud") was working in Paris to centralize the forgery service for the National Liberation Movement, he was denounced and arrested for his work for the National Liberation Movement on July 17, 1944. He was handed over to the French Gestapo and tortured to death at 180 Rue de la Pompe in Paris. His body was later found in the Verrières woods outside of Paris. On April 10, 1945, he was buried in the Montparnasse Cemetery with full military honors. He was awarded the _Ordre de la Libération_ (Order of Liberation) posthumously.

Georges Loinger

After the Liberation Georges Loinger was given the task of creating a reception center in Annemasse for prisoners and deportees able to return to Switzerland. In 1946 he developed sporting activities in the OSE houses, at the same time establishing a school for sports instructors in Gournay-sur-Marne, near Paris. With the imminence of Israel's independence, in 1947 he began working for Aliyah Bet (the illegal immigration movement to Palestine), especially for the organization of the _Exodus 1947_ operation. By 1964 he was nominated as a _Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur_ (Knight of the Legion of Honor), and he retired in 1978. In 1995 he became president of the association of Jewish resistance leaders in France, and in 1999 he was promoted to the rank of _Officier de la Légion d'honneur pour fait de Résistance_. In 2005 he was further elevated to the position of commander. In 2014 he was awarded the medal of honorary citizen by the city of Strasbourg, and in July 2016 was made an officer in the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Georges Loinger died on December 28, 2018, aged 108.

Louis Pache

Louis Pache, the passeur who took children and others through the mountains in the high country of Haute-Savoie, died at the age of 76 on December 22, 1972. On March 25, 1979, Yad Vashem in Jerusalem recognized Louis Pache and his wife Franceline as Righteous among the Nations for their acts in saving Jewish lives during World War II.

Mireille Philip

In January 1943 Mireille Philip transferred her duties in CIMADE to Pierre Piton (a Protestant working to escort Jewish children at Le Chambon to the families who were sheltering them, and whom Mireille recruited to guide small groups of Jews into Switzerland) and joined the organized French Resistance in North Africa. On March 18, 1976, Yad Vashem recognized her as one of the Righteous among the Nations. She died in Bron, in the suburbs of Lyon, in 1991.

Geneviève Pittet-Priacel

Geneviève Pittet-Priacel ("Tatchou") was a CIMADE activist. After facilitating several escapes and transfers, she was targeted for arrest in December 1943 and left for North Africa. There, she joined the Free French forces. On December 30, 1993, Yad Vashem recognized Geneviève Pittet-Priacel as Righteous among the Nations. She died on October 13, 1964.

Abraham Polonski

In June 1944 Abraham Polonski ("Mr. Pol") narrowly escaped capture—and possible death—at the hands of a local collaborationist militia group in Toulouse. Although he escaped through the roof of the building where he was located, the assault prevented the AJ from conducting any activities that day. Forced to go on the run, Polonski moved to Lyon, where he maintained operations until August 1944. On May 21, 1944, Abraham Polonski had the Jewish Combat Organization recognized as a French Resistance movement by the National Liberation Committee of Toulouse. When the Germans surrendered Paris to the Allies on August 25, 1944, Polonski and several of his fighters were present to help achieve the city's liberation. After the war, Abraham Polonski went on to became a commander of the _Haganah_ in Palestine, with responsibility for assisting illegal Jewish immigrants to make their way from France and North Africa to the Middle East.

Emmanuel Racine

Emmanuel Racine ("Mola"), brother of Mila and Sacha, was an early leader of the French Jewish resistance. Instrumental during the attempted rescue of Marianne Cohn in May 1944, he worked closely with the mayor of Annemasse, Jean Deffaugt, to obtain the release of the children in Marianne's care. It was Emmanuel Racine and Georges Loinger who discovered Marianne's mutilated body in a mass grave near Ville-La- Great after the Liberation. Racine was awarded several distinctions after the war: _Officier de la Légion d'honneur_ , _Officier de l'ordre national du Mérite_ , _Croix de Guerre avec étoile_ , _Croix du Combattant_ , _Croix du Combattant volontaire de la Résistance_ , and, from Israel, the Medal of Anti-Nazi Fighters.

Mila Racine

On October 21, 1943 Mila Racine ("Marie-Anne Richemond") was intercepted by Germans with police dogs at Saint-Julien-en-Genevois. Suffering relentless torture at the hands of the Nazis, Mila divulged nothing as they sought information regarding the smuggling operations. Transferred to the prison at Fort Montluc in Lyon, she was deported, via the Royallieu transit camp at Compiègne, to Ravensbrück. From there she was sent to Mauthausen, where she was put to hard labor repairing railways destroyed by Allied bombing. On March 22, 1945, a British air raid targeted Mauthausen. Mila, on a work detail outside the camp, was killed by shrapnel. On April 29, 1950, she was posthumously awarded the _Medaille de la Résistance_ and the _Croix de Guerre_ by the French government. It is perhaps fitting that the recognition she received in Israel, many years later, saw the naming of a kindergarten and nursery in Tel Aviv in her memory.

Sacha Racine

The younger sister of Emmanuel and Mila, Sacha Racine of the MJS and EIF was an early passeur of children across the Alps to Switzerland. Operating with Maurice François Maidenberg (whom she later married), Sacha organized several convoys of children from Saint-Gervais, Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, and Annemasse. On October 21, 1943, following the arrest of her sister Mila and Roland Epstein, Sacha Racine Maidenberg ceased operations and withdrew from active rescue work. In Sacha's absence, Hélène Sax ("Friquet") and Marianne Cohn then took over from Mila.

Paul Rémond

As anti-Jewish persecution intensified throughout 1943–1944, the situation for Bishop Rémond became more hazardous given that the Gestapo was aware of his activities assisting the Marcel Network. This did not stop his efforts, and on one occasion, warned of the situation by one of his priests after a tipoff, he forged additional certificates of baptism and communion, accompanied by a handwritten letter in which he declared himself prepared to intercede with the Gestapo in person to release detained children. After the liberation Rémond received a number of honors and awards for bravery and humanitarianism in the face of the Nazi terror. These included the _Légion d'Honneur_ , the _Croix de Guerre avec Palmes_ and two gold and silver stars, and an Order of Leopold from the Belgian government. He died on April 24, 1963, in Nice, aged 79. On December 2, 1991, in one final honor, Yad Vashem in Jerusalem recognized him as one of the Righteous among the Nations.

Germaine Ribière

Following her wartime resistance work, Germaine Ribière continued helping Jews by acting as a go-between in the Finaly Affair, involving two brothers who had been the objects of a tug-of-war with the Catholic Church and their Jewish family who had relocated to Israel in 1953. Ultimately, the children were reunited with their parents. On July 18, 1967, Germaine was recognized by Yad Vashem for her humanitarian efforts during the war as one of the Righteous among the Nations. She remained in France, residing in Paris, until her death in 1999.

Odette Rosenstock-Abadi

In April 1944 Odette was denounced for her work in protecting children, and in May she was arrested by the Gestapo. Tortured during her interrogation, she refused to reveal anything about the Marcel Network. She was first deported to Auschwitz and then sent on to Bergen-Belsen, where she managed to survive until liberation in 1945. After a period of recuperation, she joined Moussa Abadi, who had managed to avoid capture during the final year of the war, in Nice. In early 1948 they returned to Paris, where they remained for the rest of their lives. Moussa and Odette married in 1959. Odette resumed her work as a doctor, taking the position of chief medical officer at the Paris Laboratory of Hygiene. In 1980 she received the _Légion d'honneur_ from the French government. On September 15, 1997, Moussa Abadi died two days short of his 87th birthday and was buried in Montparnasse Cemetery. Odette Rosenstock-Abadi committed suicide on July 29, 1999, at age 85, unwilling to go on living without her beloved husband.

Jules-Gérard Saliège

On June 9, 1944, the Gestapo arrested Archbishop Saliège for his pro-Jewish statements, though due to poor health, he was released soon after. His arrest was enough to galvanize support around him, however, and he became a further source of inspiration for French anti-Nazis. On August 7, 1945, he was awarded a _Compagnon de la Libération_ medal by the leader of the Free French forces, General Charles de Gaulle, even though he had never been a member of the organized resistance movement. As a result of his merits during the war, Pope Pius XII elevated Saliège in 1946 to the position of cardinal. Upon his appointment as cardinal, he received another honor, the _Ordre de la Libération_. Jules-Gérard Saliège died in Toulouse on November 5, 1956, at the age of 86 and was buried in Saint-Étienne Cathedral, Toulouse. On July 8, 1969, Yad Vashem recognized him as one of the Righteous among the Nations for his leadership and statements on behalf of Jews during the Holocaust.

Andrée Salomon

In 1952 Andrée Salomon became assistant general secretary of the French Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO). Later, in 1957, she became general secretary of Israel Bonds in France, serving in this role until 1970. Later that year she retired and moved with her husband and son to Israel. She kept in contact with her charges and colleagues from the war until her death in 1985. She always refused to receive any decorations or distinctions for her work during the war.

Charlotte Sorkine

On July 22, 1944, the Gestapo arrested 24 members of the AJ. Charlotte Sorkine managed to avoid this mass arrest and joined an independent liaison group, the Jewish Combat Organization (OJC). Through this she was able to take an active part in the liberation of Paris in August 1944. After the war, Charlotte learned that her mother, Pauline Sorkine, had been murdered in Auschwitz, while her brother, Leo Serge Lazare, fought with the French Resistance and was killed by the Nazis in Silesia, working as a slave laborer after having been denounced. She herself survived the war, and, after a period of readjustment to peacetime conditions, migrated to the United States. Here she met Joseph Noshpitz, a child analyst and psychiatrist; they married in Paris, and her fellow resistance members attended the wedding. Charlotte Sorkine Noshpitz died of heart failure on January 12, 2017, aged 91, at a retirement home in Washington, D.C. For her service in the French Resistance, she was awarded the _Médaille de la Résistance_ , the _Croix du Combattant Volontaire de la Resistance_ , the _Médaille des Services Volontaires Dans la France Libre_ , and the War Commemoration Medal.

Joseph Weill

Joseph Weill ("Jean Valois"), the doctor from Strasbourg who worked for the OSE as medical director, established a rescue network with Georges Loinger, Georges Garel, and others with the intention of dispersing children by placing them with friendly non-Jewish families. Because of the vulnerability caused through his activities, he had to go into hiding. In March 1943 he and his family crossed the border illegally to Switzerland at Annemasse, settling in Geneva after a period in a transit camp. After the war Weill moved to Paris, where he remained until 1947 prior to returning to Strasbourg, where he became president of the Consistory of Bas-Rhin. He retired near Besançon, on a property adjoining that of one of his sons. His wife, Irene, died in 1981, and Weill died seven years later, in 1988.
* * *

APPENDIX B

Chronology

_This chronology outlines the essential contours of some of the specific developments within the history of France, the Holocaust, and World War II. Given its subject matter, it has also sought to include some of the key dates relating to those on whom the volume is focused—the young women and men who sought to save Jewish lives during the period. It has, in addition, provided some general dates in order to enhance historical context, while at the same time offering others that might provide a lead-in for further investigation. Given the fact that the Holocaust played such a huge role in the affairs of nations and peoples, not all events, people, or places could be listed owing to the fact that to do so would, in one sense, become too unwieldy. Not only would this defeat the purpose of providing an accessible chronology, but it would also lead to many of the people, ideas, movements, and events covered in this book becoming buried in the minutiae of other incidents._

**1901**

November 10: Mireille Philip born in Paris; dies 1991, Bron, France.

**1908**

May 25: Andrée Sulzer (Salomon) born in Grussenheim, Alsace; dies August 12, 1985, Jerusalem.

**1909**

July 4: Madeleine Barot born in Châteauroux, France; dies December 28, 1995, Paris.

**1913**

April 12: Rolande Birgy born in Paris; dies April 21, 2002, Liancourt, France.

**1917**

Date Unknown: Germaine Ribière born in Limoges, France; dies November 20, 1999, Paris.

**1918**

February 27: Geneviève Pittet-Priacel born (Grenoble?); dies October 13, 1964.

**1919**

May 2: Vivette Samuel born in Paris; dies July 16, 2006, Paris.

**1921**

September 14: Mila Racine born in Moscow, Soviet Union.

**1922**

September 17: Marianne Cohn born in Mannheim, Germany.

**1923**

May 27: First group of Jewish scouts ( _Éclaireurs Israélites de France_ ) take the oath at Versailles.

**1925**

January 1: Aimée Stitelmann born in Paris; dies December 20, 2004, Geneva, Switzerland.

February 15: Charlotte Sorkine born in Paris; dies January 12, 2017, Washington, D.C.

**1938**

March 12: Germany annexes Austria in what becomes known as the _Anschluss_.

July 6–15: Delegates from 32 countries meet at the French resort of Évian-les-Bains to discuss the problem of Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria.

September 29: Neville Chamberlain (Britain), Edouard Daladier (France), Adolf Hitler (Germany), and Benito Mussolini (Italy) sign the Munich Agreement, allowing Germany's annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland region.

November 7: Ernst vom Rath, a German diplomat in Paris, is shot and mortally wounded by a 17-year-old Polish Jewish youth, Herschel Grynszpan.

November 9–10: _Kristallnacht_ pogrom throughout Germany.

December 6: France and Germany sign a treaty of friendship.

December 17: Italy declares the 1935 pact with France invalid.

**1939**

January 27: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt approves the sale of U.S. warplanes to France.

February 6: Spanish government flees to France.

March 31: Britain and France agree to support Poland if Germany threatens to invade.

August 25: Britain and France sign a treaty with Poland promising military assistance should the Germans invade.

September 1: Germany invades Poland.

September 3: Britain and France declare war on Germany.

September 7: France invades Germany near Saarrucken. This is the only French offensive of the war.

**1940**

April 15: French and British troops land at Narvik, Norway.

May 10: Germany invades France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

May 12: The Nazi blitz conquest of France begins with the crossing at the Meuse River.

May 14: British and French forces begin a general retreat from Belgium, heading southwest toward France.

May 14: Germany breaks through at Sedan, France.

May 15: German panzer divisions move into northern France.

May 17: Germany occupies Brussels.

May 25: German troops conquer Boulogne and capture Calais.

May 27–June 4: Operation DYNAMO, the evacuation of Dunkirk, is carried out; over 330,000 French and British soldiers are evacuated from the beach by boats of all types. Some 40,000 soldiers (mostly French) are killed or captured.

May 29: Germans capture Ostend and Ypres in Belgium and Lille in France.

June 3: German Luftwaffe hits Paris with 1,100 bombs.

June 4: German forces enter Paris.

June 10: Italy declares war on France and Britain.

June 14: Paris is occupied.

June 15: The French fortress of Verdun captured by Germans.

June 16: Philippe Pétain becomes leader of France and asks for an armistice with Germany.

June 16–24: Operation ARIEL and Operation CYCLE; more than 150,000 Allied soldiers are evacuated from the ports of Cherbourg, St. Malo, Brest, St. Nazaire, La Pallice, Nantes, and Le Havre.

June 17: France asks Germany for terms of surrender in World War II. Marshal Henri Pétain replaces Paul Reynaud, who chooses to resign as prime minister.

June 17: General Charles de Gaulle flies to London.

June 18: De Gaulle broadcasts from London, urging France to rally to him and fight the German invasion.

June 22: France signs an armistice with Germany at Compiègne, on terms dictated by the Nazis. Alsace becomes part of Germany.

June 24: France signs an armistice with Italy.

June 25: The German advance is halted. France is divided into two regions, the "Free" (or Unoccupied) Zone under Pétain and the Occupied Zone covering northern France and the Atlantic coast.

June 25: Adolf Hitler tours Paris.

July 3: British Royal Navy attacks and sinks the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir, near Oran, to avoid the possibility of it being used for offensive purposes against Britain by the Germans.

July 10: The French government hands over all powers to Pétain, signaling the end of the Third Republic.

August 7: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill recognizes the government in exile of Charles de Gaulle.

October 3: _Statut des Juifs_ promulgated, expelling Jews from civil, commercial, or industrial functions and all public positions.

October 4: The law concerning "Jewish foreigners" is proclaimed, authorizing the immediate internment of foreign-born Jews who are not citizens.

**1941**

February 26: Vichy France makes religious education in school mandatory.

March 29: Creation of the _Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives_ (Commissariat-General for Jewish Affairs, or CGQJ) is directed by Xavier Vallat.

April 1: Nazis forbid Jews access to Paris cafés.

April 14: First major German raid in Paris rounds up 3,600 Jews.

May 14: 3,600 Parisian Jews are arrested.

July 21: France accepts Japan's demand for military control of Indochina.

August 20: Police raid the 11th district of Paris and arrest 4,000 Jewish males.

October 2–3: Gestapo blow up six Paris synagogues.

November 29: Creation of the _Union Générale des Israélites de France_ (General Union of French Jews, or UGIF).

December 12: Germans conduct house-to-house searches in Paris, looking for Jews.

**1942**

January 10: Armée Juive (Jewish Army, or AJ) is established in Paris.

January 20: Wannsee Conference held in Berlin.

February 27: First transport of French Jews deported to Germany.

March 11: First deportation train leaves Paris for Auschwitz.

May 7: _Service du travail obligatoire_ ("Obligatory Work Service") begins; Germany demands that France provide 250,000 volunteers before the end of July; Carl Oberg arrives in Paris as the personal representative of _Reichsführer-SS_ Heinrich Himmler.

June 1: Jews in Paris forced to wear the yellow star to distinguish them as Jews.

July 16: Large-scale roundups of Jews begin; French police round up some 13,000 Jews over two days in Paris, many of whom are held at the Winter Velodrome ( _Vel' d'Hiv_ ).

August 26: 7,000 Jews are rounded up in Vichy France.

August 27–28: The "Night of Venessueix," in which exemptions were made for Jewish children.

September 20: Over 1,000 French and foreign Jews, including 163 children, are sent from Vichy to Drancy, north of Paris, and then to Auschwitz.

October 8: Vivette Hermann marries Julien Samuel.

November 8: Allied forces invade French North Africa in Operation TORCH; Vichy France ceases diplomatic relations with United States.

November 11: 745 French Jews are deported to Auschwitz.

November 27: Vichy orders the French fleet to be scuttled at the naval base in Toulon.

**1943**

January 5: La Sixième ("the Sixth") is created by Robert Gamzon and others.

January 14: Roosevelt, Churchill, and de Gaulle meet at Casablanca to discuss the direction of the war.

January 14: Italian occupation authorities refuse to deport any Jews living on their territories in France.

April: Smuggling of children into Switzerland by OSE begins.

August 6: 500,000 more workers are demanded by the Germans.

August 26: United States recognizes the French Committee of National Liberation.

October 21: Mila Racine and Roland Epstein are arrested at Sainte-Julien-en-Genevois.

**1944**

March 27: 1,000 Jews leave Drancy for Auschwitz.

April 6: Izieu-Ain children's home, central France: German trucks assault the safe house of Sabina Zlatin, and 44 children and 7 teachers are arrested.

April 13: Transport No. 71 departs with French Jews to Nazi Germany.

May 31: Marianne Cohn is arrested near Annemasse.

June 6: D-Day landings: Operation OVERLORD begins with Allied landings on beaches in Normandy.

June 10: Massacre at Oradour-sur-Glane by Waffen-SS Panzer division Das Reich: 642 men, women, and children are murdered, with only 6 people escaping.

June 26: Cherbourg is liberated by American troops.

July 7–8: Marianne Cohn murdered by Nazis at Ville-la-Grand, Haute-Savoie.

July 9: Caen is liberated by the Allies.

July 12: U.S. government recognizes the authority of General De Gaulle.

July 25: Allied forces begin the breakthrough of German lines in Normandy.

August 18: Children entrusted to Marianne Cohn are taken across the border to freedom in Geneva; liberation of Annemasse; Marianne Cohn's body found by Emmanuel Racine and Jean Deffaugt; liberation of Paris begins (ends August 25, 1944).

August 19: To prevent a communist uprising in Paris, Charles de Gaulle orders an attack on German forces around the city.

August 20: De Gaulle returns to France.

August 22: Last transport of French Jews deported to Germany.

August 23: Allied forces capture Marseille.

August 24: Allied forces capture Bordeaux.

August 25: Paris is liberated by Free French forces under General Jacques Le Clerc and his second tank division.

September 12: Dijon is liberated.

September 19: Nancy is liberated by U.S. First Army.

September 26: Funeral of Marianne Cohn in Grenoble.

September 30: German garrison in Calais surrenders to Canadian troops.

November 24: Strasbourg liberated by French troops.

**1945**

January 1: France admitted to the United Nations.

March 30: Mila Racine dies in an air raid at Mauthausen concentration camp, Austria.

April 26: Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain, the head of France's Vichy government during World War II, is arrested.

May 7: Germany signs unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Rheims, France, to take effect the following day, ending the European conflict of World War II.

May 8: Germany surrenders, and victory in Europe is achieved by the Allies.
* * *

Notes

* * *

**Introduction**

 1. This section is based on an extensive interview undertaken by Michel and Paula Huguenin with Hugo Steinberg, March 4, 2017, with additional notes by Paul R. Bartrop.

* * *

**Chapter 1. France, the Jews, and the War**

 1. Vivette Samuel, _Rescuing the Children: A Holocaust Memoir_ (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2002), 5–7.

 2. Paula E. Hyman, _The Jews of Modern France_ (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998), 133.

 3. Esther Benbassa, _The Jews of France: A History from Antiquity to the Present_ (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999), 126.

 4. See Arthur Hertzberg, _The French Enlightenment and the Jews: The Origins of Modern Anti-Semitism_ (New York: Schocken Books, 1970); for a broader treatment, see also Maurice Samuels, _The Right to Difference: French Universalism and the Jews_ (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016).

 5. Still the best account of this relationship in English is Franz Kobler, _Napoleon and the Jews_ (New York: Schocken Books, 1976).

 6. An excellent treatment of the intellectual and cultural dimensions of this history can be found in Michael Graetz, _The Jews in Nineteenth Century France: From the French Revolution to the Alliance Israélite Universelle_ (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1996).

 7. Scholarly treatment of _L'Affaire Dreyfus_ has been enormous over the course of the last century, and this is not the place to rehearse the huge bibliography now existing. A good recent treatment, however, is Ruth Harris, _The Man on Devil's Island: Alfred Dreyfus and the Affair That Divided France_ (London: Allen Lane, 2010). To underscore the relevance of the Affair, in 2009 a short book by Louis Begley appeared, attempting to demonstrate its significance for the new generation. See Louis Begley, _Why the Dreyfus Affair Matters_ (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009).

 8. Samuel, _Rescuing the Children_ , 5.

 9. Paul R. Bartrop, _Resisting the Holocaust: Upstanders, Partisans, and Survivors_ (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2016), 270.

. Marika Goldfayl, "The Orphanage," in _Memory Guide My Hand: An Anthology of Autobiographical Writing by Members of the Melbourne Jewish Community_ , vol. 3 (Caulfield South [Victoria]: Makor Jewish Community Library, 2004), 113.

. Benbassa, _Jews of France_ , 134.

. Benjamin F. Martin, _France and the Aprés Guerre, 1918–1924: Illusions and Disillusionment_ (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1999), 17.

. Anthony Clayton, _Paths of Glory: The French Army, 1914–18_ (London: Cassell, 2003), 222.

. Helen McPhail, _The Long Silence: Civilian Life under the German Occupation of France, 1914–1918_ (London: I.B. Tauris, 1999), 225.

. Martin, _France and the Aprés Guerre_ , 19.

. On the early years of radical right agitation in France, see Robert Soucy, _French Fascism: The First Wave, 1924–1933_ (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1986).

. An excellent recent biography of Léon Blum is to be found in Pierre Birnbaum, _Léon Blum: Prime Minister, Socialist, Zionist_ (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2015). See also Joel Colton, _Léon Blum: Humanist in Politics_ (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1987). On the Popular Front, see Julian T. Jackson, _The Popular Front in France: Defending Democracy, 1934–38_ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988).

. Probably the most comprehensive account of _Action Française_ in English is Eugen Weber, _Action Française: Royalism and Reaction in Twentieth Century France_ (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1962). A much-praised comparative account of France, Italy, and Germany, written at the height of the Cold War, is Ernst Nolte, _Three Faces of Fascism: Action Française, Italian Fascism, National Socialism_ (New York: Henry Holt, 1966).

. Robert Soucy, _French Fascism: The Second Wave, 1933–1939_ (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1995). An excellent focused study, also by Robert Soucy, is _Fascist Intellectual: Drieu La Rochelle_ (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979). For a good general overview, see the essays in Samuel Kalman and Sean Kennedy, eds., _The French Right between the Wars: Political and Intellectual Movements from Conservatism to Fascism_ (New York: Berghahn, 2014).

. Benbassa, _Jews of France_ , 154.

. Samuel, _Rescuing the Children_ , 9.

. Ibid.

. Hyman, _Jews of Modern France_ , 152–153.

. Barnet Litvinoff, ed., _The Letters and Papers of Chaim Weizmann, Series B, Papers, vol. II, December 1931–April 1952_ (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction, 1984), 102.

. For an overview of the German-Jewish military contribution, see Tim Grady, _The German-Jewish Soldiers of the First World War in History and Memory_ (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2011).

. John V. H. Dippel, _Bound upon a Wheel of Fire: Why So Many German Jews Made the Tragic Decision to Remain in Nazi Germany_ (New York: Basic Books, 1996), xx.

. See Mary Antonia Wathen, _The Policy of England and France towards the "Anschluss" of 1938_ (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1954); and Martin Thomas, _Britain, France and Appeasement: Anglo-French Relations in the Popular Front Era_ (London: Bloomsbury, 1997).

. See Paul R. Bartrop, _The Evian Conference of 1938 and the Jewish Refugee Crisis_ (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017).

. Vicki Caron, _Uneasy Asylum: France and the Jewish Refugee Crisis, 1933–1942_ (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1999), 182–183.

. Ibid., 183.

. _Proceedings of the Intergovernmental Committee, Evian, July 6th to 15th, 1938: Verbatim Record of the Plenary Meetings of the Committee, Resolutions, and Reports_ , 15.

. Ibid. In her analysis of French refugee policy, Vicki Caron does not deal in any depth with Bérenger or the Évian Conference, but she does place his address into a valuable context through her account of internal departmental discussions prior to July 6. See Caron, _Uneasy Asylum_ , 183–185.

. Timothy P. Maga, "Closing the Door: The French Government and Refugee Policy, 1933–1939," _French Historical Studies_ 12, no. 3 (Spring 1982): 424–442.

. See, for example, Clifford Rosenberg, _Policing Paris: The Origins of Modern Immigration Control between the Wars_ (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2006); and Mary Dewhurst Lewis, _The Boundaries of the Republic: Migrant Rights and the Limits of Universalism in France, 1918–1940_ (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2007).

. Samuel, _Rescuing the Children_ , 10.

. The literature on appeasement is lengthy, with a great deal of focus on Britain taking the lead and France following. A well-balanced study, however, showing a solid command of French archival sources, is found in Martin Thomas, _Britain, France and Appeasement: Anglo-French Relations in the Popular Front Era_ (London: Bloomsbury, 1997). Unfortunately, it only goes as far as 1938. A work that extends coverage through to the outbreak of war in September 1939 is Daniel Hucker, _Public Opinion and the End of Appeasement in Britain and France_ (London: Routledge, 2016).

. Samuel, _Rescuing the Children_ , 10.

. Alistair Horne, _To Lose a Battle: France 1940_ (Harmondsworth [Middlesex]: Penguin Books, 1979), 126.

. Ibid.

. Samuel, _Rescuing the Children_ , 14.

. William L. Shirer, _The Collapse of the Third Republic: An Inquiry into the Fall of France in 1940_ (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1960), 24.

. See Emanuele Sica, _Mussolini's Army in the French Riviera: Italy's Occupation of France_ (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2016).

. Samuel, _Rescuing the Children_ , 16.

. Benbassa, _Jews of France_ , 166.

. Hyman, _Jews of Modern France_ , 161.

. Philippe Burrin, _France under the Germans: Collaboration and Compromise_ (New York: The New Press, 1996), 11–12.

. Probably the best account in English focusing on the nature of _Pétainiste_ France is Robert O. Paxton, _Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order, 1940–1944_ (New York: Columbia University Press, 1972).

. Joseph Bamat, "Document 'Proves' Vichy France Leader Was an Anti-Semite," _France 24_ , October 10, 2004, www.france24.com/en/20101004-vichy-leader-petain-anti-semite-france-nazis-war-germany-jews.

. A thorough survey and analysis of these and other laws can be found in Richard H. Weisberg, _Vichy Law and the Holocaust in France_ (New York: New York University Press, 1996).

. Samuel, _Rescuing the Children_ , 20–21.

. Ibid., 28.

. Ibid.

* * *

**Chapter 2. The "Free Zone": The Nazis Take Over**

 1. Shannon L. Fogg, _The Politics of Everyday Life in Vichy France: Foreigners, Undesirables, and Strangers_ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 13.

 2. Vivette Samuel, _Rescuing the Children: A Holocaust Memoir_. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2002), 28–29.

 3. On Andrée Salomon, see especially Katy Hazan and Georges Weill, _Andrée Salomon, une femme du lumière_ (Paris: Le Manuscrit, 2011); on the OSE, see Sabine Zeitoun, _L'Œuvre de secours aux enfants (O.S.E.) sous l'occupation en France: Du legalism à la résistance 1940–1944_ (Paris: Éditions L'Harmattan, 2000).

 4. Georges Garel with Katy Hazan, _Le sauvetage des enfants juifs par l'OSE_ (Paris: Le Manuscrit, 2012).

 5. Georges Loinger and Katy Hazan, _Aux frontières de l'espoir_ (Paris: Le Manuscrit, 2006).

 6. Ian Ousby, _Occupation: The Ordeal of France, 1940–1944_ (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997), 98.

 7. On the Wannsee Conference, see Mark Roseman, _The Villa, the Lake, and the Meeting_ (London: Allen Lane the Penguin Press, 2002).

 8. On Dannecker and Knochen and the nature of their relationship, see Wolfgang Seibel, _Persecution and Resistance: The Politics of the "Final Solution" in France, 1940–1944_ (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2016).

 9. A very good short account of the creation on the UGIF can be found in Susan Zuccotti, _The Holocaust, the French, and the Jews_ (New York: Basic Books, 1993), 63–64; for an assessment of Vallat's association with the UGIF, see Michael R. Marrus and Robert O. Paxton, _Vichy France and the Jews_ (New York: Basic Books, 1981).

. A number of useful studies have been produced on the _Vel' d'Hiv_ roundup. See, for example, Claude Lévy and Paul Tillard, _Betrayal at the Vel d'Hiv_ (New York: Hill and Wang, 1969); and Maurice Rajsfus, _The Vél d'Hiv Raid: The French Police at the Service of the Gestapo_ (Los Angeles: DoppelHouse Press, 2017).

. Michael Curtis, _Verdict on Vichy: Power and Prejudice in the Vichy France Regime_ (New York: Arcade Publishing, 2002), 202.

. A number of studies of Operation TORCH have been made, in some instances emphasizing its controversial nature as a campaign in which the U.S. troops were deployed into combat too early. Some of these, unfortunately, tend to overstate their argument. One excellent work worth consulting, however, is Rick Atkinson, _An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942–1943_ (New York: Henry Holt, 2002).

. There are surprisingly few studies on the events at Toulon, codenamed Operation LILA. For a solid summary, see Paul Auphan and Jacques Mordal, _The French Navy in World War II_ (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2016), chapter 22 ("Tragedy at Toulon and Bizerte").

. An excellent article on Charlotte Sorkine Noshpitz, based on an extensive interview, can be found in Myra Sklarew, "True History of an Unknown Hero of the French Jewish Resistance," _Forward_ , June 11, 2013, <https://forward.com/culture/178027/true-history-of-an-unknown-hero-of-the-french-jewi/>.

. Catherine Richet, _Organisation juive de combat. France 1940–1945_ (Paris: Éditions Autrement, 2006), 45.

. Additional notes on Charlotte Sorkine and Maurice Loebenberg can be found in the archives of the _Mémorial de la Shoah_ , DLXI-35, "Témoignage de Monsieur Nathanel T. Garyn, dit Tony Gryn."

. Zuccotti, _Holocaust, the French, and the Jews_ , 274.

. Anny Latour, _The Jewish Resistance in France (1940–1944)_ (New York: Holocaust Library, 1981), 94–106.

. Ibid., 107.

. Ibid.

. Lucien Lazare refers simply to "a woman" who undertook this perilous work, but in view of the time-and-place circumstances, it is possible that this could—on some occasions, at least—have been Charlotte Sorkine. See Lucien Lazare, _Rescue as Resistance: How Jewish Organizations Fought the Holocaust in France_ (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996), 286.

. Ibid., 288.

. See, for example, Edward Stourton, _Cruel Crossing: Escaping Hitler across the Pyrenees_ (London: Black Swan, 2014).

. Lazare, _Rescue as Resistance_ , 288–289.

. Renée Poznanski, "Was the French Resistance Jewish?" _Tablet_ , May 3, 2016, <http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/books/201308/was-the-french-resistance-jewish>. For more extensive figures combining the numbers of the SER and the SERE, see Renée Poznanski, _Jews in France during World War II_ (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England/Brandeis University Press, 2001), 457.

. Lazare, _Rescue as Resistance_ , 289.

* * *

**Chapter 3. The Italian Interlude: Shades of Benevolence**

 1. Claudine Vegh, _I Didn't Say Goodbye_ (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1984), 20–21.

 2. A useful history of the short Franco-Italian War of 1940 can be found in Henri Azeau, _La guerre franco-italienne: Juin 1940_ (Paris: Presses de la Cité, 1967). The political and diplomatic dimensions of Mussolini's overall campaign can be found in MacGregor Knox, _Mussolini Unleashed, 1939–1941: Politics and Strategy in Fascist Italy's Last War_ (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1982).

 3. See especially Meir Michaelis, _Mussolini and the Jews: German-Italian Relations and the Jewish Question in Italy, 1922–1945_ (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978), chapter V; Michele Sarfatti, "Characteristics and Objectives of the Anti-Jewish Racial Laws in Fascist Italy, 1938-1943," in Joshua D. Zimmerman, ed., _Jews in Italy under Fascist and Nazi Rule, 1922–1945_ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 71–80; and Michele Sarfatti, _The Jews in Mussolini's Italy: From Equality to Persecution_ (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2006), chapter 4.

 4. Daniel Carpi, _Between Hitler and Mussolini: The Jews and the Italian Authorities in France and Tunisia_ (Hanover, NH: Brandeis University Press/University Press of New England, 1994), 71.

 5. Ibid.

 6. Jonathan Steinberg, _All or Nothing: The Axis and the Holocaust, 1941–43_ (London: Routledge, 1990), 50–52.

 7. For an excellent short coverage of the position in Croatia, see Jacques Sabille, "Attitude of the Italians to the Persecuted Jews in Croatia," in Leon Poliakov and Jacques Sabille, eds., _Jews under the Italian Occupation_ (New York: Howard Fertig, 1983), 129–150.

 8. Steinberg, _All or Nothing_ , 84.

 9. Menachem Shelah, "The Italian Rescue of Yugoslav Jews, 1941–1943," in Ivo Herzer, ed., _The Italian Refuge: Rescue of Jews during the Holocaust_ (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University Press of America, 1989), 205–217.

. Carpi, _Between Hitler and Mussolini_ , 72.

. Ibid.

. Ibid., 82.

. Emanuele Sica, _Mussolini's Army in the French Riviera: Italy's Occupation of France_ (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2016), 165.

. Miranda Pollard, "Grammatical Notes: Surviving, and Memories of Jewish Life in Nice, 1939–43," in Hannah Diamond and Simon Kitson, eds., _Vichy,Resistance, Liberation: New Perspectives on Wartime France_ (Oxford: Berg, 2005), 96.

. Sica, _Mussolini's Army_ , 166.

. An excellent recently discovered picture of Nice during the war can be found in George G. Kundahl, _The Riviera at War: World War II on the Côte d'Azur_ (London: I.B. Tauris, 2017).

. Françoise Frenkel, _No Place to Lay One's Head_ (London: Pushkin Press, 2017), 170–171.

. Wolfgang Seibel, _Persecution and Rescue: The Politics of the "Final Solution" in France, 1940–1944_ (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2016), chapter 9.

. Ibid., 211.

. Ibid., 197.

. Ibid.

. See Kundahl, _Riviera at War_ , chapter 5.

. For biographical details of Angelo Donati, see Susan Zuccotti, _The Italians and the Holocaust: Persecution, Rescue, Survival_ (New York: Basic Books, 1987), 87–88.

. Ibid., 86. An important study by Simon Levis Sullam has recently argued that Italian complicity in the Holocaust was much more extensive than hitherto accepted. See his _The Italian Executioners: The Genocide of the Jews of Italy_ (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2018).

. Michaelis, _Mussolini and the Jews_ , 343. A lengthy statement from Donati containing this quote and outlining his take on the whole episode can be found in Poliakov and Sabille, _Jews under the Italian Occupation_ , 40–42.

. On Père Marie-Benoît, see Susan Zuccotti, _Père Marie-Benoît and Jewish Rescue: How a French Priest Together with Jewish Friends Saved Thousands during the Holocaust_ (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2013).

. While the record of Moussa and Odette Abadi and the Marcel Network can be found in many sources, the definitive study is Fred Coleman, _The Marcel Network: How One French Couple Saved 527 Children from the Holocaust_ (Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, 2013).

. Odette would leave a memoir regarding her later incarceration in Nazi concentration camps. See Odette Abadi, _Terre de Détrasse: Birkenau, Bergen-Belsen_ (Paris: Harmattan, 1995).

. Mordecai Paldiel, _Saving One's Own: Jewish Rescuers during the Holocaust_ (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2017), 233–234.

. Ibid., 234–236.

. Ibid., 217–218. A useful short summary of the MJS can be found here.

. A complete account of Mila Racine's life and exploits is to be found in Nancy Lefenfeld, _The Fate of Others: Rescuing Jewish Children on the French-Swiss Border_ (Clarksville, MD: Timbrel Press, 2013).

. Anny Latour, _The Jewish Resistance in France (1940–1944)_ (New York: Holocaust Library, 1981), 161.

. Some accounts assert that the transfer did not take place and she was killed at Ravensbrück. See, for example, Paldiel, _Saving One's Own_ , 261; and Latour, _Jewish Resistance in France_ , 162. On the other hand, Lefenfeld's _Fate of Others_ , 193–198, would appear to be the authoritative text locating Mila's death at Mauthausen.

. Peter Hayes, _Why? Explaining the Holocaust_ (New York: Norton, 2017), 114.

. Ibid.

. Ibid.

* * *

**Chapter 4. An Inclusive Unity: Jews and Christians Link Arms**

 1. Douglas Boyd, _Voices from the Dark Years: The Truth about Occupied France, 1940–1945_ (Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing, 2007), 167.

 2. Renée Poznanski, _Jews in France during World War II_ (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England/Brandeis University Press, 2001), 396.

 3. Vivette Samuel, _Rescuing the Children: A Holocaust Memoir_ (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2002), 83.

 4. An excellent account of the rescue at Vénissieux can be found in Susan Zuccotti, _The Holocaust, the French, and the Jews_ (New York: Basic Books, 1993), 130–132.

 5. Samuel, _Rescuing the Children_ , 84.

 6. Ibid.

 7. The best account of Georges Garel's life and work can be found in Georges Garel with Katy Hazan, _Le sauvetage des enfants juifs par l'OSE_ (Paris: Le Manuscrit, 2012). Another memoir can also be found in the archives of the _Mémorial de la Shoah_ , CC XVIII-104, "Le travail clandestin de l'O.S.E," témoignage de G. Garel devant le Centre de documentation sur la persécution nazie, Nice, 1946.

 8. Samuel, _Rescuing the Children_ , 84.

 9. For details of the life of Georges Loinger, see Georges Loinger and Katy Hazan, _Aux frontières de l'espoir_ (Paris: Le Manuscrit, 2006); and Georges Loinger, _L'odyssée d'un resistant: Témoignage d'un centenaire, enfrant d'Alsace_ (Nice: Les Éditions Ovadia, 2016).

. Lucien Lazare, _Rescue as Resistance: How Jewish Organizations Fought the Holocaust in France_ (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996), 268.

. Ibid., 196.

. Comprehensive treatments of the EIF can be found in Daniel Lee, _Pétain's Jewish Children: French Jewish Youth and the Vichy Regime, 1940–1942_ (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014); and Alain Michel, _Les Éclaireurs Israélites de France pendant le Seconde Guerre Mondiale: Action et evolution_ (Paris: Édition des EIF, 1984). See also Lazare, _Rescue as Resistance_ , passim.

. An extensive treatment of the Sixiéme, with some excellent first-person recollections, is to be found in Anny Latour, _The Jewish Resistance in France (1940–1944)_ (New York: Holocaust Library, 1981), 27–86.

. George Loinger with Sabine Zeitoun, _Les Résistances Juives Pendant l'occupation_ (Paris: Albin Michel, 2010), 96–97. This excellent reference volume contains much useful information about a wide range of features relating to the Jewish resistance in France during World War II.

. Paula E. Hyman, _The Jews of Modern France_ (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998), 178.

. Ibid., 178–179.

. Latour, _Jewish Resistance in France_ , 73.

. She is referring here to Latour's figure (Ibid., 88).

. Hyman, _Jews of Modern France_ , 179. Latour identifies that 4 were shot outright, and 26 were arrested by the Gestapo and Vichy police. As she writes, "Young men and women, eighteen to twenty years old, at the threshold of their adult lives, were martyred, tortured, sent to Drancy, and then deported to the camps." See Latour, _Jewish Resistance in France_ , 73.

. Hyman, _Jews of Modern France_ , 179.

. Zuccotti, _Holocaust, the French, and the Jews_ , 74.

. A useful short introduction to both Amitié Chretiénne and Germaine Ribière is to be found in Mémorial de la Shoah, _Les Justes de France_ (Paris: Mémorial de la Shoah, 2007), 33–35. On Germaine specifically, see Israel Gutman (editor-in-chief), _The Encyclopedia of the Righteous among the Nations: Rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust: France_ (Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2003), 467.

. The most comprehensive account of the life and work of Abbé Alexandre Glasberg is Lucien Lazare, _L'abbé Glasberg_ (Paris: Éditions Cerf, 1990). Both Abbé Glasberg and his brother Vila Glasberg were recognized as Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem on June 17, 2003.

. A good short account of the work of Rolande Birgy is to be found in Mordecai Paldiel, _The Path of the Righteous: Gentile Rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust_ (Hoboken, NJ: KTAV, 1993), 47. On May 27, 1983, she was recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous among the Nations; her citation is in Gutman, _Encyclopedia_ , 47.

. Latour, _Jewish Resistance in France_ , 156, n. 6.

. Ibid.

. Gutman, _Encyclopedia_ , 57. See also André Jacques, "Barot, Madeleine," in Nicholas Lossky et al., eds., _Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement_ (Geneva: WCC Publications, 2002), 99–100. On March 28, 1988, Yad Vashem recognized Madeleine Barot as one of the Righteous among the Nations for her work in protecting Jews and saving Jewish lives.

. For Mireille Philip, see Gutman, _Encyclopedia_ , 439; for Piton, see Gutman, _Encyclopedia_ , 446. Mireille Philip was recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous among the Nations on March 18, 1976; Pierre Piton was recognized similarly on May 16, 1989.

. For a full description of CIMADE's role in the internment camps during World War II, see Dzovinar Kévonian, Genevieve Dreyfus-Armand, Marie-Claude Blanc-Chaléard, and Marianne Amar, eds., _La Cimade et l'accueil des réfugiés_ (Nanterre: Presses universitaires de Paris Nanterre, 2013), 65–81.

. Mémorial de la Shoah, _Les Justes de France_ , 61. Geneviève Pittet-Priacel was recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous among the Nations on December 30, 1993; her citation is in Gutman, _Encyclopedia_ , 446.

* * *

**Chapter 5. Entr'acte: Rescue on the Border**

 1. Alexander Rotenberg, _Emissaries: A Memoir of the Riviera, Haute-Savoie, Switzerland, and World War II_ (Secaucus, NJ: Citadel Press, 1987), 132–139. Louis and Franceline Pache continued their work on behalf of Jews, and on March 25, 1979, they were recognized by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem as Righteous among the Nations for their efforts.

 2. Moriz Scheyer, _Asylum_ (London: Profile Books, 2016), 76.

 3. Ibid.

 4. Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland—Second World War, _Switzerland, National Socialism and the Second World War: Final Report_ (Zürich: Pendo Verlag, 2002), 152.

 5. On Swiss defense policy during World War II, see, for example, Georges-Andre Chevallaz, _The Challenge of Neutrality: Diplomacy and the Defense of Switzerland_ (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2002). See also n. 7 below.

 6. Jonathan Steinberg, _Why Switzerland?_ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976), 47.

 7. A useful introductory essay can be found in Rudolf Jaun, "The Military National Defence, 1939–1945," in Georg Kreis, ed., _Switzerland and the Second World War_ (London: Routledge, 2014), 194–211. See also Hans Senn, "Defending Switzerland: The Impact of Armed Neutrality in World War II," in Leo Schelbert, ed., _Switzerland under Siege, 1939–1945: A Neutral Nation's Struggle for Survival_ (Rockport, ME: Picton Press, 2000), 3–18. Germany's plans for Switzerland are discussed in Klaus Urner, _"Let's Swallow Switzerland": Hitler's Plans against the Swiss Confederation_ (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2002).

 8. Yad Vashem Archive, Jerusalem, M. 63/20.

 9. Alfred A. Häsler, _The Lifeboat Is Full: Switzerland and the Refugees, 1933–1945_ (New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1969), 8.

. Ibid., 9. Throughout his book Häsler provides detailed evidence of Rothmund's antisemitism, quoting Rothmund in lengthy passages from official memoranda and speeches.

. On the question of Rothmund's antisemitism, see Heinz Roschewski, "Heinrich Rothmund in Seinen Persönlichen Akten. Zur Frage des Antisemitismus in der Schweizerischen Flüchtlingspolitik 1933–1945," _Studien und Quellen_ (Bern), no. 22 (1996): 107–136.

. Independent Commission, _Switzerland_ , 152.

. See Independent Commission, _Switzerland_ , 116–118. An excellent general essay examining Swiss refugee policy is Georg Kreis, "Swiss Refugee Policy, 1933–45," in Kreis, ed., _Switzerland and the Second World War_ , 103–131. See also Häsler, _The Lifeboat Is Full_ , passim. Here, in what must be considered a definitive compendium of statements, memoirs, and documents woven into a continuous narrative, Häsler provides an unrelieved record of what he considers to be Switzerland's anti-refugee position throughout the period of the Third Reich.

. Mordecai Paldiel, _Saving the Jews: Amazing Stories of Men and Women Who Defied the "Final Solution"_ (Rockville, MD: Schreiber Publishing, 2000), 146.

. Paul R. Bartrop, _Resisting the Holocaust: Upstanders, Partisans, and Survivors_ (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2016), 93.

. For a good account of the trials and tribulations of Paul Grüninger, see Eyal Press, _Beautiful Souls: Saying No, Breaking Ranks, and Heeding the Voice of Conscience in Dark Times_ (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012), 15–23.

. Hella Amelkin (née Luft) to Paul Bartrop, private communication, September 30, 2016.

. Stefan Keller, "Nur die Erwischten Sind Bekannt," _Die Wochenzeitung_ , no. 35 (September 9, 2005), <https://static.woz.ch/0535/fluchthilfe/nur-die-erwischten-sind-bekannt>.

. Ibid.

. Within the context of Nazi antisemitism, the notion of Jewish innate criminal status is explored in Michael Berkowitz, _The Crime of My Very Existence: Nazism and the Myth of Jewish Criminality_ (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007).

* * *

**Chapter 6. Annemasse: The Limits of Courage**

 1. A comprehensive and richly illustrated account of Annemasse during World War II can be found in Robert Amoudruz and Guy Gavard, with Monique Bosson, _Annemasse: La Frontière et Genéve, 1939–1945: Une histoire singulière_ (Montmélian: Les Savoisiennes/La Fontaine de Siloé, 2015).

 2. See Henry Mottu, "La 'Resistance spirituelle' en Haute-Savoie Durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale," _Le Temps_ , May 15, 2014, <https://www.letemps.ch/opinions/resistance-spirituelle-hautesavoie-durant-seconde-guerre-mondiale>.

 3. On Le Chambon and the activities of Pastor André Trocmé, see especially Peter Grose, _A Good Place to Hide: How One French Village Saved Thousands of Lives during World War II_ (New York: Pegasus, 2015); Caroline Moorehead, _Village of Secrets: Defying the Nazis in Vichy France_ (New York: HarperCollins, 2014); and Philip Hallie, _Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed: The Story of the Village of Le Chambon and How Goodness Happened There_ (New York: Harper, 1985).

 4. General biographical details for Marianne Cohn can be found in Magali Ktorza, "Marianne Cohn: 'Je trahirai demain pas aujourd'hui,'" _Revue d'Histoire de la Shoah: Le Monde Juif_ , no. 161 (September–October 1997): 96–111.

 5. Anny Latour, _The Jewish Resistance in France (1940–1944)_ (New York: Holocaust Library, 1981), 164.

 6. Ibid., 161; also, a definitive life of Mila Racine is to be found in Nancy Lefenfeld, _The Fate of Others: Rescuing Jewish Children on the French-Swiss Border_ (Clarksville, MD: Timbrel Press, 2013).

 7. Archives Départmentales de la Haute-Savoie (Annecy), file 162J47.

 8. Ruth Fivaz-Silbermann (Geneva), "Marianne Cohn et son action résistante," <http://www.ac-grenoble.fr/ecole/74/elementaire-cohn.annemasse/IMG/pdf/marianne_cohn_et_son_action.pdf>.

 9. Archives Départmentales de la Haute-Savoie (Annecy), file 162J47.

. Ktorza, "Marianne Cohn," 103.

. Archives de Mémorial de la Shoah (Paris), doc. CMXXIII-1.

. Archives Départmentales de la Haute-Savoie (Annecy), file 162J47.

. Ktorza, "Marianne Cohn," 104.

. Jean-Claude Croquet, _Chemins de Passage: Les passages clandestins entre la Haute-Savoie et la Suisse de 1940 à 1944_ (Saint-Julien-en Genevois: La Salvienne, 1996), 71–79.

. Israel Gutman (editor-in-chief), _The Encyclopedia of the Righteous among the Nations: Rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust: France_ (Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2003), 184.

. Ibid.

. Archives de Mémorial de la Shoah (Paris), doc. DLXI-21-001 (henceforth Testimony of Jean Deffaugt).

. Latour, _Jewish Resistance in France_ , 162.

. Testimony of Jean Deffaugt.

. Gutman, _Encyclopedia_ , 184.

. Testimony of Jean Deffaugt.

. Latour, _Jewish Resistance in France_ , 162–163.

. Gutman, _Encyclopedia_ , 184.

. Testimony of Jean Deffaugt.

. Ibid.

. Fivaz-Silbermann, "Marianne Cohn et son action résistante."

. Moorehead, _Village of Secrets_ , 298.

. Mordecai Paldiel, _Saving One's Own: Jewish Rescuers during the Holocaust_ (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2017), 250.

. Doreen Rappaport, _Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance during the Holocaust_ (Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2012), 47.

. Paldiel, _Saving One's Own_ , 250.

. Moorehead, _Village of Secrets_ , 298.

. Latour, _Jewish Resistance in France_ , 163.

. Vivette Samuel, _Rescuing the Children: A Holocaust Memoir_ (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2002), 124.

. Gutman, _Encyclopedia_ , 184.

. Latour, _Jewish Resistance in France_ , 165.

. Fivaz-Silbermann, "Marianne Cohn et son action résistante."

. Ktorza, "Marianne Cohn," 105.

. Ibid., 106–107.

* * *

**Chapter 7. Voices of the Rescued: The Children Speak**

 1. Nancy Lefenfeld, _The Fate of Others: Rescuing Jewish Children on the French-Swiss Border_ (Clarksville, MD: Timbrel Press, 2013), Appendix.

 2. Judith Herman, _Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence—From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror_ (New York: Basic Books, 1992), 33.

 3. Betty Bloom, interview by Samantha Lakin, February 13, 2012, video recording, London, UK.

 4. Ibid.

 5. Malka Pessach, interview by Samantha Lakin, 2011, Israel.

 6. Vladimir Lang, interview by Samantha Lakin, January 29, 2012, audio recording, Florida.

 7. Leon Vermont, interview by Samantha Lakin, December 17, 2011, audio recording, California.

 8. Ibid.

 9. Betty Bloom, interview by Samantha Lakin, February 13, 2012, video recording, London, UK.

. Ruth Fivaz-Silbermann, _Le Refoulement de Réfugiés Civils Juifs à la Frontière Franco Genevoise Durant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale: Suivi du Mémorial de Ceux Parmi eux qui ont été Déportés ou Fusillés_ (Paris: Klarsfeld Foundation, 2000).

. Betty Bloom, interview by Samantha Lakin, February 13, 2012, video recording, London, UK.

. Ibid.

. Ibid.

. Leon Vermont, interview by Samantha Lakin, December 17, 2011, audio recording, California.

. Georges Loinger, interview by Samantha Lakin, March 2012, video recording, Paris, France.

. Ibid.

. Ibid.

. Ibid.

. Georges Loinger and Katy Hazan, _Aux frontières de l'espoir_ (Paris: Le Manuscrit, 2006), 51.

* * *

**Chapter 8. Afterlives and Legacies**

 1. Ellen Litman, interview by Samantha Lakin, June 23, 2011, video recording, Voorhees, New Jersey. Mannheim, it will be recalled, was also the home town of Marianne Cohn before her family began the exile that would eventually see their arrival in France.

 2. Ibid.

 3. Georges Loinger, interview by Samantha Lakin, July 28, 2011, video recording, Paris, France.

 4. Ibid.

 5. Ibid.

 6. Ibid.

 7. Norbert Bikales, interview by Samantha Lakin, June 17, 2011, video recording, New Jersey.

 8. Ibid.

 9. Gerda Bikales, interview by Samantha Lakin, June 17, 2011, video recording, New Jersey.

. Ibid.

. Ibid.

. Ibid.

. Michael Berenbaum, "What the Survivor and Historian Know," _Forward_ , May 4, 2012, <https://forward.com/opinion/155681/what-the-survivor-and-historian-know/>.

. Ibid.

. Alexander L. George, "Case Studies and Theory Development: The Method of Structured, Focused Comparison," in _Alexander L. George: A Pioneer in Political and Social Sciences_ (Cham [Switzerland]: Springer, 2019), 192.

. In this regard, see the account of Alexander Rotenberg, who became just such a counselor after his hazardous flight across the Alps under the guidance of passeur Louis Pache: _Emissaries: A Memoir of the Riviera, Haute-Savoie, Switzerland and World War II_ (Secaucus, NJ: Citadel Press, 1987), 192–217.

* * *

**Chapter 9. Coda: Remembering the Passeurs**

 1. Renée Poznanski, "Was the French Resistance Jewish?" _Tablet_ , May 3, 2016, <http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/books/201308/was-the-french-resistance-jewish>.

 2. Ibid.

 3. Saul Friedländer, "Foreword," in Lucien Lazare, _Rescue as Resistance: How Jewish Organizations Fought the Holocaust in France_ (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996), ix.

 4. Poznanski, "Was the French Resistance Jewish?"

 5. Lazare, _Rescue as Resistance_ , 25–26.

 6. Olivier Wieviorka, _The French Resistance_ (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016), 3.

 7. Ibid.

 8. Ibid., 220.

 9. M. R. D. Foot, _Resistance: European Resistance to Nazism, 1940–1945_ (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1977), 132.

. Wieviorka, _French Resistance_ , 218.

. Ibid.

. Robert Gildea, _Fighters in the Shadows: A New History of the French Resistance_ (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015), 239.

. Ibid. (emphasis in text).

. Lynne Taylor, _Between Resistance and Collaboration: Popular Protest in Northern France, 1940–45_ (Houndmills, Basingstoke [UK]: Macmillan, 2000), 63.

. Ibid.

. <http://doreenrappaport.com/about/>.

. Doreen Rappaport, _Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance during the Holocaust_ (Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2012), 37–47.

. Margaret L. Rossiter, _Women in the Resistance_ (New York: Praeger, 1986).

. Marie Rameau, _Des femmes en résistance 1939–1945_ (Paris: Éditions Autrement, 2008).

. Margaret Collins Weitz, _Sisters in the Resistance: How Women Fought to Free France, 1940–1945_ (New York: John Wiley, 1995), 172.

. Agnes Grunwald-Spier, _Women's Experiences in the Holocaust: In Their Own Words_ (Stroud [Gloucestershire]: Amberley, 2018).

. Jacques Sémelin, _The Survival of the Jews in France, 1940–44_ (London: Hurst, 2018), 77.

. See, for example, Michel Germain, _La Haute-Savoie dans la guerre 1939–1945_ (Le Coteau: Horvath, 1988); Michel Germain, _Le Haute-Savoie 1939–1945: Une histoire unique_ (Montmélian: La Fontaine de Siloé, 2014); and Jean Luquet, ed., _Le Savoie des Ombres: Les Savoyards, Vichy, L'Occupant_ (Montmélian: La Fontaine de Siloé, 2005).

. Poznanski, "Was the French Resistance Jewish?"

. Anny Latour, _The Jewish Resistance in France (1940–1944)_ (New York: Holocaust Library, 1981), 11.

. Ibid.

. Ibid.

. Olivier Wieviorka, _Divided Memory: French Recollections of World War II from the Liberation to the Present_ (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2012).

. See, for example, the arguments put forth in David Schoenbrun, _Soldiers of the Night: The Story of the French Resistance_ (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1980), 480–489; also, among many other studies of post-liberation France, see Andrew Knapp, ed., _The Uncertain Foundation: France at the Liberation 1944–47_ (Houndmills, Basingstoke [UK]: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).

. One good early study is Milton Dank, _The French against the French: Collaboration and Resistance_ (London: Cassell, 1978). For a more focused study, see Tzvetan Todorov, _A French Tragedy: Scenes of Civil War, Summer 1944_ (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1996).

. David Diamant, _Les Juifs la Résistance Française 1940–1944 (Avec armes ou sans armes)_ (Paris: La Pavillion, 1971), 97.

. Archives of the Mémorial de la Shoah, CC XVIII-4

. Ibid.

. Archives Départmentales de la Haute-Savoie (Annecy), file 162J47

. Vivette Samuel, _Rescuing the Children: A Holocaust Memoir_ (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2002), 132.

. Ibid.

. Ibid.

. Ibid., 147.

. Ibid.
* * *

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Todorov, Tzvetan. _A French Tragedy: Scenes of Civil War, Summer 1944_. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1996.

Vegh, Claudine. _I Didn't Say Goodbye_. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1984.

Veyret, Patrick. _La Résistance dans le département de l'Ain, 1940–1944_. Clermont-Ferrand: De Borée, 2016.

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Wieviorka, Olivier. _Divided Memory: French Recollections of World War II from the Liberation to the Present_. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2012.

Wieviorka, Olivier. _The French Resistance_. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016.

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Zuccotti, Susan. _The Holocaust, the French, and the Jews_. New York: Basic Books, 1993.

Zuccotti, Susan. _The Italians and the Holocaust: Persecution, Rescue, Survival_. New York: Basic Books, 1987.

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ARCHIVES, REPORTS, AND INTERVIEWS

_Archives de Mémorial de la Shoah_ , Paris.

_Archives Départmentales de la Haute-Savoie_ , Annecy.

Yad Vashem Archive, Jerusalem.

Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland—Second World War. _Switzerland, National Socialism and the Second World War: Final Report_. Zürich: Pendo Verlag, 2002.

_Proceedings of the Intergovernmental Committee, Evian, July 6th to 15th, 1938: Verbatim Record of the Plenary Meetings of the Committee, Resolutions, and Reports_.

Gerda Bikales, interview by Samantha Lakin, June 17, 2011, New Jersey.

Norbert Bikales, interview by Samantha Lakin, June 17, 2011, New Jersey.

Betty Bloom, interview by Samantha Lakin, February 13, 2012, London.

Vladimir Lang, interview by Samantha Lakin, January 29, 2012, Florida.

Ellen Litman, interview by Samantha Lakin, Voorhees, June 23, 2011, New Jersey.

Georges Loinger, interview by Samantha Lakin, March 2012, Paris.

Malka Pessach, interview by Samantha Lakin, 2011, Israel.

Hugo Steinberg, interview by Michel and Paula Huguenin, March 4, 2017, Geneva.

Leon Vermont, interview by Samantha Lakin, December 17, 2011, California.
* * *

Index

Abadi, Moussa, xxii, , ,

_Action Française_ , , ,

Aix-les-Bains, xvii

Ajaccio,

Algeria,

_Alliance Israélite Universelle_ ,

Allied powers, , , , , , 40–44, , , , , ,

_Amitié Chrétienne_ (Christian Friendship), xxii, , , , , ,

Annecy, xiii, , , , , , , , , , ,

Annemasse, xvii, xxii, , , , , , 64–66, , 81–88, , , , , ,

_Anschluss_ , , , ,

Antisemitism, , , , , , , ,

Appeasement, ,

_Armée Juive_ (Jewish Army, AJ), xviii, ,

Armistice: French-German, , , , ; French-Italian, , , ,

Assimilation, , , , ,

Auschwitz, , , , , , , , , , ,

_Aussenarbeit_ ,

Austria, , , , , , , , , 75–77,

Avignon,

Axis powers, , , , , , ,

Badoglio, Pietro,

Balthazard, Ernest,

Barbie, Klaus, "Butcher of Lyon,"

Barot, Madeleine, xxii, , , , ,

Beaune-la-Rolande,

Belarus,

Belgium, , , , , , ,

_Belle Epoque_ ,

Bérenger, Henry, 9–10

Berlin, , , , , , , ,

Bern, ,

Bikales, Norbert,

Birgy, Rolande, xxii, , , , , , 125–126

Bloch, Hélène,

Blum, Léon, , , , ,

Bonaparte, Napoleon,

Bousquet, René, , ,

Braila,

Bregenz,

British Expeditionary Force,

Brunner, Alois,

Buchenwald, , ,

Cachoud Group, ,

_Cahiers du Témoignage Chrétien_ ,

Calisse, Alberto,

_Camps d'accueil_ ,

Cannes, ,

_Carlingue_ ,

Cassibile,

Castellano, Giuseppe,

Catholic Church, Catholics, , , , , , , , , , 62–64, , , ,

Chaillet, Pierre,

Chamberlain, Neville, ,

Chambery, xvii

Chamonix, xvii

Chautemps, Camille,

Cheigam, Rachel,

Children's homes, , , , , , , , ,

Churchill, Winston, ,

CIMADE ( _Comité inter-mouvements auprés des évacués_ , Inter-Movement Committee for Evacuees), xxii, 64–66, ,

Cohn, Léo,

Cohn, Marianne, xxii, , , , , , , , 87–90, , 117–121,

_Commissariat General aux Questions Juives_ ,

_Commissione Italiana d'Armistizio con la Francia_ (CIAF),

Communists, , , , , , , ,

Compiègne, , , ,

Corsica,

Croatia, , ,

_Croix de Feu_ ,

_Croix de Guerre_ , , , , , ,

_Croix Rouge_ ,

Czechoslovakia, , , , ,

Damascus,

Dannecker, Theodor, ,

Darcissac, Roger,

_Das Boot Ist Voll_ ,

de Gaulle, Charles, , , , , ,

de Lubac, Fr.,

de Pellepoix, Louis Darquier,

de Rothschild, Edouard,

de Roulet, Benoît,

Declaration of the Rights of Man, ,

Deffaugt, Jean, xxiii, , , 85–89, , ,

Désert Museum,

Devil's Island,

Dietary laws, Jewish, ,

Djibouti-Addis Ababa Railroad,

Dnipro,

Donati, Angelo, 41–43

Drancy, , , , , ,

Dreyfus, Alfred, ,

Dreyfus Affair, xxi, 2–5,

Drumont, Édouard,

Dufournet, Colette, , ,

Dunkirk, ,

_Éclaireurs Israélites de France_ (EIF, Jewish Scouts), xxii, , 57–61, , ,

_Éducation Physique_ ,

Eichmann, Adolf, ,

Eighth Army, British,

Ekaterinoslav (Dnipro),

Epstein, Roland, , ,

Evian, xvii, , ,

Evrard, Edmond,

Fall of France (1940), , ,

Fascist Grand Council,

Federal Department of Justice and Police, Swiss, 73–75,

_Fédération nationale des Camelots du Roi_ ,

"Final Solution of the Jewish Question" ( _Endlösung der Judenfrage_ ), , , , , 39–42, ,

_Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur_ (FFI), ,

Fournier, Joseph,

Fourth Army, Italian,

France, 1–6, 8–15, 17–31, 33–50, 53–68, 69–79, 82–89, , , , , 103–106, , , 115–122

Franco-Judaism,

French citizenship, , , ,

French Federation of Girl Scouts (FFE),

French Foreign Ministry,

French General Staff,

French Guiana,

French Mountain Guide Association,

French Revolution,

Frenkel, Françoise, ,

Gagnier, Pierre,

Gamzon, Robert, xxii, 58–60, , , 126–127,

Garel, Georges, xxii, , , 54–58, , , ,

Garel network ( _Réseau Garel_ ), xxii, 55–58, , ,

Geneva, xvii, xxii, , , 65–66, , , 83–84, , , , , , , ,

Gerlier, Pierre-Marie,

German annexation of Austria ( _Anschluss_ ), , , ,

Germany, 5–13, , , , , , 38–40, , , , 57–58, 69–70, , 74–77, , , , , 103–105,

Gestapo, , , , , , , , , , , , 85–88,

Giniewski, Otto, , ,

Giniewski, Paul,

Glasberg, Abbé Alexandre, xxii, , , , 127–128

Glières, Battle of,

Goldfayl, Marika,

Gourfinkel, Nina,

Great Britain,

Greece,

Grenoble, , , , , 46–47, , , 82–83, , ,

Grüninger, Paul, 75–78

Gryn, Netanel ("Tony"), , , ,

Guiral, Paul,

Guisan, Henri,

Gurs, , , , , , , ,

Gutman, Claude, ,

Haguenau, Marc, ,

Hamburg,

_Hashomer Hatzair_ , , ,

Haute-Savoie, xvii, xxii, , , , 56–57, , , , ,

Heppner, Ruth, 69–70

Hermann, Vivette, xxi, , , , , , , 17–19, , , 54–56, , , ,

Herzl, Theodor,

Heydrich, Reinhard, ,

Himmler, Heinrich, ,

Hitler, Adolf, 10–11, , , , , ,

Holocaust, , , , , , , , 96–98, 101–102, 105–107, 110–118, 126–128

"I Shall Betray Tomorrow,"

Identity cards, , , ,

Imperial Germany,

Internment camps, , , , , , , , , ,

Italian Armistice Commission ( _Commissione Italiana d'Armistizio con la Francia_ ),

Italian High Command,

Italian Racial Laws,

Italians, , , 34–42,

" _Je trahirai demain_ " ("I Shall Betray Tomorrow"),

Jefroykin, Jules,

_Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne_ (Christian Youth Workers),

Jewish Bolshevik,

Jewish children, , 17–19, , , 29–31, 43–45, , , ,

Jewish citizenship,

Jewish identity, , ,

Jewish immigrants,

Jewish refugees, , , , , , , , , , , 96–99, , 108–110, 112–114

Jews, foreign ( _Juifs_ ), , ,

Jews, French, , , , , , , ,

Jews, French-born ( _Israélites_ ), , ,

Jews, Italian, ,

Jews, Polish,

Jews, Yugoslav, ,

_Judenreferat_ ,

Klarsfeld, Serge, 13–14

Klausner, Jacques,

Knochen, Helmut, , ,

Knut, Dovid, , ,

_Kristallnacht_ , , ,

Kursk, Battle of,

_La Libre Parole_ ,

_La Main Forte_ ,

_La Maison de la Forêt_ , , , ,

_La Rafle du Vel' d'Hiv_ (Vel' d'Hiv Roundup), 24–26, ,

_La Sixième_ ("The Sixth"), xxii, , 60–62, , ,

Latour, Anny, , , , , ,

Laval, Pierre,

Lazare, Leo Serge,

Lazare, Lucien, , , , ,

Le Buet, 69–70

_Le Voyage de Fanny_ ,

League of Nations, ,

Lederman, Charles, , ,

Lesage, Gilbert,

_L'État Français_ ,

Levi, Primo, ,

Lévitte, Simon, , , , , , ,

Liber, Maurice,

Liberation: Annemasse, ; France, , , , ; Paris, ,

Lithuania, , ,

Loebenberg, Maurice, , ,

Loinger, Flore,

Loinger, Georges, xxii, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

London, , ,

Lospinoso, Guido,

Lublin,

Lublin, Lucien, , ,

Luft, Hella and Uriel,

Lyon, , , , , , , 53–56, , , , , , , , , 87–89,

Maginot Line,

Maidenberg, Maurice,

Mandel, Magda,

Marcel Network, 43–45,

Marie-Benôit, Père,

Marseille, , , , , , , , ,

_Mas Soubeyran_ (Désert Museum),

Maurras, Charles,

Mauthausen, ,

Military operations:

Operation ANTON, ;

Operation BARBAROSSA, ;

Operation CITADEL, ;

Operation GOMORRAH, ;

Operation HUSKY, ;

Operation TORCH, , ,

Mitterand, François,

Modena,

Moissac, , , , ,

Montparnasse Cemetery, ,

Montpellier, , 45–46,

Moscow,

Mottu, Henri,

_Mouvement de la Jeunesse Sioniste_ (MJS), xxii, 45–46, 47–48, , , , , , 82–84, , , ,

Mussolini, Benito, , , , ,

National Revolution, , ,

Nice, , 26–28, , , , , 40–49, , ,

Normandy, ,

North Africa, , , , , , , , , ,

Oberg, Carl,

_Œuvre de Protection de l'Enfance Juive_ (Jewish Child Protection Fund, or OPEJ),

_Œuvre de Secours aux Enfants_ (Society for Assistance to Children, or OSE), xxi, 17–19, , 29–31, 54–58, 60–63, , , , , , , ,

Office of Racial Police,

Office of Strategic Services (OSS),

_Operation Vent Printanier_ (Operation SPRING WIND),

Oran, ,

_Organisation Juive de Combat_ (Jewish Fighting Organization, or OJC),

Oxford,

Pache, Louis, 69–71,

Palestine, , , , ,

Paris, 1–3, , , , , 21–26, , , , 42–47, , 55–60, , , , , , , ,

_Passeur_ , , , , , , , 60–61, 70–71, , , 82–84, , , 98–100, 105–107, 109–110, , , 118–119, 121–123

Patriotism, ,

Paul Grüninger Foundation,

Paul-Boncour, Joseph,

Peel Commission,

Pellepoix, Louis Darquier de,

Pétain, Philippe, , , 12–14, , , , , ,

Philip, Mireille, xxii, , ,

Pithiviers,

Pittet-Priacel, Geneviéve, xxii, 66–68, ,

Pogroms, ,

Polonski, Abraham, , ,

Pomeyrol Theses,

"Popular Front," , , ,

Port Royal Maternity Hospital,

Prison de Pax,

Prodolliet, Ernest,

Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia,

Pulver, Édith,

Pyrenees, , , , ,

Racine, Emmanuel, , , 84–86, ,

Racine, Mila, xxii, 47–51, , 82–84, , , , 119–121,

Racine, Sacha, 47–48,

Radical Socialist Party,

Radicals, , , ,

Ravensbrück, ,

Red Cross, , , ,

Rémond, Paul, , ,

Renault, Gilbert,

Republicans, , ,

_Réseau Garel_. _See_ Garel network

Reynaud, Paul,

Ribiére, Germaine, , , , ,

Righteous among the Nations, , , ,

Rivesaltes, , , ,

Riviera, ,

Rogachev,

Roitman, Jacques,

Roitman, Paul,

Romania, ,

Rome, , , , ,

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, 8–9

Rosenstock-Abadi, Odette, xxii, , , 132–133

Rosenthal, Alexandre,

Rotenberg, Alexander, 69–70

Rothmund, Heinrich, ,

Royallieu, ,

Rozengard, Claudine,

Russia, , 21–22, , 46–47, , , ,

Safe houses,

Saint Girons,

Saint-Gervais-Le Fayet, ,

Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, xvii, ,

Saliège, Jules-Gérard, ,

Saliége, Jules-Geraude,

Salomon, Andrée, xxi, , , , 29–31, , ,

Salonika,

Salvation Army, ,

Samuel, Vivette. _See_ Hermann, Vivette

Sax, Hélène,

Scheyer, Moriz,

Schneider, Antón,

Scriabin, Alexander,

Scriabina, Ariane,

Sehenc, Georges,

_Service d'évacuation et de regroupement des enfants_ (Evacuation and Relocation Service for Children, or SERE),

_Service d'évasion et de regroupement_ (Escape and Regrouping Service, or SER),

Seyssins,

SHEK ( _Schweizerisches Hilfswerk für Emigrantenkinder_ , or Swiss Relief Work for Refugee Children), 92–93

_Social servíce des étrangers_ , ,

Socialists, , , , ,

Somaliland,

Sorbonne, ,

Sorkine, Charlotte, xxi, , , 27–29, , , , , , 133–134

Soviet Union, , , ,

Spanish Civil War, , , ,

Special Operations Executive (SOE),

St. Gallen, ,

St. Nazaire, ,

State Department (United States),

_Statut des Juifs_ (Jewish Statute), , , , ,

Steinberg, Hugo, xxiii–xxv

Steinberg, Renée, xxiii–xxv

Stettin,

Stitelmann, Aimée, 77–78

Sudetenland, ,

Swiss Army,

Switzerland, xxi–xxii, , , , , , 26–29, , , , , 46–48, , , , , , 64–67, 69–76, , , 81–85, 88–89, 91–100, 103–110, 112–114, 117–118,

_Syndicat National des Guides de Montagne_ (SNGM),

Syria,

Tel Aviv, , ,

Theis, Eduard, 81–82

Third Reich,

Third Republic, , , , ,

Tobruk,

Total War,

Toulouse, , , , , , 28–30, , , , ,

Tours,

Trabucchi, Alessandro,

_Travail, Famille et Patrie_ ,

Trocmé, André,

Ukraine, , , ,

_Union Générale des Israélites de France_ ,

_Union sacrée_ ,

Upstanders, ,

Vallat, Xavier, , ,

Vallorcine,

Vatican, , , ,

Vel' d'Hiv Roundup ( _La Rafle du Vel' d'Hiv_ ), 24–26, ,

Venissieux, , , , , , , ,

Verdun,

Versailles, Treaty of, ,

Versoix, ,

Veyrier,

Victor Emmanuel II,

Ville-la-Grand, 87–89,

Von Mackensen, Hans George,

Von Ribbentrop, Joachim,

VSJF ( _Verband Schweizerischer Jüdischer Fürsorgen_ , or Association of Swiss-Jewish Welfare Organizations), 92–93

Wannsee Conference,

Weill, Dr. Joseph, 54–57, ,

Weizmann, Chaim,

Wiesbaden,

Wiesel, Elie, ,

Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO),

World Zionist Organization,

Yad Vashem, xix, xxiii, , ,

Yellow Star, , ,

Yiddish,

Youth Aliyah, ,

Yugoslavia, ,

Zionism, , , , , , , 28–31, 45–47, 56–57, , , , , ,

Zürich, , ,
**About the Authors**

**Paul R. Bartrop,** PhD, is a multi-award-winning scholar of the Holocaust and genocide. He is professor of history and director of the Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies at Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, Florida. In 2018 he was a visiting fellow at the Jewish Holocaust Centre, Melbourne, Australia. He has previously been the Ida E. King Distinguished Visiting Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Richard Stockton College, New Jersey, and Scholar-in-Residence at the Martin-Springer Institute for Teaching the Holocaust, Tolerance, and Humanitarian Values at Northern Arizona University. In Australia, he also taught at the University of South Australia and Monash University. He is the author or editor of 19 books, the most recent being _The Evian Conference of 1938 and the Jewish Refugee Crisis_ (2017); _The Holocaust: A Resource and Document Collection_ (four volumes, 2017), which won the Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award for 2018 and other accolades; and _Resisting the Holocaust: Upstanders, Partisans, and Survivors_ (2016). In addition, he has published numerous scholarly articles in journals and books. He has been a member of the International Association of Genocide Scholars and was for many years the Australian representative on the International Committee of the Annual Scholars' Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches. Among other positions he is a member of the editorial advisory board of the journal _Holocaust and Genocide Studies_ and a member of the advisory board of the Genocide Education Project, California. He is currently vice president of the Midwest Jewish Studies Association and is a past president of the Australian Association of Jewish Studies.

**Samantha J. Lakin,** MA, has done extensive research in a number of areas relating to the Holocaust and genocide. A former National Endowment for the Humanities grantee, Raphael Lemkin Research Fellow, and Fulbright Scholar, she has degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and Brandeis University. She is currently completing her PhD through the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University in Massachusetts. Among her publications is _Testimonies: Stories of Refugee Children Rescued to Switzerland during World War II_ , published through the Swiss Embassy in Washington, D.C. Her current research on Rwanda has been published in journals including _Genocide Studies and Prevention_ , _International Bar Association_ , _Human Rights: Mass Atrocities, and Transitional Justice_ , and edited volumes including _Victims and Post-Conflict Justice Mechanisms in Africa_ , published by LawAfrica in 2017.

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