Member or Cooperating Agencies with the Nimes Committee

Part 6: Service Andre through Zionist Youth Movement

Service André Rescue Organization

Marseilles, Aix-en-Provence, France. Service André was an international rescue organization based in Marseilles.

Joseph Bass (alias Mr. André; Jewish)

Father de Parceval (Dominican prior; interned)

Father Bremond (Jesuit)

Father Marie-Benoit● (Capuchin monk; DELASEM)

Benoît, Father Pierre-Marie File 201 Father Pierre-Marie Benoît, served as strecher-bearer in World War I. He followed in the footsteps of his uncle and became a priest. and until 1940 lived in the Capuchin monastery in Rome. When war between France and Italy was clearly inevitable, he returned to his homeland and moved into the Capuchin monastery in Marseilles. Deeply troubled by the Jewish laws enacted by the Vichy government, he resolved to devote himself to the protection of Jewish refugees. To do so he used every means at his dispolsal: contacts with passeurs (border guides), with the French underground, and with other religious organizations—Protestant, Greek Orthodox, and Jewish. Father Benoît procured false papers and smuggled refugees into Spain or Switzerland. His reputation as a man who spared no effort to save Jews spread far and wide. The waiting room in his monastery constantly teemed with people, and the printing press in the monastery’s basement printed thousands of false baptismal certificates for distribution to Jews. When, in November 1942, southern France was occupied and the Swiss and Spanish borders became harder to cross, Father Benoît began to organize the transfer of Jews to the Italian occupation zone. He met in Nice with Guido Lospinoso, the Italian commissioner of Jewish affairs, whom Mussolini had sent at the Germans’ insistence. Father Benoît persuaded Lospinoso to refrain from action against the 30,000 Jews who lived in Nice and the vicinity, though that had been the purpose of Lospinos’s trip.

In April 1943, he met with Pope Pius XII and presented a plan to transfer Jews in Nice to North Africa via Italy. This plan was foiled when the Germans occupied northern Italy and the Italian-occupied zone of France. When the Gestapo discovered Father Benoît’s activities, he was forced to move to Rome. Although he himself was now a refugee, he persevered in his rescue efforts with even greater fervor. Father Benoît was elected to theboard of Delasem (Delegazione Assistenza Emigranti Ebrei), the main Jewish welfare organization in Italy and when the Jewish president was arrested, Father Benoît was named the acting president. The organization’s meetings were held at the Capuchin monastery in Rome. Father Benoît contacted the Swiss, Romanian, Hungarian, and Spanish embassies, and obtained false documents that enabled Jews to circulate freely. Father Benoît also extracted numerous ration cards from the police on the pretext that they were meant for non-Jewish refugees. He saved the lives of a great many Jews, who regard him as the man who saved them from the crematoria. Father Benoit never attempted to convert the Jews under his care. Susan Zuccotti who wrote a book about him reports that one suvivor told her that father Benoit told her to "be a good Jewess", another couple said that the priest advised them "You are Jewish and you must remain Jewish". When Rome was liberated in June 1944, the Jewish community held an official synagogue ceremony in honor of Father Benoît and showered him with praise. Years later, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson delivered a moving speech in which he said that Father Benoit’s wonderful actions should inspire the American people in the protection and preservation of the rights of citizens, irrespective of race, color or religion. On April 26, 1966, Yad Vashem recognized Father Pierre-Marie Benoît as Righteous Among the Nations.

Lucie Abel● and her daughter, Lydie●, were Protestants who ran a small pension in Faye-sur-Lignon, near Le Chambon-sur-Lignon in the département of Haute-Loire

Abel, Lucie Abel, Lydie File 3832 Lucie Abel and her daughter, Lydie, were Protestants who ran a small pension in Faye-sur-Lignon, near Le Chambon-sur-Lignon in the département of Haute-Loire. The Rheimses, a couple and their daughter, fled the roundups of Jews in Lyons and came to the Abels’ pension with the assistance of a rescue network of Protestant clergy - including members Pastor Daniel Curte●t (q.v.) and Pastor Charles Delizy● (q.v.). This rescue network, with which Lucie Abel was in contact, arranged lodgings for those in need and worked together with the Jewish underground organization, Service André. Abel’s pension also provided a haven for other Jewish refugees; Miryam Rosowsky, her son Oskar, and Else Spiero. The refugees were able to circulate freely in the area, using the forged identity cards that they received from members of the network. Although the Abels knew that the refugees in their pension were Jewish, they risked their lives to assist them and were warm and supportive. Some of these lodgers, who were actually asylum-seekers, remained on friendly terms with them after the war. On September 10, 1990, Yad Vashem recognized Lucie and Lydie Abel as Righteous Among the Nations.

Oswald Bardone●

Bardone, Oswald Bardone, Lea File 579 In August 1940, Oswald Bardone and his Jewish friend Léon Poliakov fled from a POW camp in Doullen in northern France. Bardone and his wife Léa opened a café in Saint-Etienne, and in the autumn of 1942, Poliakov, who had been in regular correspondence with Bardone, accepted his offer of living quarters. Oswald and Lea Bardone treated Poliakov as a member of the family, provided him with a new identity card, and found him a job in a paper mill, nearby. When arrests of Jews in the southern zone began, Poliakov joined the rescue network, Service André, and the Bardones’ café became headquarters. Members of the network primarily helped Jews from Marseilles escape to the mountains of the Massif Central. The café was a place where these Jews could rest, eat, and even sleep over for a few nights in the café. After the war, Poliakov, a liaison officer in Service André, stated (in his book L’auberge des musiciens, Mémoires [Paris, 1981]) that the Bardones had performed various difficult and dangerous missions for the network and had devoted themselves to saving Jews, including transporting Jewish children to peasants in small mountain villages, with no thought of material reward. In the spring of 1944, Oswald Bardone was arrested by the Gestapo while performing a mission for Service André and was imprisoned until shortly before German forces evacuated the area. Bardone’s father, Quinto Bardone, also sheltered Jews at his home in Grenoble.

On September 8, 1970, Yad Vashem recognized Oswald and Lea Bardone as Righteous Among the Nations.

Father Alfred Daumas●, who later became a bishop, ran the Church’s welfare services office in Nice (Oeuvres Sociales du Diocese).

Daumas, Monsignor Alfred File 7835 During the occupation, Father Alfred Daumas, who later became a bishop, ran the Church’s welfare services office in Nice (Oeuvres Sociales du Diocese). Bishop Paul Rémond (q.v.) had also appointed him as chaplain of the trade unions. Daumas was especially concerned about political refugees and Jews, and in May 1943, he made contact with Joseph Bass, a Jew who had established the Service André, an underground organization that fought deportations. Father Daumas appointed Bass, who operated under the assumed name of André Gart, as a technical advisor to the office in Nice and gave him an office in his building. This allowed Bass to continue his resistance activity under optimal conditions. He produced forged papers, received the public, and held secret meetings in his office without arousing suspicion; at least at first. This situation changed after Nice was occupied on September 9, 1943. Such intense activity could not fail to attract attention. In late November 1943, a Gestapo unit raided Father Daumas’ offices and searched for “André Gart,” who happened to be away in Marseilles just then. The Gestapo arrested Daumas. After lengthy hours of interrogation, he managed to persuade them that he had nothing to do with the wanted suspect. After being released through the intervention of Bishop Rémond, Daumas rushed to a Jesuit monastery and sent a monk to Marseilles to warn Bass to stay away from Nice. Thus, Daumas saved the lives of Bass and other Jews whom he had provided with forged papers.

On November 5, 1997, Yad Vashem recognized Monsignor Alfred Daumas as Righteous Among the Nations.

Dr. André and Georgette Donnier● owned a private hospital in Aix-en-Provence.

Donnier, André Donnier, Georgette File 5065 Dr. André and Georgette Donnier owned a private hospital in Aix-en-Provence. The Donniers and two of the doctors on their staff decided to do whatever they could to liberate Jewish refugees interned at the Les Milles camp, situated between Aix-en-Provence and Marseilles. In August 1942, Dr. Donnier and his two colleagues obtained an entry permit to the Les Milles camp in order to provide medical help. There, Dr. Donnier met Jonas Fischbach, an Austrian Jewish refugee, who was imprisoned together with his wife, Amalia, after attempting unsuccessfully to rejoin their eldest daughter in the United States. Fischbach was totally exhausted from being in the camp. Dr. Donnier managed to remove him under the pretext that he needed an urgent operation. After being admitted to the Donniers’ hospital, Fischbach was concerned for his wife and wished to rejoin her. Indeed, deportations of Jews to the camps in the east had begun. Moved by Fischbach’s distress, Dr. Donnier rushed to Les Milles. Taking advantage of the camp’s disorder, he managed to locate Amalia Fischbach and remove her from the camp. Despite the risks, courageously, he brought her back with him. The Donniers housed the couple in a small warehouse in the hospital yard. The two families agreed that the refugees would only leave the warehouse between six o’clock and seven o’clock in the morning to use the bathrooms in the hospital building and then return to their refuge.

Every day, Georgette Donnier brought food, reassurance, and news gleaned from the British radio. Then something happened that neither family would ever forget. In May 1943, following an informer’s tip, the Gestapo raided the hospital. At four o’clock in the morning, they began to scour the facility looking for hospitalized war casualties and Jews in hiding. For nearly four hours, the Gestapo went from bed to bed, finding nothing and overlooking the warehouse. Miraculously, the Fischbachshad woken up very late that morning. Had they followed their regular schedule, they would have encountered the Gestapo in the hospital. Later that day, the Gestapo interrogated Dr. Donnier and warned his wife that they would return to the hospital. Georgette quickly moved the Fischbachs to a new hiding place in a coal dealer’s home who provided this service in return for payment and food. The dealer changed his mind a month later, because he suspected that he had been denounced. Donnier found the refugees a new hiding place in a monastery just in time, for a few hours later the Gestapo came to the coal dealer’s home to arrest the Fischbachs. The Donniers and the Fischbachs stayed in touch after the war, even after the Fischbachs moved to the United States. On September 1, 1992, Yad Vashem recognized Dr. André and Georgette Donnier as Righteous Among the Nations.

Emilie Guth●, known to everyone as Hélène, worked as a nurse and reception clerk at a medical and social center affiliated with the Jewish rescue organization OSE, in Marseilles

Guth, Emilie (Hélène) File 3210 In September 1942, Emilie Guth, known to everyone as Hélène, worked as a nurse and reception clerk at a medical and social center affiliated with the Jewish rescue organization OSE, in Marseilles. Underground activity in Marseilles was still in its infancy, but small clandestine groups such as Service André had slowly begun to coalesce through personal initiative, unaffiliated with large underground organizations. Guth belonged to Service André from its inception and, although she was not Jewish, was one of its most active members. This was how Guth met Denise Sikierski, a Jewish activist in Service André. A spate of deportations of Jews had taken place in January 1943. When, in March, Sikierski discovered that the Gestapo was searching for her, she delegated the bulk of her activities to Guth. Henceforth, Sikierski visited Marseilles just once a month and delivered money, forged papers, food rations, and other necessities to Guth and other underground agents hiding in the city. In early May 1944, as the Gestapo heightened its efforts to capture Jews, Guth and Sikierski chose a new location for their meetings, the office of an underground member named Castelli. Even before the first meeting, both Guth and Castelli were arrested by the Gestapo. Thanks to Guth’s composure, proficiency in German, and lack of evidence, she was released after three weeks. She returned to Marseilles two weeks later, changed her address, resumed her underground activity, and remained active until the liberation.

On April 29, 1985, Yad Vashem recognized Emilie Guth as Righteous Among the Nations.

Pastor Hevze (Protestant; Reformed Church in Marseilles; interned and deported)

Pastor Severin Lemaire●, Marseilles

Lemaire, Pastor Jean Séverin File 1039 Pastor Jean Séverin Lemaire was pastor of the Evangelist congregation in Marseilles and a lecturer in Bible. As an intellectual and a pious Christian, he refused to acquiesce to the persecution of Jews. In late 1941, after delivering a lecture to an audience in Marseilles, Lemaire made the acquaintance of Joseph Bass, a Russian-born Jew who had gone underground and established a rescue organization called Service André. Lemaire agreed to support Bass’s organization, which sought every means to save people persecuted by the Vichy government or by the Germans, including many Jews. Service André was active in the vicinity of Marseilles and along the Mediterranean coast. It drew activists of many faiths, all of whom were aware of the risks they were taking. The organization helped rescue persecuted Jews. They sent some of them to other parts of France, such as the Haute-Loire département, where many Jews had found shelter in the village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. The inhabitants of this largely Protestant village were particularly sensitive to the issue of religious persecution and were willing to help its victims. They sent other fugitives abroad. On Sundays after services, Lemaire provided Jewish fugitives with forged papers and the addresses of non-Jews willing to shelter them. He placed Jewish children with Christian families or in institutions for Christian youth, and helped Jewish adults cross the border or go underground.

On March 14, 1943, after an informer denounced them to the authorities, the Gestapo arrested Lemaire and Bass. Joseph Bass managed to escape. Pastor Lemaire, who had not wanted to go into hiding, was incarcerated in the same cell as the Jews in the Saint-Pierre prison. He bolstered their morale and prayed with them on Sabbath eve. Francine Weil, who was five years old at the time, remembered him as a tall rabbi with a black beard. Francine had been arrested with her grandparents, the Abravanels, andcontracted whooping cough. Thanks to Lemaire’s vigorous intervention, she was sent to the hospital, from which underground operatives removed her. Lemaire also protected a Jew who had been thrown into the Jewish cell and was suspected of being an informer. On April 5, 1944, Lemaire was deported to the Mauthausen camp; from there, he was transferred to Dachau, where he remained until liberated by the Americans.He also managed to rescue the 8 months old child of the Wigderbun family, from the prison in Marseille where 13 members of this family where held. None of the Jews detained in the cell survived. On February 19, 1976, Yad Vashem recognized Pastor Jean Séverin Lemaire as Righteous Among the Nations.

Joseph Lasalarie (Attorney)

Simone Mairesse●

Mairesse, Simone File 4012 Simone Mairesse was only thirty years old and seven months pregnant when her husband, an officer in the French forces, died in the Battle of Dunkirk in 1940. Mairesse lived in Mazet-Saint-Voy, about six kilometers from Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. She shared her modest home with her mother, two sisters, a niece, and her infant daughter, born two months after her husband’s death. Although fate had treated her harshly, Mairesse became involved in rescuing Jewish refugees. She approached Pastor André Trocmé (q.v.), the spiritual leader of Le Chambon. He put her in charge of coordinating the reception and hiding places of Jewish refugees, which she did from November 1942 until the liberation of France, at constant risk to her life and the lives of her family. Her familiarity with the area and its inhabitants was a great asset. Through her efforts, hundreds of Jews were placed with host families, thus saving their lives. Eventually Mairesse became a liaison for the Jewish underground organization Service André, which was especially active in the vicinity of Le Chambon. Claude Spiéro, a Jew who was active in Service André, later recounted that the economic aid Mairesse arranged, and the regular transfer of funds she obtained from a support organization, enabled his mother and him to survive in their hiding place in the Le Chambon area. Apart from material aid, Mairesse also warned refugees and resisters of impending raids by the French militia or the Germans.

On December 26, 1988, Yad Vashem recognized Simone Mairesse as Righteous Among the Nations.

Jean and Eugénie May● ran a hotel in Le Chambon.

May, Jean May, Eugénie May, Roger May, Germaine File 3899 Jean and Eugénie May ran a hotel in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, a mainly Protestant town in the département of Haute-Loire. The inhabitants of this town, responding to the urgings of the local pastor, André Trocmé● (q.v.), sheltered many Jews in a large-scale rescue operation. From November 1942 to liberation day, the Chez May Hotel provided temporary refuge to dozens of Jews until permanent hiding places were arranged in Le Chambon and villages nearby. The hotel became the headquarters for rescue operations, and the May family, through contacts with the local gendarmerie, was warned of raids by the Gestapo and the militia. Roger and Germaine, the Mays’ children, like their parents, took it upon themselves to warn the Jews who were going to be arrested. Those whose hames appeared on the list fled to the nearby forest until the danger had passed. Professor Léon Poliakov, then a liaison agent in the Jewish underground organization “Service André,” testified after the war that he spent April-June 1944 near Le Chambon-sur-Lignon and ate lunch at the Chez May every day, using these occasions to meet with other agents who helped him find hiding places for Jews. The Germans were aware that Le Chambon was a center of French underground activity and frequently raided the village and its environs. The Mays welcomed underground members and Jewish refugees warmly and did not make them fill out the required police forms.

Those who could not afford to pay for their lodgings were welcome in any event. On June 13, 1988, Yad Vashem recognized Jean and Eugénie May and their children, Roger and Germaine, as Righteous Among the Nations.

Murzi (attorney)

Orsi, Hermine●

Orsi, Hermine File 3211 In November 1942, after the Germans occupied southern France, the persecution and deportation of Jews intensified, and the various relief organizations had to go underground. One of these organizations was the GAD (Groupe d’Action contre la Déportation), formed by Joseph Bass and known as Service André. The purpose of this underground was to hide Jews from large cities in the south (mainly Marseilles and Lyons) and provide them with forged papers and ration cards. Their primary activity was hiding Jewish children in Protestant villages in the mountainous area of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon in the département of Haute-Loire. Hermine Orsi was a housemother and cook in Les Grillons, a boarding school in Le Chambon that had taken in twenty-three Jewish youths. The home was run by Daniel Trocmé● (q.v.) who, together with his wards, was seized by the Gestapo and sent to a camp in Poland, where they perished. Orsi had met “M. André” at the home, and after the institution was shut down following the arrest of Trocmé and his wards, Orsi went to work for Service André. She escorted groups of Jewish children from Marseilles to villages in the vicinity of Chambon, and was very successful, both in the way she implemented her mission and in the warmth and love she lavished on the children in her care. Sometimes Orsi took part in search parties looking for unfortunate children who had been left alone and destitute after their parents were arrested, and who were hiding in cellars and improvised hiding places.

She took these young people to Chambon and its vicinity and placed them with families who agreed to take them in. In that manner, despite the danger, Orsi saved the lives of dozens of Jewish children. More than once, during the last two years of the occupation, she sheltered Jews in her modest apartment in Marseilles. Among others, she hid Dr. Ghinsberg, who had taken refuge in Marseille in December 1941, and who was pursued by the Gestapo. In 1944,Hermine put him in contact with Resistance fighters in the Chambon region, and he joined them. When Marseille was bombarded in June 1944, Orsi sheltered five Jewish adults, foreigners who did not know a word of French and had lost all their possessions and papers in the heavy bombings. They spent several months in her home, until the liberation. On April 29, 1985, Yad Vashem recognized Hermine Orsi as Righteous Among the Nations.

Israel Salzer (Chief Rabbi of Marseilles)

Angelo Donati (banker), rescue activist, DELASAM

Chief Rabbi Rene Hirschler*

La Sixieme “the Sixth”/French Jewish Scouts (Eclaireurs Israelites De France; EIF)

The Eclaireurs (EIF) – the French Jewish Scouts organization – was founded in 1923. In 1940, the Scouts protected between 300 and 400 Jewish children. At this time, there were between 1,700 and 1,800 members of the EIF. In the summer of 1942, one of the original EIF founders, Robert Gamzon, founded the Sixième (Sixth), the illegal arm of the EIF. La Sixième concentrated on the rescue of children, particularly those rescued from French concentration camps in the south of France, including Gurs, Rivesaltes and Les Milles.

The EIF established three homes for children in the southwest of France, in the city of Moissac, at Beaulieu-sur-Durdogne, and at Saint-Cere. Approximately 200 children were sheltered in these homes.

The EIF also supplied false papers to children as well as adults, which enabled them to cross the Swiss and Spanish borders.

Dr. Frederic Hammel and Rabbi Leo Cohen were active in setting up and guiding Jews on the escape route to Spain. He was arrested but released and continued his illegal work. It is estimated that between 850-1250 children were taken care of among whom some 500 were illegally passed into Switzerland.

Henri Wahl, of the Sixième, hid 850 Jewish children in the Tarn et Garonne area.

Other prominent members and participants of the EIF were Marc Haguenau, Simon Levitte, Andrée Salomon, Denise Lévy, Ninon Weyl-Hait and Fernand Musnik..

Eighty-eight members of the Sixième in the South and 30 in the North created a rescue network similar to the Garel rescue circuit. The Sixième also produced counterfeit papers for the French underground.

EIF had official homes in Lautrec, Taluyers and Moissac.

Marianne Cohen and Mila Racine were caught smuggling children and were deported to and were murdered in Auschwitz.

[Cohen, R. I. The Burden of Conscience: French Jewish Leadership during the Holocaust. (Bloomington, 1987), pp. 20, 149-152. Latour, A. The Jewish Resistance in France, 1940-1944. (New York, 1981), pp. 156, 215, 279n. Lazare, Luciene. Rescue as Resistance: How Jewish Organization Fought the Holocaust in France. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996). Michel, A. Les Eclaireurs Israelites de France pendant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. (Paris, 1984). Rayski, Adam. The Choice of Jews Under Vichy, Between Submission and Resistance. (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press and US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC, 2005), pp. xiii, 59, 64, 172, 178-179, 205, 224, 238, 250, 257-264, 266, 271, 273, 277, 303, 308, 319, 364n1.]

Barnier, Jeanne●, La Sixième, (The Sixth)

File 3973. Jeanne Barnier was a young clerk in the local council of Dieulefit, a small town in the département of Drôme. During the war, the 4,500 residents of Dieulefit provided lodging for nearly 1,5000 refugees, including many Jews. Over an extended period of time and in daring operations for which she was solely responsible, Barnier provided the Jewish refugees with forged documents. The mayor was a supporter of the Vichy regime, increasing the risks of providing the forged papers and working with the two local schools to accommodate Jewish children. After the war, many survivors who had reached Dieulefit in 1942-1943 recalled receiving false identity cards from Barnier. Lucienne Samuel, an activist in the Jewish underground organization, La Sixième, later recounted that Barnier had given her an identity card with her own name (Jeanne Barnier), a birth certificate, and a certificate of baptism. Even after the Germans occupied the area, when Jews and their rescuers were in greater danger than before, Barnier’s efforts did not flag. In the ceremony in which Barnier received the medallion of Righteous Among the Nations, she remarked, “During that period, we wanted to reject injustice and crime and respond to hatred with love of our fellow and respect for his dignity. Nothing was done without hesitation, disagreements, weakness, and fear. ” On August 30, 1988, Yad Vashem recognized Jeanne Barnier as Righteous Among the Nations.

Beyls, Marguerite Henrica (Sister Marguerite) ●, La Sixième, (The Sixth)

Sister Marguerite Beyls was part of a group of Belgian nuns, originally from Heverlee (near Louvain/Leuven) who fled during the German invasion of Belgium, in May 1940, and stayed during the war years in the Ursuline convent, in Auvillar (Tarn-et-Garonne department) in southwestern France. While there, they joined other clerics, under the leadership of Sister Marie Placide* (see the French volume) in affording shelter to Jewish adults and mostly children. A health institution was opened in the convent for handicapped and retarded children, which served as a cover for the admittance of numerous Jewish children, who had been freed from French internment camps. The rescue operation went hand in hand with the assistance of a Jewish clandestine network known by its code name as “the Sixth” (“La Sixième”). The other Belgian nuns who participated in this rescue operation include, Germaine Robaeys (Sister Céline)*, Marguerite Waffelaert (Sister Théophilus)*, Anne-Marie de Caunes (Sister Didier)*, and Antoinette de Caunes (Sister Claire)*. On June 10, 1982, Yad Vashem recognized Sister Marguerite Beyls as Righteous Among the Nations.

Birgy●, Rolande, La Sixième, (The Sixth) Jeunesse Ouvriére Chrétienne (JOC) Birgy belonged to the underground network created by the Jewish Scout movement, La Sixième, to smuggle Jewish children into Switzerland.

File 2613 Rolande Birgy was affiliated with the Jeunesse Ouvriére Chrétienne (JOC) in Annecy and in the vicinity of the Swiss border. During the occupation, she and others risked their lives to help Jews seeking sanctuary from the occupation authorities and from the Vichy regime to cross into Switzerland. Birgy belonged to the underground network created by the Jewish Scout movement, La Sixième, to smuggle Jewish children into Switzerland. Birgy helped and accompanied hundreds of children and entire families who fled from France. In April 1944, she accompanied the Pulver family of St. Julien en Genevois -- husband, wife, three-year-old twin daughters Aline and Miryam, and an elderly woman relative -- to Bossey, a village near the border. She hid them for several hours in the rectory of the village priest and helped them cross the border at the right moment. In all of her missions in rescuing Jews, Birgy displayed exceptional courage, devotion, resourcefulness, and perseverance. On May 27, 1983, Yad Vashem recognized Rolande Birgy as Righteous Among the Nations.

Bellair●, Micheline, La Sixième, (The Sixth)

File 3831 During the occupation, Micheline Bellair was a social worker at police headquarters in Paris and an activist in the underground movement of the Catholic scouts. She also had connections with the underground of the Jewish scouts and its rescue organization, La Sixième. From 1942-1944, at risk to her life, Bellair supplied Jews with forged identity cards and found them shelter for them with foster families and residential institutions. Esther Papierman Ashkenazi was only sixteen years old when she and her family were arrested in an attempt to cross the Demarcation Line into the unoccupied southern zone. Esther was taken back to Paris and placed in a government home for Jewish children, together with other Jewish girls whose parents had been arrested or deported to the east. Through Bellair, La Sixième supplied the girls with forged identity cards, and she placed each girl with a foster family. After their placement, she visited them regularly, treated them as members of her family, and declared her sympathy for the Jewish faith. In her postwar testimony, Ashkenazi depicted Bellair as “an older sister, always full of optimism and also very efficient. I remember that even during severe food shortages, she found a way to bring me good things to eat that were almost impossible to find.” Bellair’s rescue work on behalf of Jews was accomplished at enormous risk and without material reward. On March 28, 1988, Yad Vashem recognized Micheline Bellair as Righteous Among the Nations.

Darrac●, Manuel

File 4670 Manuel Darrac was the town clerk of Moissac, a small town in Tarn-et-Garonne, known for its superb vineyards. The Jewish Scouts had a center in Moissac, including a boarding school that accepted more than one hundred Jewish children. The center, run by the Simon couple, also housed ten Jewish staff members. In August 1942, when the Vichy authorities began to round up Jewish refugees to hand over to the Germans, the residents of this institution were in great danger. With the help of Alice Pelous● (q.v.), his assistant in town hall, Darrac quickly supplied forged identity papers and ration cards to all the children in the boarding school, giving them assumed names. He did so for the staff members, too, and gave them residence permits. To do so, Darrac availed himself of the services of La Sixième, the underground organization of the Jewish Scouts, which produced dozens of forged documents; Darrac and Pelous provided authentic municipal seals. Even after November 1942, when southern France came under German occupation, Darrac continued his rescue work. When the Gestapo raided the Moissac municipality in 1944, Darrac realized that he had to act immediately to save the occupants of the scout center. He rushed to the Simons and advised them to disperse the children among the homes whose addresses he had supplied. This was done, and in record time, all the children had been hidden in foster families. On June 24, 1990, Yad Vashem recognized Manuel Darrac as Righteous Among the Nations.

Dulaut●, Marguerite

File 4519 Marguerite Dulaut lived in Montauban, capital of the département Tarn-et-Garonne. During the occupation, she placed herself courageously in the service of “La Sixième,” the underground group associated with the EIF, the Jewish Scout movement. From late 1942 on, that movement devoted itself essentially to saving Jewish teenagers. Dulaut opened her home to young German Jewish girls who had been taken in by the Jewish Scouts center in Moissac. The girls needed a secure hiding place because it was rumored that their names were on a list held by the French gendarmerie, meaning that their arrest was imminent. Every few days, an activist in La Sixième would bring two girls to Dulaut’s house for a temporary stay until refuge was found in Montauban. By August 1942, it was not only illegal but also dangerous to hide Jews, because the Vichy government ordered its own gendarmerie to arrest Jews and turn them over to the Germans. When the gendarmerie in Montauban discovered that Dulaut was sheltering Jews, they searched the house. Fortunately, no one was there that day. René Klein was in charge of the Toulouse area for La Sixième. He, his mother, and his sister Rosette all enjoyed Marguerite Dulaut’s hospitality. René’s mother and sister stayed there for several months. René himself spent more than a year with her, until the liberation. With Dulaut’s permission, he used her house as a meeting place to plan operations. Thus, almost daily, for several months, Klein and his group conferred at Dulaut’s house.

On May 31, 1990, Yad Vashem recognized Marguerite Dulaut as Righteous Among the Nations.

Lucienne Samuel (Jewish), La Sixième, (The Sixth)

Swiss Aid for Children (Secours Suisse aux Enfants)

Mr. and Mrs. DuBois

Unitarian Service Committee (American Unitarian Association), Prague, Czechoslovakia

(Subak, 2010, p. xx)

Helped Jews leave Czechoslovakia after the German occupation in 1938. Waitstill and Martha Sharp set up an office to facilitate successful emigration. They employed a number of young Czech Jews to operate the office. They processed hundreds of Jewish refugees. They succeeded in having Jews released from jails by obtaining letters from the American consular offices in Prague. One consul, Consul General Irving Linnell, was particularly helpful to the Unitarians.

Robert Cloutman Dexter (d. 1955), helped found Unitarian Service Committee (USC; Subak, 2010, pp. xi-xxiv)

Elizabeth Anthony Williams Dexter (d. 1972) (Subak, 2010, pp. xi-xxiv)

Norbert Capek, head Unitarian Church, Prague, Czechoslovakia (Subak, 2010, pp. xxi, 10-13, 22-24, 244n3, 244n36)

Waitstill Sharp● (Subak, 2010)

Martha Sharp● (Subak, 2010)

Richard Wood, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) (Subak, 2010, p. xxii)

Alice Masaryk (Subak, 2010, pp. 4, 14-16)

Unitarian Service Committee (Le Comité Unitarien pour le Secours), Marseilles, France

See also the Emergency Rescue Committee (ERC), Marseilles, Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), Marseilles, Czech Aid, Marseilles

(Brooks, 1942; Subak, Susan E. Rescue & Flight: American Relief Workers Who Defied the Nazis. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2010; Dexter, Elisabeth Anthony, and Robert Cloutman Dexter. “Last Port of Freedom.” Unpublished manuscript. Multiple drafts, undated. Elisabeth Anthony Dexter Papers, Box 16. John Hay Library, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island; Dexter, Elisabeth Anthony, and Robert Cloutman Dexter. Papers. John Hay Library, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, Fisera, Joseph. Archive. U.S. Hololcaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC;Fry, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. Archives. New York City.Varian. Papers. Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New York City; Joy, Charles Rhind. Papers. Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Harvard University Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Lewis, J. F., “The Unitarian Service Committee.” Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, 1952; Lowrie, Donald A., and Helen O. Lowrie. Papers. University of Illinois Archives, Champagne-Urbana, Illinois; Sharp, Martha and Waitstill. Collection. John Hay Library, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island; Skidmore College. Archives, Saratoga Springs, New York; Unitarian Service Committee. Records. Audiovisual Records. Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Harvard University Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. Records. U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC.

The Unitarian Service Committee (USC) of Boston worked very closely with the ERC and Donald Lowrie of the YMCA. The Unitarians provided medical supplies, food, and education to refugee children. The distributed International Red Cross supplies. The USC operated a clinic on the rue d’Italie in Marseilles. Dr. Rene Zimmer, a refugee, supervised the clinic. The USC helped distribute food, along with the Quakers. The USC employed four full-time physicians and five part-time physicians, including three dentists, to aid refugee health concerns. The USC shared space with OSC and other Jewish organizations that helped children.

There were a number of Jewish volunteers who worked in the Unitarian Service Committee’s office in Marseilles. In addition, the USC cooperated with many Jewish rescue organizations and operations in and around Marseilles.There were 16 persons who worked in the committee office in France.Waitstill Sharp and Martha Sharp, from the Boston OSC office, helped distribute milk to Jewish refugee children. The USC helped expedite about 100 immigration cases.

The USC also helped former Spanish republican soldiers who were fleeing Spain.

The USC oversaw the establishment of a kindergarten at the Rivesaltes camp and relief operations at Les Milles, Bompard, Atlantique, Terminus des Ports, and Levant.

Noel H. Field (USA), Southern France

Noel Field, a Quaker, headed the Marseilles office of the Unitarian Service Committee (USC). Field had previously worked for the US Department of State and the League of Nations. The USC provided relief in the French concentration camps in Southern France, including the Rivesalt, Les Milles, Atlantique, Terminus des Ports, and Levant camps and the Marseilles reception center in Bompard. In addition, the USC ran medical clinics that employed four full-time and five part-time physicians, and three dentists.

(Brooks, 1942; Subak, 2010, pp. 84-86, 88, 89, 109-111, 121-122, 125-126, 148, 151-153, 164, 181, 195, 202, 214-215, 225)

Herta Field, (USA), Southern France, (Brooks, 1942; Subak, 2010, pp. 85, 86, 88, 119, 120, 146-149, 151, 153, 154, 179-181, 214)

Reverend Dr. Howard Lee Brooks (USA), France, (Brooks, 1942; Subak, 2010, pp. 103-107, 109, 113, 114, 132, 137, 138, 157-158, 161, 165, 176, 177, 194, 196)

Dr. René Zimmer, head USC Marseilles clinic, see René Zimmer Rescue Network,

(Brooks, 1942; USC Archives; Subak, 2010, pp. 87, 103, 105, 109-112, 125, 148, 156-159, 164, 173-175, 181, 191, 194-195, 198, 209)

Fanny Zimmer, wife of Dr. René Zimmer, (Brooks, 1942; Subak, 2010, pp. 105, 111, 158, 191)

Reverend Waitstill Sharp●, (USA), Southern France, Czechoslovakia

Waitstill and Martha Sharp represented the Unitarian Service Committee in the Marseilles area. They helped distribute relief supplies and medicine to needy refugees. They also helped Spanish Civil War refugees as well as Jews who were interned in the French camps. In 1940, the Sharps helped save a number of Jewish children by taking them to Spain. They were helped by American diplomat Hiram Bingham IV. They were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 2006.

(Brooks, 1942; Subak, 2010, pp. 1-24, 28-29, 33-36, 38, 47, 50-52, 54, 55, 57, 58, 66-67, 76, 94, 97, 172, 213-215)

Martha Sharp●, (USA), France, Czechoslovakia

(Brooks, 1942; Subak, 2010, pp. 2, 9-24, 30-32, 41, 52-53, 55, 60-65, 68, 76, 94-95, 119-120, 134-137, 177-178, 210, 214, 237)

Reverend Dr. Charles Rhind Joy (USA), France

(Joy, Charles Rhind. Papers. Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Harvard University Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Brooks, 1942, Subak, 2010, pp. 52, 54-60, 70, 71, 78-83, 90-91, 114-115, 129, 130, 131-132, 186, 187, 189, 190, 194-196)

Robert C. Dexter and wife, Elizabeth Dexter (USA), WRB representative, Portugal, 1944-1945

(Dexter, Elisabeth Anthony, and Robert Cloutman Dexter. “Last Port of Freedom.” Unpublished manuscript. Multiple drafts, undated. Elisabeth Anthony Dexter Papers, Box 16. John Hay Library, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island; Brooks, 1942; Subak, 2010, pp. 25-28, 35, 59, 64-65, 76-78, 81-82, 100-109, 137-141, 157-159, 164, 169-171, 174-176, 207-208)

Isaac Weissman, Portugal (Jewish)

Franzi von Hildebrand, assistant to Dr. Charles Joy, (Fry, 1945; Subak, 2010, pp. 249n1)

Dr. Olmer (Jewish), Children’s Aid Rescue Society, (Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants; OSE) Marseilles clinic,

Dr. Wolf, pediatrician, Children’s Aid Rescue Society, (Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants; OSE), Marseilles clinic (Brooks, 1942; Subak, 2010, p. 155),

Dr. Joseph Weil (Jewish), Children’s Aid Rescue Society, (Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants; OSE), Marseilles clinic, Brooks, 1942 ; (Ryan, 1996; Subak, 2010, pp. 86-88, 119, 145, 179-181, 201, 203, 204)

Dr. Richard Baer (Jewish), physician, USC medical staff, (Subak, 2010, pp. 141, 143)

Mr. Raptopoulos (Ryan, 1996)

Madam Rene Lang, children’s teacher in Rivesaltes internment camp, supervised 12 workers in camp, (Ryan, 1996; Subak, 2010, pp. 88, 155, 197)

Aba Scerbac, (Jewish; Subak, 2010, p. 141)

Dr. Zina Minor, (Jewish; Subak, 2010, pp. 87-88, 155)

Hedwig Himmelstern, (Subak, 2010, pp. 141-143)

Mrs. Kirbach, teacher, Bompard, (Ryan, 1996)

Dr. Ilse Hamburger, teacher, Bompard, (Ryan, 1996)

Madam Chavoutier, (Ryan, 1996; Subak, 2010, p. 67)

Dr. Mendel, physician, (Subak, 2010, p. 155)

Dr. Landsmann, physician, (Subak, 2010, p. 155)

Dr. Karp, (Subak, 2010, p. 155)

Margot Stein, relief worker Hotel Bompard, Marseilles. (Subak, 2010, pp. 109-124)

Herta “Jo” Tempi, USC office, Paris (Subak, 2010, pp. 198-200)

Unitarian Service Committee, physicians and surgeons, Marseilles, France:

Dr. René Zimmer, head USC Marseilles clinic, see René Zimmer Rescue Network

(USC Archives; Subak, 2010, pp. 87, 103, 105, 109-112, 125, 148, 156-159, 164, 173-175, 181, 191, 194-195, 198, 209)

Dr. Zina Minor, (USC Archives; Subak, 2010, pp. 87-88, 155)

Dr. Mendel, (USC Archives; Subak, 2010, p. 155)

Dr. Richard Baer, (USC Archives; Subak, 2010, pp. 141, 143, 155)

Dr. Karp, (USC Archives; Subak, 1020, p. 155)

Dr. Landsmann, (USC Archives; Subak, 2010, p. 155)

Dr. Joseph Weil, (Jewish; USC Archives; Subak, 2010, pp. 86-88, 119, 145, 179-181, 201, 203-204; Weil, Joseph, Le Combat d’un Juste, Bron: Cheminements, 2002)

Dr. Carcassonne, surgeon, (Subak, 2010, p. 191)

Unitarian Service Committee Kindergarten Program,

(USC Archives; Subak, 2010)

Madam Lang, head, (USC Archives; Subak, 2010, pp. 88, 155)

Madam Monteil, (USC Archives; Subak, 2010, p. 155)

Vivette Herman Samuel (Jewish), Children’s Aid Rescue Society, (Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants; OSE), Rivesaltes camp, (Subak, 2010, p. 120)

Jacqueline Levy (Jewish), Children’s Aid Rescue Society, (Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants; OSE), Rivesaltes camp, (Subak, 2010, p. 120)

Unitarian Service Committee Kindergarten Program

(USC Archives; Subak, 2010)

Madam Monteil (USC Archives; Subak, 2010, p. 155)

Madame Haber+, medical secretary, deported with her husband

(USC Archives; Subak, 2010, p. 155)

Vivette Herman Samuel (Jewish), OSE, Rivesaltes camp (Subak, 2010, p. 120)

Jacqueline Levy (Jewish), OSE, Rivesaltes camp (Subak, 2010, p. 120)

Helped by (individuals):

Varian Fry●, Emergency Rescue Committee (ERC; Centre Americain de Secours), Marseilles, Fry, 1945, Fry, Papers. Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New York City.

Donald and Helen Lowrie, YMCA, Czech Aid, Nimes Committee, Lowrie, 1963; Lowrie, Donald A., and Helen O. Lowrie. Papers. University of Illinois Archives, Champagne-Urbana, Illinois.

Danny Benédite, Emergency Rescue Committee (ERC; Centre Americain de Secours), Marseilles, , Fry, 1945, Fry, Papers. Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New York City.

Paul Schmierer, Emergency Rescue Committee (ERC), Marseilles,

(Fry, 1945, Fry, Papers. Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New York City.Subak, 2010, pp. 147, 149, 156, 159-161)

Dr. Jourdan*+, courier for USC, arrested, executed, (Subak, 2010, p. 200)

Czech Consul Vladimir Vochoc●, Marseilles, (Fry; 1945; Lowrie, Donald A., and Helen O. Lowrie. Papers. University of Illinois Archives, Champagne-Urbana, Illinois; Ryan, 1996; Subak, 2010)

French Consul, Portugal, (Subak, 2010, p. 62)

Marshal Field III, Chicago, department store owner, provided financial assistance tor efugees and guarantees to US State Department, (Sharp, p. 25; Subak, 2010, p. 62)

Frederike Zweig (Jewish refugee), helped fellow refugees escape France to Portugal, then to Mexico, (Subak, 2010, p. 65)

Frank Bohn, American Federation of Labor (AFofL), Marseilles, helped secure the release of refugeesstuck at the Spanish border for the Unitarian Committee, (Fry 1945; Subak, 2010, p. 74)

Vivette Herman (Jewish), volunteered to work in USC school for Jewish children in Rivesaltes French camp, (Samuel, 2002; Subak, 2010, p. 120)

Jacqueline Levy (Jewish), French Jewish refugee, worked in USC children’s schools in Rivesaltes French camp, (Samuel, 2002; Subak, 2010, p. 120)

Joseph Schwartz, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee representative, Lisbon, Portugal; supported USC rescue and relief activities in France and Portugal (JDC Archives, NYC; (Bauer, 1981; Suabak, 2010, p. 124)

The Unitarian Service Committee was helped by and cooperated with the following groups in Marsielles (groups):

American Friends Service Committee, Marseilles, (Subak, 2010)

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), Marsielles, supported rescue and aid with funds and support (JDC Archives, NYC; Bauer, 1981; Subak, 2010)

Consulate, Marseilles, France

Vice-Consul Hiram “Harry” Bingham IV, 1937-1941

Vice Consul Myles Standish, 1937-1941

Czech Aid, (Lowrie, 1963; Subak, 2010, p. 129)

Emergency Rescue Committee (Centre Americain de Secours), Marseilles

(Fry, 1945; Fry, Varian. Papers. Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New York City).

Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HICEM), New York, London, had 80 aid workers in Marseilles, (Bauer, 1981; YIVO Archives, NYC; Subak, 2010)

International Migration Service

Joint Committee of the International Red Cross, (Subak, 2010, p. 125)

Madam Chevally, (Lowrie, 1961, p. 87)

Nimes Committee, (Lowrie, 1961; Ryan, 1996; Subak, 2010)

Ouevre Secours Enfants, (OSE), Subak, 2010)

Secours Suisse, (Subak, 2010)

Unitarian Service Committee, Lisbon, Portugal, (Lowrie, 1963; Subak, 2010)

Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), Marseilles

United States Embassies/Consulates; Diplomatic Post Records NARA

Embassy, Vichy France, Diplomatic Post Records NARA,

Ambassadore H. Pinkney Tuck, Diplomatic Post Records NARA,

Consulate, Marseilles, France, Diplomatic Post Records NARA, Fry, 1945; Fry, Varian. Papers. Columbia UniversityRare Book and Manuscript Library, New York City

Vice-Consul Hiram “Harry” Bingham IV, 1937-1941, Diplomatic Post

Records NARA; Bingham Papers USHMM; Fry, 1945; Fry, Varian. Papers.

Columbia University, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New York City

Vice Consul Myles Standish, 1937-1941; Diplomatic Post Records NARA

World Service of the Young Men’s/Women’s Christian Association (YMCA/YWCA)

Marseilles office, headquarters USA; see also Czech Aid (Centre d’Aide Tschécoslovaque), Marseilles

Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) Marseilles office

United States, active in France, Czechoslovakia, Portugal, established (in U.S.) in 1851

Dr. Donald Lowrie worked for the North American and later the world service of the YMCA. Lowrie worked with a number of other relief agencies in the French internment camps. He helped set up the YMCA relief activities in the unoccupied zone of Vichy. He worked closely with Czech diplomat in Marseilles Vladimir Vochoc to distribute illegal passports. Later, Lowrie helped Jews escape the French Foreign Labor Battalions by setting up a protected area. Lowrie also obtained visas from other diplomats, including Cambodian, Portuguese and Mexican. These documents helped Jewish refugees flee to Switzerland. Lowrie also helped with an attempt to rescue Jewish children who lost their parents when they were deported in 1942.

Lowrie coordinated the work of a number of relief agencies present in the internment camps and directed aid to the neediest individuals. Along with Tracey Strong, he set up YMCA relief headquarters for the Unoccupied Zone on the rue Pythéas. He personally oversaw the distribution of nonmaterial aid from the North American YMCA, such as books and musical instruments. Like Varian Fry, Lowrie also engaged in clandestine and illegal activities with a group called Czech Aid. He worked with the Czech consul Vochoc to distribute illegal passports and to set up the Château de la Blancherie on the outskirts of Marseille.

Lowrie also obtained forged Cambodian, Portuguese, and Mexican visas to help refugees into Switzerland, for Swiss authorities sometimes admitted foreigners with visas for other destinations. He made contact with the first underground organizations, which he later claimed appeared during the summer of 1941, and worked with Abbé Perceval, prior of the Dominican monastery in Marseille that hid Jews. To avoid incurring greater suspicion from government authorities, Lowrie carefully avoided the temptation of exchanging money on the “grey market,” an activity that brought much trouble to Varian Fry, and made only legal exchanges, although he did admit to sometimes obtaining his funds from illegal sources. Lowrie’s best-known efforts, however, occurred in connection with a large-scale American attempt to rescue Jewish children abandoned when their parents were deported in 1942.

In November 1940 Lowrie helped set up the Coordination Committee for Relief Work in Internment Camps, commonly called the Nîmes Committee, because its monthly meetings were held there. The committee of twenty-five agencies devoted itself to relief work, primarily in the internment camps but also on behalf of individuals in Marseille. The Nîmes Committee collectively made reports on camp conditions, which Vichy must have taken seriously, because André Jean-Faure, the government’s camp inspector, attended all meetings. Whether Vichy actually took notice of committee suggestions, perhaps as a concession to public opinion, or simply intended to keep track of the committee’s activities is unclear.”

There were a number of Jewish volunteers who worked in the YMCA. In addition, the YMCA cooperated with many Jewish rescue organizations.

(Ryan, pp. 148-149. Lowrie, Donald, The Hunted Children. New York: Norton, 1963. Romanofsky, Social Service Organizations, pp. 758-764. Leo Baeck Institute Archives. Subak, Susan, Rescue and Flight: American Relief Workers who Defied the Nazis, Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska, 2010)

Donald A. Lowrie, (USA), Southern France

(Donald L. Lowrie Papers, University of Illinois Archives, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois; Fry, Varian. Surrender on Demand. (New York: Random House, 1945). Marino, Andy. A Quiet American: The Secret War of Varian Fry. (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999), pp. 107, 132, 137, 191. Isenberg, Sheila. A Hero of Our Own: The Story of Varian Fry. (New York: Random House). Ryan, Donna F. The Holocaust and the Jews of Marseille: The Enforcement of Anti-Semitic Policies in Vichy France. (Urbana, IL: The University of Illinois Press, 1996), p. 148-149, 152, 167, 216. JDC Archives, New York, NY; Subak, Susan, Rescue and Flight: American Relief Workers who Defied the Nazis, Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska, 2010, pp. 33-35, 39-44, 51, 53, 61-68, 81, 84, 86, 88, 93, 105, 141-144, 152, 153, 157)

Helen Lowrie, (USA), Southern France.

(Subak, Susan, Rescue and Flight: American Relief Workers who Defied the Nazis, Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska, 2010, pp. 34-35, 40, 53, 60, 62-64, 152-153, 157, 181-182)

Tracy Strong, (USA), Southern France

Tracy Strong was a member of the Young Men’s Christian Association headquarters in the French unoccupied zone. He worked with Donald Lowrie with the YMCA in distributing aid. Strong was involved in illegal activities with Czech diplomat Vladimir Vochoc. He helped distribute illegal passports and documents on the outskirts of Marseilles.

(Ryan, 1996, p. 148; Subak, 2010, p. 243n30)

Vratislav Stula (Czechoslovakia), (Lowrie, 1963)

Slavomir Brazk (Czechoslovakia), (Lowrie, 1963)

Pastor Toureille● (France) (Lowrie, 1963)

Helped by:

Vladimir Vochoc+●, see Czech Consulate, Marseilles, France

Dr. Joseph Weill, physician, worked closely with Donald Lowrie on behalf of Jewish children (Subak, 2010, pp. 179-181)

Noel Field, Unitarian Service Committee (USC), Marseilles, France, Geneva, Switzerland, Helped smuggle refugees and found hiding places for them. (Subak, 2010, p. 181)

Genevieve Pittet, CIMADE, France

Led and supervised successful escape routes from France to Switzerland. Worked with YMCA office in Geneva. (Pittet, 1945)

Joseph Fisera (Lowrie, 1963; Subak, 2010)

French YMCA/YWCA

Zionist Youth Movement (Mouvement de Jeunesse Sioniste; MJS)

Otto (Toto) Giniewski, a Jewish refugee from Austria who had settled in Montpellier, founded a youth movement called the “Zionist Brigade of Montpellier,” The Brigade developed into a national underground movement, the Mouvement de Jeuness Sioniste (Zionist Youth Movement; MJS). The MJS was made up of young Zionists. Members of the MJS devoted themselves to rescuing fellow Jews, children as well as adults. No effort was too great and the results were remarkable. Different networks within the MJS were active in far-flung parts of southern France. Service Andre, based in Marseilles, took their charges to the area of Chambon-sur-Lignon near Lyon; the Marcel network operated out of Nice. The rescue branch of the Armée Juive (Jewish Army) was active in the prefecture of Tarn and in Paris. Another form of rescue was smuggling Jews across the borders of France, both to Switzerland and to Spain. The MJS worked with the Dutch Hehalutz organization, which managed to organize an escape route from Amsterdam to the south of France and into Spain, with the support of the French Zionist organizations. Some of the most courageous of these young underground workers were caught, tortured and killed. Among these were Marianne Cohn (OSE), Andrée Salomon (OSE) and Joachim Simon (Sushu) of the Dutch group.

Rescue efforts by French Jewish youth organizations were highly effective. Despite working under extremely dangerous conditions, either in urban or rural areas, they were able to save 7,000 Jewish children whose parents had been deported. 1,500 of these were guided into Switzerland. Many others were placed in non-Jewish households.

Three French organizations, the EIF (Jewish Scouts), the MJS and the Armée Juive, also participated in armed combat.

[Latour, A. The Jewish Resistance in France, 1940-1944. (New York, 1981). Lazare, Luciene. Rescue as Resistance: How Jewish Organization Fought the Holocaust in France. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996). Rayski, Adam. The Choice of Jews Under Vichy, Between Submission and Resistance. (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press and US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC, 2005), pp. 159, 182, 258, 264, 266, 296, 312.]