Clergy Who Rescued or Aided Jews in France

Catholic Church - Priests

Cardinal-Monsignor Jules Gerard Saliège, Archbishop of Toulouse (1870-1956)

Cardinal-Monsignor Jules Gerard Saliège was the first senior clergyman in France to protest actions against the Jews in France.  He had his priests and nuns hide and shelter Jews especially children in his diocese.  His assistant was bishop de Courreges.

Cardinal Pierre Marie Gerlier, Primate of All Gall, Archbishop of Lyons

Cardinal Pierre Marie Gerlier was the head of the Catholic Church diocese in Lyon.  He was the highest ranking Catholic clergyman in France.  He was president of Amitié Chrétienne. Cardinal Gerlier supported rescue of Jews and other victims of the Nazis.

Bishop Molissaron of Albi‡

Monsignor Paul Rémond, Bishop of Nice

Monsignor Paul Rémond opposed the Vichy government’s anti-Semitic policies before and during the war.  He actively supported the rescue of Jews in and around Nice.  He was responsible in part for saving 527 Jewish children. Monsignor Rémond supported Moussa Abadi’s rescue network.

Monsignor Blanc‡, Vicar General of Marseilles Diocese

Monsignor Marius Chalve, head of the Fontlongue Seminary, Miramas (Bouches du Rhône)

Monsignor Marius Chalve was head of the Fontlongue Seminary, Miramas (Bouches du Rhône), about 70 kilometers from Marseilles.

Monsignor Pezel‡, Paris

Monsignor Louis de Courreges d’Ustou, Coadjutor to Cardinal Saliège

Monsignor Louis de Courreges d’Ustou was the chief of staff of Monsignor Saliège, Archbishop of Toulouse.  He supervised placing Jewish children in Catholic institutions to protect them from arrest and deportations.  He worked with Jewish rescue leader George Garel in the Toulouse area.  He helped rescue 650 Jews from French detention camps.

Monsignor Pierre Bockel, Lyons

Monsignor Pierre Bockel was active in the French resistance in the Lyon area.  He saved several Jews by finding hiding places and providing forged protective papers.

Monsignor Daniel Pezeril, Paris

As a young priest in Paris, Pezeril issued at least one hundred false baptismal papers to endangered Jews, saving them from arrest and deportation.  He hid a Jewish couple in his residence.

Father Jean Adrien, Marist Order, Head of Saint-Marie, Saint-Chamond, Lyon, France

Father Jean Adrien hid Werner Epstein, a German Jewish refugee, and two Jewish children in his school during the German occupation.

Father Cyrille Argenti, Marseilles, France

Father Cyrille Argenti worked with Jewish rescue organization OSE in Marseilles.  He escorted Jews to the town of Le Chambon.

Father Joseph-Auguste Arribat, Chaplain, French camps, member Salesian Order, Villemur-sur-Tarn, Department of Haute Garonne

Father Joseph-Auguste Arribat hid Jews in the St. Pierre boarding school that he established.  He also hid and sheltered Jews from Nazis on a remote farm in the countryside.

Father Agathange Bacquet‡, Franciscan monk

André Bagny (Brother Louis), Society of Mary (Marist)

In the Catholic Boarding School town of L’Arbresle, near Lyons, André Bagny hid Wolf Lewin, a Polish Jew in the School during the German occupation.

Father Anselme Barin, Marie-en-Tinée, Ilonse

Father Anselme Barin hid the Barils, a Jewish family who had primarily been hiding in Nice and two sisters and mother from the Mossé-Levy family.

Father Michel Blain, Parish Priest, Notre Dame Auxiliation Church, Nice (Alps Maritimes); Chaplain, Don Bosco School for Boys

Father Michel Blain hid and sheltered 12 Jewish students at his school, and provided them protective papers.

Father Raymond Bocard, École St. Francois (College) Ville-la-Grand (Haute Savoie), France

Working with four other faculty clergyman, Father Bocard helped hundreds of Jews and other refugees escape France into Switzerland.  He worked with Father Louis Favre and Father Pierre Frontin.

Father Joseph Bonsirven‡, Lyon, France

Father Jean-Charles Bovet, Priest of Archamps (Haute Savoie), near Swiss border

Father Jean-Charles Bovet helped Jewish refugee Berhahdt escape to Switzerland in 1942.

Father Maurice Brasche

Father Roger Braun, Southern France (Jesuit), Chaplain of Gurs and Rivesaltes French detention camps in Southern France (unoccupied zone)

Father Roger Braun helped free Jewish refugees in camps and provided relief to others.  Worked with Amitié Chrétienne.

Father Bremond‡ (Jesuit), Marseilles, France

Father Jacques (Lucien) Bunel†, Avon (Seine-et-Marne), France, director Petite College Sainte-Thérèse

Father Jacques (Lucien) Bunel† hid fugitive Jews in the College.  He was later arrested and deported to Mauthausen and Gusen.  He died shortly after liberation

Brother Raymond Carbonnet, student of Bishop (Monsignor) Marius Chalve, Fontlongue Seminary in Miramas (Bouches du Rhône)

Brother Raymond Carbonnet was a student of Bishop (Monsignor) Marius Chalve, Fontlongue Seminary in Miramas (Bouches du Rhône), about 70 kilometers from Marseilles.  He hid and sheltered Jews in the Frontlonge Seminary.  He smuggled Jews into Switzerland.

Father Joseph Chaine‡, Lyon, France

Father Pierre Chaillet (Jesuit), Lyons, France

Father Pierre Chaillet helped Jews imprisoned in French detention camps in Southern France.  He criticized the Catholic Church, called for action to fight the anti-Semitic policies of Vichy and to save Jews from deportation.  He founded Les Cahiers du Témoignage Chrétien, an illegal underground newsletter that condemned anti-Semitism in France.  He also founded, with Protestant Minister Roland de Pury, the Amitié Chrétienne (Christian Friendship) rescue organization.  He personally saved Jews and worked with Jewish rescue organizations providing forged life-saving documents.  He was later arrested and imprisoned by the Gestapo.

Father Francis Coeuret (alias Lt. Benôit), Villars-sur-Val, Department of Alpes-Maritimes

Father Francis Coeuret worked in the French underground.  He aided Jews and provided forged life-saving documents.

Father (Abbé) Gilbert Cugnasse, head of “Petit Seminaire” of Pratlong, Tacaze (Tarn)

Father (Abbé) Gilbert Cugnasse hid Jews in his seminary during the period of 1942 to August 1944.  Cugnasse also set up a field hospital in his seminary for underground Jewish Fighting Organizations of the Jewish Scouts (EIF).

Father René Delafosse, Ressins Agricultural Boarding School, Nandax (Loire), see also Father Victor Kolmer

Father Théomir Devaux, Les Pères de Sion Convent, Church of Saint Sulpice, Paris

Father Théomir Devaux supervised and facilitated rescue of hundreds of Jewish children.  He worked closely with Jewish rescue organizations.  He distributed forged life-saving documents to protect Jews.  He organized efforts to hide Jewish children and raised funds to provide sustenance for his wards.

Father Antoine Dumas, Priest of Saint Just Village, Loire Department

Father Antoine Dumas hid and sheltered Jewish refugee families in his home.  He encouraged and inspired others in the village of St. Just to help save Jews.  As a result, more than 100 Jews, mostly children, were rescued.

Brother Aimé-Edmond (Marcel Celestin Gallon, alias M. Henri), Villa Roseland, Anoustrine (Pyrenees Orientales), France, and towns of Livia and Puigcereda, Spain

Brother Aimé-Edmond, along with three local priests, smuggled Jewish refugees and others into Spain.

Father Paul Elias, St. Auvent, Cussac town in Department of Haute-Vienne

Father Paul Elias worked to hide and shelter Jews with his mother, Elddie Elias.

Father Francois Favrat†, École St. Francois (College) Ville-la-Grand, France

Father Louise Adrien Favre†, École Saint-Francois a Ville la Grande, Annemasse

Father Louise Adrien Favre† smuggled Jews and underground fighters into Switzerland.  He worked with Brother Bocard and Father Pernoud.  He helped numerous Jews to survive the war.  He was caught and tortured, and was murdered by Germans on July 16, 1944.

Father Gaston Fessard‡

Father Figuet‡

Father Jean Fleury, Poitiers camp on Route Limoges (Vienne)

Father Jean Fleury rescued Jewish children from the Poitiers French camp.  He then found French families to take them in.  Father Fleury also distributed food, money and forged documents to endangered Jews.

Father (Abbé) Camille Folliet, Annecy (Haute Savoie), France

Father (Abbé) Camille Folliet hid Jews in his and his father’s home.  He found shelter and aid for Jews in and around Annecy.  He helped Jews to escape into Switzerland.  He distributed forged life-saving papers.

Father (Abbé) Joseph Folliet‡, Chaplain, JOC

Father Marie-Amedée Folliet (Chanoine), Saint Joseph des Fins Parish, Annecy (Haute Savoie), member of French underground

Father Marie-Amedée Folliet was a member of the French underground.  He was arrested and deported to a German concentration camp.  He hid and sheltered Jews from arrest.

Father Claudius Fournier, Veres, Department of Haute-Savoie

Father Claudius Fournier was a parish priest in Vers, Department of Haute Savoie, near the Swiss border.  He protected Jews until they could successfully be smuggled into Switzerland.  He personally took Jews across the border.

Father Pierre Frontin, Principal, Exole St. Francois (“Juuvenat”), Ville-la-Grand

Father Félix Gagné, Village of Siaugues St. Romain, France

Father Félix Gagné hid Jewish refugee Robert Sigalea in his home for more than 14 months.

Father (Abbé) Simon Gallay, Evian-le-Bains, Department of Haute-Savoie, France

Father (Abbé) Simon Gallay was a local parish priest in the spa town of Evian-le-Bains on Lake Lemon.  Gallay worked closely with Father Albert Simon, Father Pierre Mopty and other Catholic priests to rescue Jews.  They arranged for and personally smuggled Jewish refugee families into Switzerland.

Father (Abbé) Albert Gau, Carcassone, France

Father (Abbé) Albert Gau placed young Jews in hiding with local Christian organizations and with families.  He obtained and distributed vital life-saving documents including forged baptismal papers.  He established a youth hostel for Jews in hiding until that could be placed.

Father Pierre Girard, Seminaire Universitaire, Montrejeau, Department of Haute Garonne

Father Pierre Girard worked with Father Georges Villepet.  With his aid, Father Georges Villepet hid two Jews in the seminary which he ran.

Father (Abbé) Alexander Glassberg (1902-1981)

Alexandre (André) Glasberg was a Jew born in Zhitomir, in the Ukraine.  He converted and became a Catholic priest in France.  In 1940, he established a charitable organization called Christian Friendship (Amitié Chrétienne).  This organization was involved in the rescue and relief of Jews in southern France.  Glasberg operated with the help of French Catholic Cardinal Pierre-Marie Gerlier, who was head of the Catholic Church in France.  Amitié Chrétienne set up shelters for Jews who were released from the French internment camps.  In the summer of 1942, Glasberg and his organization went underground.  He helped to hide Jews throughout the unoccupied zone.  In December 1942, Glasberg’s activities were found out by the Gestapo, and he joined the French partisan movement.

After the war, Glassberg worked with the Mossad Aliyah Bet, helping Jews emigrate to Palestine.

Father Louis Gosselin, Louis Pasteur Hospital, Cherbourg, France

Father Louis Gosselin was a priest in the Louis Pasteur Hospital in Cherbourg, France.  He helped Jewish refugees and others in hiding from occupying German forces.

Father (Abbé) Albert Gross, Chaplain, Caritas-Suisse, Gurs concentration camp, France

Father (Abbé) Albert Gross, using illegal means, obtained transit permits, Swiss temporary residence visas and other documents that allowed Jewish internees and others to leave the camp and in some cases to escape to Switzerland.

Father François Imberdis, Dormaize, Department of Puy de Dome, teacher in Clermond-Ferrand

Father François Imberdis hid Jews on his parents’ farm in the village of Lenteyras.  His parents Amelie and Jean Imberdis have also been honored for saving Jews.

Father (Abbé) Jacquet, Juvigny (near Annemasse, Department of Haute-Savoie), France

Father (Abbé) Jacquet and Father Camille Folliet worked together to help Jewish and other refugees to cross the border and escape to Switzerland.

Father (Abbé) Marius Jolivet, Collonges-sous-Salève (Haute-Savoie), Southern France

Father (Abbé) Marius Jolivet, a parish priest in the town of Collognes-sous-Salève on the Swiss border, helped numerous Jews escape from France to Switzerland during the German occupation, 1943-1944.

Father Victor Kolmer, Don Bosco Catholic Order, Principal of the Ressins Agricultural School, Nandax (Loire)

Father Victor Kolmer worked with Father René Delafosse to save a Jewish refugee in their boarding school.

Father (Abbé) Alphonse LaGarde‡, Southern France

Father Claudius Longeray, Parish of Mercier, near Annecy (Haute Savoie)

Father Claudius Longeray hid a Jewish family and arranged for their food and shelter during the German occupation.

Father Henri de Lubac‡, Lyon, France

Father Pierre Marie-Bénoit (Benedetto), Capuchin Monk, President, Delegazione Assistenze Emigranti Ebrei (Jewish Emigrant Association; DELASEM), 1942-1945, Southern France, Rome

Father Marie-Bénoit, a Catholic Capuchin monk, was an organizer of one of the most successful rescues of Jews in the Holocaust.  He worked in Southern France and later throughout Italy.  He organized the rescue of thousands of Jews and other refugees from the Nazis.  He was President of the Delegazione Assistenze Emigranti Ebrei (Jewish Emigrant Association; DELASEM), a rescue and relief agency.  Bénoit worked with numerous diplomats from Switzerland, Romania, Hungary and Spain in helping Jews. Father Benedetto was known by his friends as the “Father of the Jews.”  Father Bénoit was declared Righteous Among the Nations in 1966.

Father Eugène Marquet

Father Auguste Mayrand, (Dominican), Oullins, Lyon, France

Father Auguste Mayrand was the director of a boy’s school in Oullins, in Lyon.  He hid and sheltered numerous Jewish children and adults in the boy’s school during the German occupation.

Father Henri Ménardais, Chalmaison (Seine-et-Marne), Chaplain, Ballet of the Paris Opera

Father Henri Ménardais hid Jews in his residence, sent Jewish children to a Catholic summer home, provided forged papers including baptismal certificates which freed Jewish prisoners in the Drancy Transit Camp in Paris.

Father (Abbé) Pierre Mopty, Montpellier

Father (Abbé) Pierre Mopty rescued a Jewish family from the Rivesaltes French detention camp and escorted them safely to Switzerland.

Father René de Naurois, Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, Southern France

Father René de Naurois helped hide and shelter Jews from arrest and deportation by the Germans.  he worked for Archbishop Saliège.  He was wanted by the Gestapo.  He escaped to Spain in November 1942.

Father Regis de Parceval‡ (Dominican Prior), Marseilles, France, arrested and interned

Father Regis de Parceval‡ helped numerous Jews who had escaped Les Milles camp.  He worked with Father Stève‡ in a rescue network to help Jewish refugees escape to Spain.

Father Jean Parent, Assistant Curate, Church of Saint-Just in Lyons

Father Jean Parent joined the French underground and saved the lives of dozens of Jews by hiding them in local Catholic institutions.  He provided them with forged life-saving documents.

Father André Payot, Department of Haute-Savoie

Father André Payot helped smuggle Jews into neighboring Switzerland.  He worked with locals to facilitate dangerous border crossings.

Father Gilbert Pernoud, École St. Francois (College) Ville-la-Grand, France

Father Gilbert Pernoud and other faculty of the College, including Father Louis Favre† and Raymond Bocard, smuggled Jews and other refugees into Swtizerland during the German occupation.

Father Joseph Marie Perrin, director Dominican Friary, Marseilles

Father Joseph Marie Perrin saved numerous Jewish refugees in Marseilles who had escaped Les Milles detention camp.  He provided travel documents and helped the refugees cross the border into Spain.  He worked with Fathers Stève and Parceval in the rescue network.

Father Léon Perret, head of Catholic boarding school, Arbresle

Father Léon Perret hid Polish Jewish refugees Wolf Levin and his wife in the school during the German occupation.

Father (Monsignor) Pierre-Marie Peuch, Head, Le Petit Seminaire, Castres, Tarn, France

Father (Monsignor) Pierre-Marie Peuch hid and sheltered Jews in the seminary during the German occupation.  They posed as teachers and students.

Father Emile Joseph Marie Planckaert, Paris, France

Father Emile Joseph Marie Planckaert had Jewish internees released from the Drancy transit camp in Paris.  He hid and found hiding places for them.  Father Planckaert obtained and distributed Forged Life-saving papers.  He later worked with Father Theomir Devaux and helped him rescue Jewish children.

Father Joseph Relave, Village of Courzieu, near Lyon

Father Joseph Relave hid Jews, including members of the Huppert family.  He was helped by his sister Catherine Relave.  He provided them with forged identity papers.

Father Jean Renou, Dormans (Marne)

Father Jean Renou hid members of the Lévy family.  Father Renou was denounced for helping Jews and had to hid himself.

Father Henri Révol, Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, Department of Haute-Savoie

Father Henri Révol personally guided many Jewish refugees across the border to Switzerland.

Father Joseph Richard (alias Joseph Duchamblo), Inspector-General of Le Petit Seminaire, Charance, Department of Haute-Alpes

Father Joseph Richard saved Jewish refugee Werner Epstein from capture by French and German autorities.

Father Louis Richard, Abbot la Maison d’Exercises Spirutuels, Notre Dame du Chatelard, Francheville le Haut, Lyon, France

Father Louis Richard employed and hid a French Jew, Herman Labedz, and his family in the monastery, saving their lives.

Father Roger Riebert, Church of Saint Martin in Troyes, Capital of the Department of Hautes-Alpes

Father Roger Riebert saved the Salomon family from arrest and deportation by hiding them with different families in the area.

Father Riquet‡, Paris

Father Julien-Georges Rocal, St. Saud, Department of Dordogne

Father Julien-Georges Rocal saved members of the Molho family by hiding them in his home in St. Saud.  He took care of them from the summer of 1942 to August 1944, the end of the German occupation.

Father (Abbé) Jean Joseph Rosay†, Douvaine, Department of Haute-Savoie

Father (Abbé) Jean Joseph Rosay† was a major rescue activist.  He helped Jewish refugees cross the border to safety in Switzerland.  He worked with CIMADE and OSE, with whose help he hid Jews in nearby residences and institutions.  He worked with Georges Perrod, Joseph Lancon† and Francois Perrillat†.  Father Rosay died in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

Father (Abbé) Rostand‡, Nice

Father Oscar Rousseau, Mons-en-Baroel Region

Father Oscar Rousseau hid and sheltered Jews, including Joseph Flescher, a Polish refugee, and Kurt Bernstein, an Austrian Jewish refugee.

Father Vincent Simeoni, Abbot of the Don Bosco Monastery (Affiliated with the Saint-François de Sales Order in Nice)

Father Vincent Simeoni worked with Sister Josephine Chopin and Father Blain.  He hid and sheltered 80 Jewish boys and 20 Jewish girls.

Father Albert Simone (Simond), Curé, Evian-le-Bains, France

Beginning in 1942, Father Albert Simone and his assistant, Father Simon Gallay, assisted Jewish refugees to cross the border and escape France to Switzerland.  They worked with local guides and priests in the area.

Father Fernand Singerlé, Venelles and Meyrargues (Bouches du Rhône)

Father Fernand Singerlé participated in a rescue network that hid and protected Jews who escaped from Les Milles detention camp.  He hid Jews in his residence.

Father (Abbé) Jean-Marie Soutou‡, Southern France

Father Robert Stahl, Secretary General, Société de Patronage des Enfants Moralement Abandonnes (orphanage), Lille, Buisson

Father Robert Stahl hid and protected Jewish children in the Catholic institution he directed.  He is credited with saving 50 Jewish youths.

Father John Aan de Stegge, Toulouse (Haute-Garonne), France

Father John Aan de Stegge was a Dutch priest serving in Toulouse.  He worked with the Dutch Paris Resistance network, which saved Jews in 1941-1942.  He helped Jewish internees escape French detention camps.  Many were able to escape to Spain and Portugal.  He is credited with saving approximately 60 Jews.

Father Stève‡, Marseilles, France

Father Stève‡ helped numerous Jews who had escaped Les Milles camp.  He worked with Father Regis de Parceval‡ in a rescue network to help Jewish refugees escape to Spain.

Father Jean Terruwe, Dutch Priest, Dammartin-en-Goële, Department of Seine-et-Marne, Paris

Father Jean Terruwe worked in a Catholic rescue network.  He was caught, arrested and deported to Dachau concentration camp in Germany, where he survived.  He is credited with rescuing 10 Jewish children.

Father Raymond Vancourt, Lille University, Lille, France

Father Raymond Vancourt hid and protected Jewish families in his residence during the German occupation.

Father Lucien-Henri Vandevoorde, Lille

Father Lucien-Henri Vandevoorde rescued Christine Meyers by hiding her in a Christian girls’ home.  He gave her ration cards under an assumed name.

Father Vigoreux‡, Villon, France

Father Georges Villepelet, Seminaire Universitaire, near Lyons

Father Georges Villepelet worked with Father Pierre Girard.  He helped save the Labeds family, Jewish refugees from Poland.

Father Marie-Jean Viollet, Chatou (near Paris)

Father Marie-Jean Viollet saved four members of the Freilich family, Jewish refugees, by hiding them in Church-owned property during the German occupation.

 

Catholic Church - Nuns

Mother Maria‡ of Notre Dame de Sion, Melon

Sister Agnes (Clara Walsh)

Sister Agnes worked with Sister Granier.

Sister Joséphine Denise Aguadich-Paulin, Convent Notre Dame de Sion, Grenoble; member, Amitié Chrétienne, OSE, Paris

Sister Marie Albert

Francine Allenait (Mother Saint Lucie), Member Saint Charles Order, Mother Superior Saint Jean de Arc Convent in Thizy (Rhône)

Francine Allenait was a member of Saint Charles Order, Mother Superior, Saint Jean d’Arc Convent in Thizy (Rhone).

Sister Cläre Barwitzky, Chamonix, St. Etienne (Loire)

From summer 1943 to summer 1944, Sister Cläre Barwitzky rescued and sheltered 30 Jewish children in a summer camp near Chamonix at Mont Blanc.

Sister Jeanne Berchmans (Meienhofer, Marie), Catholic Boarding School Thonon les Baines (Department of Haute-Savoie), French Alps

Sister Jeanne Berchmans hid and sheltered 3 members of the Wittels family who were refugees from Austria.

Sister Marie-Thérèse Berger, Abbey Saint Etienne Convent, Aubazine, Department of Corrèze in Central France

Sister Marie-Thérèse Berger was the chief administrator of the Abbey.  She worked with Mother Superior Marie-Gonzague Bredoux.  She worked with the French underground, hid and sheltered Jewish women in the Abbey.

Sister Denise Bergon, Principal, Notre Dame de Massip Boarding School, Massip Department of Lot, Southwestern France

Sister Denise Bergon hid and sheltered 80 Jews in her boarding school during the course of the German occupation.  She arranged for help for numerous other Jewish families.

Sister Marguerite Bernes, Mother Superior of the San Gianccomo Convent, Rome

Sister Marguerite Bernes was a French nun who hid and sheltered endangered Jews in her convent and nearby churches during the German occupation.

Sister Marie-Gonzague Bredoux, Mother Superior, Abbye Saint-Etienne Convent, Aubazine, Department of Corrèze in Central France

Sister Marie-Gonzague Bredoux worked with French underground to hide and shelter imperiled Jewish women at her Abbey of St. Etienne in Aubazine.

Sister Marie-Angélique (Sister Alice Chevalier), Vernet la Varenne (Puy de Dôme)

Sister Marie-Angélique ran a Catholic boarding school in Vernet-la-Varenne (Puy de Dôme).  She saved three Jewish girls by hiding them in her boarding school.

Sister Joséphine Chopin

Sister Joséphine Chopin ran a monastery boarding school for girls.

Sister Clotile‡, Sisters of Saint Paul

Sister Marie-Louise Delechenault (Marie de Jesus)

Mother Superior Jeanne Dessaigne (Sister Marie Angèle), Allanche, France

Mother Marie de Jésus (Hélène Dreyer), head of Catholic boarding school for girls at Fourvière, Lyons

Sister Emmenuelle, Convent des Clarisses

Sister Emmenuelle worked with Sister Anne-Marie and Sister Rose at the Convent des Clarisses.  They hid, sheltered and cared for Jewish children who had been separated from their parents during the German occupation of Nice.

Sister Francia‡, Sister of Zion, Paris

Sister Françoise-Elisabeth, Convent of Saint François of Sales, Voiron (Isère)

Sister Françoise-Elisabeth hid three Jewish girls in the convent.

Sister Marie-Gilberte (Victoria Depo), Aix-en-Provence (Bouches du Rhône)

Sister Marie-Gilberte ran La Charité orphanage in Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône).

Sister Granier

Sister Granier worked with Sister Agnès (Clara Walsh).

Mother Superior Henriette Gret (Sr. Anne-Marie), Clarisses Saint-Clare Convent, Chimiez

Mother Superior Henriette Gret hid numerous Jewish children from the Germans during their occupation.

Sister Irène Guillaume (Marthe)   

Sister Daniéla Haag, Divine Providence de St. Jean de Bassel, Argentat, Department of Corrèze, France

Sister Daniéla Haag successfully hid Jewish children during the German occupation.

Sister Jeanne Hertel, Toulon, Var

Sister Jeanne Hertel worked with Mother Marie-Thérèse Hertel in the convent to save Jews.

Sister Hyacinthe

Sister Inès (Madeleine Royer), Convent in Auviller, Department of Tarn-et-Garonne

Sister Inès, with fellow sister, hid about 100 Jewish children in their convent, many of whom were rescued from the French camps of Rivesaltes, Gurs, and Septfonds.

Sister Anne-Marie Le Cahérec, Saint Vincent de Paul Order, Flers, Department of Orne

Sister Anne-Marie Le Cahérec worked with Sister Marie-Louise Panneley and Sister Madeleine Malolepszy.

Sister Marie-Julie Lafont (Mother Marie-Madeleine), Mother Superior of La Providence Convent, Le Coteau Village, near Roanne, Department of Loire

Sister Marie-Julie Lafont worked with Sister Germaine Veyrine.

Yvonne Laurent (Louis de Gonzague)

Sister Anne-Marie Llobert, Director, General Hospital of Tarbes, Department of Hautes Pyrénées

Sister Anne-Marie Llobert hid and sheltered Jews in the General Hospital of Tarbes during the German occupation.

Sister Madeleine Malolepszy, Saint Vincent de Paul, Flers, Orne, Normandy, France

Sister Madeleine Malolepszy hid three Jewish sisters, Renee, Denise and Lilane Roth, in the order during the German occupation.

Sister Antoinette Massery, Rulhe (Aveyron)

Sister Antoinette Massery directed a retirement home in Rulhe (Aveyron), in which she hid and sheltered Jewish children and youths.  She cooperated with the local OSE.  She provided forged documents.

Sister Marguerite Olivier

Sister Annette Matter

Sister Viviane Matter, Paris, France

Sister Viviane Matter hid 23 year old Suzanne Grynszpan, a Jewish refugee from Poland who was in nursing school during the German occupation.

Sister Marie-Louise Pannelay, Mother Superior St. Vincent de Paul, Flers, (Orne), Normandy, France

Sister Marie-Louise Pannelay hid three Jewish girls, Renee, Denise, and Lilane Roth, in the school during the German occupation.

Mother Marie Placide, Sisters of the Belgian Catholic Order, Auvillar, Department of Tarn et Garonne

The Convent of the Belgian Catholic Order hid about 40 Jewish children who had been released from French internment camps.

Mother Jeanne-Françoise Ramade, Mother Superior, Convent of Saint Joseph, Alban, near Albi, Department of the Tarn

Sister Clotilde Régereau, Mother Superior, Maison de Soeurs de la Carité, Paris

Sister Clotilde Régereau hid, sheltered and cared for six members of the Mueller family, Jewish refugees living in Paris.  They were able to avoid arrest and deportation, surviving the war.

Sister Marie-Antoinette Ricard (Elizabeth), Hospital, Tarbes (Department of Haute-Pyrenees)

Sister Marie-Antoinette Ricard hid many refugee Jews in the hospital often posing them as patients.  She worked with Dr. Billiers, the hospital director.

Sister Elizabeth Rivet†, Mother Superior, La Compassion Convent, Lyons

Sister Elizabeth Rivet† was head of four Catholic institutions.  She hid and provided for Jewish women in these institutions.  She worked with local resistance and Jewish and non-Jewish rescue groups.  She was arrested March 25, 1944, and tortured by the Gestapo.  She was deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp, where she was murdered on March 30, 1945.

Sister Germaine Robaeys (Céline)

Philomène Rolland (Sr. Marie Etienne), Allanche, France

Sister Marguerite Roques, Notre Dame de Massip, Capendac, Southern France

Sister Marguerite Roques participated in hiding and sheltering 65 Jewish children, 1942-1944.  She worked with Sister Louise Thèbe and Sister Denise Bourgon‡.

Sister Rose (Convent des Clarisses)

Sister Rose worked with Sister Ann-Marie and Sister Emmanuelle to save Jewish children.

Mother Marie-Thérèse Roux, Mother Superior, Covent near Toulon (Var)

Mother Marie-Thérèse Roux worked with Sister Jean Hertel.  They hid and sheltered Jewish refugees in their convent during the German occupation.

Sister Louise Thèbe, Director of Oeuvre Saint-Germaine, Toulouse (Verdine), and Notre Dame de Massip, Capendac

Sister Louise Thèbe supervised a rescue network that hid and sheltered 65 Jewish children in a small convent in Capendac from 1942-1944.  She worked with Sister Marguerite Roques and Sister Denise Bourgon‡.

Sister Thérèse-Lucie, Mother Superior of Saint François of Sales in Voiron (Isère)

Sister Thérèse-Lucie worked with Sister Perpétue and Sister Elizabeth Francoise to hide Jewish girls during the German occupation of France.

Sister Germaine Veyrine, La Providence Convent, Le Coteau, near Roanne (Department of Loire)

Sister Germaine Veyrine worked with Mother Superior Marie Madeleine (Marie-Louise Lafont).

Sister Marie-Alice Vidal, Pierrefort (Canal)

Sister Marie-Alice Vidal hid a Jewish family in the retirement home she directed.

Mother Magda Zech, Mother Superior of Convent of Notre Dame de Sion, Grenoble

Mother Magda Zech, assisted by Sister Aguadich, hid numerous Jewish women and girls who were waiting to escape to Switzerland.

Sister Jeanne-Francois-Zuffery, Villefranche de Rouergue Convent, Department of Aveyron, Rue Hospice for the Elderly

Sister Jeanne-Francoise-Zuffery hid 24 Jewish refugees from French and German occupation authorities.

 

Catholic Church - Individuals

Germaine Ribière (Catholic layperson)

Marie Banc (Marie des Anges)

Jeanne Baragades (Marie-Paule)

Robert Bengel

Marguerite Beyles (Henrica)

Maurice Coffy

Marthe Delesalle (Annette)

Philemone Dumoulin

Jean Espitallier

Marcel Genestier

Antoine Girardin

Andréa Guigues (Marie-Gabrielle)

Emilie Kamper (Placide)

Roger Ledain

Pierrette Marquet (Perpetue)

Marie-Angélique Murat

Marguerite Pasquine

Gabriel Piguet

Jeanne Dominique Pinet

Jeanne Rodien

Josette Tafani (Marie-Pascale)

Marie Uthurriage (St. Jean)

Mareguerite Waffelaert (Théophilius)

 

Protestant Church

Marc Boegner, president, National Council of the Reformed Church of France

Marc Boegner was the first religious leader in France to protest anti-Semitic Vichy laws.  He became leader of CIMADE in 1940.  He helped in the relief of Jews in French detention centers.  He was the honorary president, along with Cardinal Gerlier, of Amitié Chrétienne, created to help Jews in France.  He supported rescue and relief efforts by local Protestant clergy to help Jews from arrest and deportation.  He encouraged local parishes to hide and shelter refugee Jews and to support efforts to smuggle Jews out of France.  He was personally involved in rescuing 100 German Jewish children interned in Gurs detention camp who were slated for deportation to Auschwitz.

Madelein Barot, founder, Comité d’Inter-Mouvement Aupres des Evacués (CIMADE)

Olga St. Blancat Baumgarten, Salvation Army Rep., Belfort

Pastor Besson‡

Pastor Andre Betrix (Bettex), Mazet-Ste.-Foy, Department of Haute-Loire

Protestant Pastor Bettex helped find hiding places for refugees in Le-Chambon area.  Many were hidden on the farms of his congregants.  He provided Jews with forged documents.

Pastor Joseph Bourdon and wife, Cevennes, Protestant seminary in Mende, Department of Lozere

Pastor Joseph Bourdon worked with CIMADE.

Pastor Elie Brée, Caveirac, Department of Gard, Cévenol Plateau

Pastor Elie Brée helped numerous Jews escape arrest and deportation.  He hid and sheltered Jews in homes of his local parishioners.  He worked with fellow clerics Pastor Edmond Peloux and Pastor Rolland Pollex.

Pastor Paul Brunel, Nîmes, and Mme. Brunel

Reverend Brunel headed Protestant Church in Nîmes, capital of the Department of Gard.  He worked with Pastor Marc Boegner and the French resistance to aid and shelter persecuted Jews who were sought by the German occupying forces.

Pastor Charles Cabanis, Bedarieux, Herault

Pastor Paul & Odette Chapal

Pastor Francois Chazel, Vérbon et Rousses, Cevennes

Liliane Chazel, Vérbon et Rousses, Cevennes

Pastor Robert Cook, Vabre, Department of Corrèze

Pastor Robert Cook’s church was the headquarters of the local underground.  Working with Hélène Rullard, he hid and sheltered Jewish girls on a local unoccupied form.  He was aided by a French police brigadier Hubert Landes.  The girls were later smuggled into Switzerland.

Pastor Curtet, Southern France

Pastor Louis Dallière, Charmes, Department of Ardèche, and Marie Dallière, wife

Pastor Louis Dallière was a Protestant minister who provided help to the local Jewish rescue networks.  He was active in the French underground in Charmes.  He helped hide and shelter Jews in his home and in the area around Charmes.  He provided forged life-saving documents, including baptismal certificates, to Jews.

Pastor Charles Delizy, Freycenent de Saint-Jeures, near Le Chambon-sur-Lignon

Protestant Minister Charles Delizy arranged for hiding places and saw to the needs of Jews.  He provided ration cards and protected Jews from impending raids.

Pastor and Mrs. Albert DeLord, Carmax, Tarn, France

Protestant Pastor DeLord took in and hid 200 Jewish children, many of whose parents were detained.  He later opened a summer camp in Lautrec to house the children.  The French citizens of Lautrec helped support this successful rescue effort.

Pastor J. Delpech‡, Comité d’Inter-Mouvement Aupres des Evacués (CIMADE)

Pastor Marc Donadille, and wife Françoise Donadille, Saint-Privat-de-Vallonge, Department of Lozère

Pastor marc Donadille and his wife arranged to find hiding places for Jews who were released from Les Milles detention camp with the help of Protestant Minister Henri Manen.

Pastor Roland Dubois

Pastor Raymond Eugène Ducasse, Aix-en-Provence (Bouches du Rhône)

Pastor Raymond Eugène Ducasse worked with his son, Robert Ducasse, who was an officer in the French Navy, to help Jews escape arrest and deportation.  He distributed forged baptismal certificates and IDs.

Pastor André Dumas, Comité d’Inter-Mouvement Aupres des Evacués (CIMADE), Rivesaltes French detention camp, Pyrenees Orientales

Pastor André Dumas provided and distributed forged documents to Jews in the Rivesaltes camp.

Baptist Pastor Edmond and Ida Evrard and sons, Nice, Alpes-Maritime, France

Pastor Idebert Exbrayat and wife Yvonne Exbrayat, Rodez, the capital of the Department of Aveyron

Pastor Pierre Fouchier

Pastor André Gall and wife Fleur Gall, Florac, Cevennes, Department of Lozere

Protestant Minister André Gall and his wife, Fleur, hid Jews, provided food and forged documents.  They hid Jacob and Sonia Barosin, who escaped Gurs detention camp.

Pastor Charles Guillon, Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, Department of Haute-Loire

Pastor Charles Guillon was the secretary general of the Protestant Organization, World Secretary of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), and worked with the Comité d’Inter-Mouvement Aupres des Evacués (CIMADE).  He was one of four ranking members of the Interdenominational Ecumenical Council, Geneva, Switzerland.

Pastor Paul Haering and wife Suzanne Haering, Carmaux (Tarn)

Protestant Pastor Paul Haering and his wife, Suzanne, successfully rescued numerous Jewish youth during the German occupation.  They hid Jews in their home, forged and distributed false documents, and sent Jewish children to a local scout camp for protection.

Pastor André Hammel

Pastor Heuze‡, Reformed Church of Marseiles, France; interned and deported

Pastor Jeannet‡

Pastor Robert Joseph, Clarensac, Department of Gard, Cévenol Plateau

Protestant Minister Robert Joseph helped to hide and shelter Jewish refugees among his parishioners and local families in Clarensac.

Pastor Jean Joussellin, Paris, Verberie Department of Oise, Council of Protestant Summer Camps

Protestant Minister Jean Joussellin provided Jews with forged documents to protect them.  He hired Jews for his staff in Paris. He established a summer cap in Verberie, which provided a safe haven for 87 Jewish children during the German occupation.

Pastor Lauga‡, Director of Religious Studies, Home for Mentally Challenged Children

Pastor Lauga hid a Jewish woman, Susan Grynspan, in the school.

Pastor Roland Leenhardt

Pastor Jean Severin Lemaire, Marseilles, France, Pastor of the Evangelist Congregation in Marseilles

Pastor Jean Severin Lemaire worked closely with Jewish rescue activist Joseph Bass in the rescue organization Service André.  Pastor Lemaire hid Jews, placed them in safe refuges and provided them with forged papers.  He helped Jews leave French detention camps.  For these actions, he was arrested and deported to Mauthausen and Dachau.  He survived.

Pastor Raoul Lhermet, Saint-André de Valborgne, Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, Department of Haute-Loire

Pastor Raoul Lhermet was active in the French underground.  He successfully hid Jews, placed them in homes and institutions, provided false papers and helped them cross the border to safety in Switzerland.

Pastor Liotard‡

Pastor Liotard helped shelter and escort Jewish children.  He worked with CIMADE and Emma and Jean Voirin, who cared for Jewish children.

Pastor Luigi‡, Camares, Gard

Pastor Henri Manen, Chaplain, Les Milles detention camp, Aix-en-Provence (CIMADE), and wife Alice Manen

Reverend Henri Manen was a pastor in Aix-en-Provence.  While working as a chaplain in Les Milles camp, he was able to secure the release of 72 children and adults.  He and his wife took many of them into their home and found homes for others.

Pastor Gaston Charles Martin and wife Simone Martin, St. Germaine de Calberte (Lozère), Plateau Cévenol, South Central France

Pastor Martin and his wife arranged for hiding places and shelter for numerous refugee Jews.

Pastor Jacques Martin and wife Jacqueline Martin, Ganges (Héralt)

Pastor Jacques Martin was a member of Comité d’Inter-Mouvement Aupres des Evacués (CIMADE).  He and his wife rescued Jews from arrest and deportation by placing them in hiding places and supplying forged documents.  They worked closely with Madeleine Barot.

Pastor Charles Monod and wife, Madeleine Monod, member of Protestant rescue network in Cannes

Pastor Charles Monod and his wife Madeleine were members of the Protestant rescue network in Cannes.  They rescued Jews and Christians by distributing false baptismal certificates and forged papers.  They also hid Jews.  They were arrested by the Germans and tried in a French court.

Pastor Andre Morel, Gurs detention center (1941-1942), Le Chambon-sur-Lignon (1943-1944)

Pastor Andre Morel helped Jews escape the Gurs detention camp by distributing false baptismal certificates.  Working for CIMADE, he helped smuggle Jews into Switzerland.  In 1943-1944, Morel helped hide and shelter Jewish children.  He was arrested for helping Jews.

Pastor Henri Nick

Pastor Laurent Olives, Vérbon et Rousses

Pastor Marcel Pasche, Protestant Reformed Church, Roubaix (Nord)

Pastor Marcel Pasche worked in a Protestant rescue network, helped German Jewish refugees Joseph Winichki and his son, Leo, to escape to Switzerland.  He hid other members of the Winichki family until the end of the German occupation.

Evangelina Pean-Pages

Pastor Edmond Peloux, St. Jean-du-Gard, Department of Gard, Plateau Chevenol

Pastor Edmond Peloux hid Jewish refugees from Vichy and German officials.  He persuaded his parishioners to shelter and aid numerous Jews during the German occupation.  He worked with Pastors Roland Pollex and Elie Brée.

Pastor Poivre‡

Pastor Roland Pollex, St. Jean-du-Gard, Department of Gard, Plateau Cévenol

Pastor Roland Pollex worked with Pastors Edmond Peloux and Elie Brée to hide refugee Jews among French families in the countryside.  Pastor Pollex personally took care of two Jewish children of the Lazarsfeld family.

Pastor Roland de Pury‡, Lyon

Pastor André de Robert, Lyons, France

Pastor André de Robert replaced Protestant Minister Roland de Pury after he was arrested by the Gestapo.  Rescued Jews.

Pastor Frank Robert, Meyrueis (Department of Lozère), Plateau Cévenol

Pastor Frank Robert helped hide Jewish refugees among his parishioners.  He provided forged documents.  He hid Jews in his home.  He worked with Pastor Robert Joseph in the town of Clarensac.

Pastor Henri Roser, Prague, Czechoslovakia

Pastor Henri Roser provided life-saving forged documents to the Totsh and Fried family in Paris.  He visited the family and helped them throughout the war.

Viviane Roullet

Olga St. Blancat-Baumgarten, Belfort, France, Captain of the Salvation Army

Pastor Tartier

Monsignor Pierre-Marie Theas, Bishop of Montauban (Episcopal)

Monsignor Pierre-Marie Theas protested treatment of Jews in wartime France.  He condemned anti-Semitic Vichy policies.  Monsignor Theas worked with and encouraged his clergymen to work with Jewish rescue networks in Southern France.  He was arrested and interned at Compiègne camp.

Pastor Edouard Theis, director, College Cévenol, Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, Department of Haute-Loire

Louise Theis

Mildred Theis, wife of Pastor Edouard Theis

Paul Tinel, Saint-Germain-de-Calbert, Salvation Army

Pastor Pierre Charles Toureille, Lunel (Hérault), Marseilles, France; vice chairman Czech Aid Organization; vice president, Nîmes Committee (Comité de Nîmes), Chief Minister of Foreign Protestant Refugees in Southern France

Pastor Pierre Charles Toureille was appointed Chief Minister of Foreign Protestant Refugees in Southern France.  He provided aid and care for internees in the French detention camps.  Toureille provided vital papers, often altered or forged, which allowed Jews and others to leave the camps.  He certified falsely to officials that Jews were Protestants, thus saving them from deportation and almost certain death.  He was arrested seven times by the Gestapo and tortured for helping Jews.

Pastor André Trocmé, Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, Cévenol Normal School, Department of Haute-Loire

Pastor André Trocmé organized one of the largest rescue networks in France.  He urged his parishioners to hide and shelter hundreds of Jewish refugees in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon area.  He was one of the major leaders of CIMADE.

Daniel Trocmé†, head, Maison des Roches (Children’s Home), Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, France

Daniel Trocmé was the son of André and Magda Trocmé.  He was deported and murdered in the Majdanek death camp.

Magda Trocmé, Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, Cévenol Normal School, wife of Pastor André Trocmé

Pastor Paul Tzaut

Pastor Paul Vergara

Pastor Vienny‡

Pastor Henricus Vullinghs

Pastor Wasserfallen‡, Viane, Tarn

Pastor Charles Westphal