Germaine Ribière
Encyclopedia
Germaine Ribière is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....
, Haute-Vienne
Haute-Vienne
Haute-Vienne is a French department named after the Vienne River. It is one of three departments that together constitute the French region of Limousin.The chief and largest city is Limoges...
1917–1999) was a French Catholic, member of the Résistance
Resistance
- Physics :* Electrical resistance, a measure of the degree to which an object opposes an electric current through it* Friction, the force that opposes motion** Drag , fluid or gas forces opposing motion and flow...
, who saved numerous Jews during World War II, and was recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....
(July 18, 1967, Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
, Jerusalem, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
).
The Résistance and the rescuing of Jews
As a student at the University of Paris, Germaine Ribière reacted against the discrimination against the Jews, noting for example in her diary in May 1941: "Those who should be awake are those who put the others to sleep", then in June 1941: "The Church, the hierarchy, remain silent. They let the truth be profaned".In May 1941, Germaine Ribière was present during the arrest of Jews in the Marais
Le Marais
Le Marais is a historic district in Paris, France. Long the aristocratic district of Paris, it hosts many outstanding buildings of historic and architectural importance...
, the old Jewish neighborhood of Paris (also known as the Pletzl
Pletzl
The Pletzl is the Jewish quarter in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. The Place Saint-Paul and the surrounding area were, unofficially, named the Pletzl when the neighborhood became predominantly Jewish because of an influx of immigrants at the end of the nineteenth century and the...
).
Deciding that her place was no more in Paris, she went to Vichy
Vichy
Vichy is a commune in the department of Allier in Auvergne in central France. It belongs to the historic province of Bourbonnais.It is known as a spa and resort town and was the de facto capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation from 1940 to 1944.The town's inhabitants...
, where she got involved in the journal Cahiers du Témoignage Chrétien.
and the organisation Amitié Chrétienne.
During the roundups in the Zone libre
Zone libre
The zone libre was a partition of the French metropolitan territory during the Second World War, established at the Second Armistice at Compiègne on June 22, 1940. It lay to the south of the demarcation line and was administered by the French government of Marshal Philippe Pétain based in Vichy,...
, in Haute-Vienne
Haute-Vienne
Haute-Vienne is a French department named after the Vienne River. It is one of three departments that together constitute the French region of Limousin.The chief and largest city is Limoges...
, Creuse
Creuse
Creuse is a department in central France named after the Creuse River.-History:Creuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the former province of La Marche....
and Indre
Indre
Indre is a department in the center of France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are called Indriens.-History:Indre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
, on August 26 and in September 1942, Germaine Ribière and Pastor Chaudier of Limoges
Limoges
Limoges |Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....
provided hideouts in non-Jewish families for the children of the homes of the OSE
Œuvre de secours aux enfants
Œuvre de secours aux enfants, commonly abbreviated as OSE, is a French Jewish humanitarian organization that saved hundreds of Jewish refugee children in Vichy France during World War II....
of Masgelier and of Chabannes. The physician of that organisation, Gaston Lévy, who called Germaine Ribière, "our heroine of times of distress" testifies:
- "It's almost from the very start of our arrival in LimogesLimogesLimoges |Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....
that a clear-sighted and efficient help was given to me by Mademoiselle Germaine Ribière in all my activities. Born in Limoges in a deeply religious catholic family, she was at the time when she came to offer me her help at the day nursery, responsible of the JECJecJEC may refer to:* James Earl Carter or Jimmy Carter , American president* James E. Cornette, a stage name for American professional wrestling manager Jim Cornette* Jewish Educational Center, in New Jersey...
(Jeunesse estudiantine chrétienne)". - "She was seen with an evangelic spirit, an unselfish love of her neighbour. She suffered visibly from the situation done to us, us Jews. Prior to coming to see me at the day nursery, her revolt against the Hitler–VichyVichyVichy is a commune in the department of Allier in Auvergne in central France. It belongs to the historic province of Bourbonnais.It is known as a spa and resort town and was the de facto capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation from 1940 to 1944.The town's inhabitants...
persecution had already a certain efficiency. She had stayed a certain time next to the internees of the appalling "Center of Housing" of Récébedou." and went to the camp of Gurs (Gurs internment camp). Her report on the dreadful circumstances in which the internees vegetated led to the Pastoral letterPastoral letterA Pastoral letter, often called simply a pastoral, is an open letter addressed by a bishop to the clergy or laity of his diocese, or to both, containing either general admonition, instruction or consolation, or directions for behaviour in particular circumstances...
of CardinalCardinal (Catholicism)A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
Jules Saliège of ToulouseToulouseToulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, of August 23, 1942, severely condemning the Jewish persecutions. Germaine Ribière, as we shall see later, has done tremendously in this tragic period to save Jewish lives. She remained faithfully at our side in all the rescue actions of children in danger, as she remained to this day a faithful friend of IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
On August 23, 1942, the O.S.E., the Eclaireurs Israélites de France, the Amitiés Chrétiennes and several other humanitarian organisations, joined the «screening» committee of the 1200 Jews of around Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
arrested during the roundups of the summer of 1942 and interned in the camp at Vénissieux
Vénissieux
Vénissieux is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. It is the second-largest suburb of the city of Lyon, and is adjacent to the southeast.-Transport:...
.
The committee managed to save at once 160 adults, of which 80 are again taken in for questioning the following day, besides 108 children. This tragic event is known under the name of Night of Vénissieux
Vénissieux
Vénissieux is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. It is the second-largest suburb of the city of Lyon, and is adjacent to the southeast.-Transport:...
. The O.S.E., the Amitiés Chrétiennes and l' Action catholique of Germaine Ribière refused to give back the children despite the orders given by Vichy to the regional prefect Angéli to not separate the families. They are dispersed with false papers in catholic institutions, under the watch of the O.S.E.
Germaine Ribière took care to provide false papers to those in need and to supply to Resistance fighters materials to produce them. She was helped in this task by the draftsman Jean Setten-Bernard.
The Amitié Chrétienne, where Germaine Ribière belonged, was founded in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
in 1941, with the goal to help the Jews and other victims subjugated to the decrees of Vichy and the occupier.
On January 27, 1943, that organisation held an emergency meeting in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
at the domicile of the Swiss Protestant pastor Roland de Pury, in order to find the way to warn the Jews coming to get false papers that the offices of the Union Générale des Israélites de France (UGIF), rue Sainte-Catherine were watched by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
.
The solution found was that Germaine Ribière, as soon as the next morning would pass herself off as a cleaning lady cleaning the stairs and would warn these people not to enter the building
Acts of Courage
- Germaine Ribière intervenesd to produce a false identity card for Jean-Marie Soutou (1912–2003), great driving force of the catholic résistance (Amitiés Judéo-Chrétiennes), incarcerated at the fort de Montluc, at LyonLyonLyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
. The document is passed on to him in a pen, and he succeeded in reaching Switzerland.
- To accompany a convoy towards the line of demarcation, Germaine Ribière dressed up as a nurse, as is recalled by Gaston Lévy:
-
- «She had succeeded to be let in the train de deportees leaving Nexon as an escort nurse. In accompanying these pauvres gens until the line of demarcation she didn’t content herself to be a moral support for them and to give some treatments to those who felt ill in the midst of these tragic convoys, but she brought back from this trip much useful information, indications and addresses that people had given, relative to those, the elderly, children, sick persons, that they were leaving behind. »
- At Limoges, she succeeded in warning the great majority of Jews at risk of being taken in for questioning. Thus, only a limited number of persons, about 100, instead of the 1200 foreseen were arrested.,
- With Antoinette FeuerwerkerAntoinette FeuerwerkerAntoinette Feuerwerker was a French jurist and an active fighter in the French Resistance during the Second World War.-Biography:...
, the wife of David FeuerwerkerDavid Feuerwerker- Born in Geneva :He was born on October 2, 1912, at 11 Rue du Mont-Blanc, in Geneva, Switzerland. He was the seventh of eleven children. His father Jacob Feuerwerker was born in Sighet, now Sighetu Marmatiei, Maramureş, then Hungary, now Rumania...
, the rabbi of Brive-la-GaillardeBrive-la-GaillardeBrive-la-Gaillarde is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture of the Corrèze department. The population of the urban area was 89,260 as of 1999. Although it is by far the biggest commune in Corrèze, the capital is Tulle.-History:...
, she took charge of the evacuation of young people wanted by the occupying authority.
The Finaly Affair
Robert and Gérald Finaly, two Jewish children, were hidden during the OccupationOccupation
Occupation may refer to:*Job , a regular activity performed for payment, that occupies one's time**Employment, a person under service of another by hire**Career, a course through life**Profession, a vocation founded upon specialized training...
by a Catholic network, where Mlle Antoinette Brun was a member. The war over, Mme Brun refused to return to the Finaly family these children who had become orphans, that she had made baptized in 1948. This was the beginning of the Finaly Affair [see Jewish orphans controversy
Jewish orphans controversy
The Jewish orphans controversy was a legal dispute that occurred after the Second World War when the Holy See under Pope Pius XII issued instructions that Catholic institutions and families should keep baptized Jewish children in their ranks after they had been rescued from a likely deportation to...
(section Finaly Affair)]. It was only in 1953 that the two brothers were reunited with their family living in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
Germaine Ribière who was trusted both by the Jewish community and by the Catholic Church served as a go-between.
Her involvement in the Finaly Affair
- End March 1953: The Cardinal of Lyon, Primat des Gaules, Pierre Gerlier, asked Germaine Ribière to find the Finaly children at the Basque CountryBasque Country (autonomous community)The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
.
- June 11, 1953: At Lyon, Germaine Ribière informed Cardinal Pierre Gerlier that the Finaly children were held by Basques, in particular by priests.
- June 25, 1953: The Court of CassationCourt of Cassation (France)The French Supreme Court of Judicature is France's court of last resort having jurisdiction over all matters triable in the judicial stream but only scope of review to determine a miscarriage of justice or certify a question of law based solely on points of law...
having decided that the Finaly children have to be returned to their Jewish family, 48 hours later, Germaine Ribière made her last trip to Spain, to find them The Finaly children were led to the French Consulate at San SebastiánSan SebastiánDonostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
, in Spain, on June 25. Germaine Ribière brought them back to France, accompanied all over France by a motorcycle escort, to the property of the banker André WeilAndré WeilAndré Weil was an influential mathematician of the 20th century, renowned for the breadth and quality of his research output, its influence on future work, and the elegance of his exposition. He is especially known for his foundational work in number theory and algebraic geometry...
, close to SenlisSenlis, OiseSenlis is a French commune located in the Oise department near Paris. It has a long and rich heritage, having traversed centuries of history. This medieval town has welcomed some of the most renowned figures in French history, including Hugh Capet, Louis IX, the Marshall of France, Anne of Kiev and...
, OiseOiseOise is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise.-History:Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
, where they met their paternal aunt and legal guardian, Hedwige Rosner
Righteous Among the Nations
At the PanthéonPantheon
-Mythology:* Pantheon , the set of gods belonging to a particular mythology* Pantheon * Pantheon, Rome, now a Catholic church, once a temple to the gods of ancient Rome* Any temple dedicated to an entire pantheon-Other buildings:...
, in Paris, on January 18, 2007, on the occasion of the national ceremony in honor of the Righteous of France, the President of the French Republic, Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
declared: "What a courage, what a generosity of spirit they needed!". He learns from it a lesson: "You, Righteous of France, you have transmitted to the Nation an essential message, for today and tomorrow: the refusal of indifference, of blindness ." At this same ceremony, Simone Veil
Simone Veil
Simone Veil, DBE is a French lawyer and politician who served as Minister of Health under Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, President of the European Parliament and member of the Constitutional Council of France....
, President of the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah
Shoah
Shoah may refer to:*The Holocaust*Shoah , documentary directed by Claude Lanzmann * A Shoah Foundation...
declared: "The Righteous of France thought simply having gone through History. In reality, they wrote it".
The biographical note published by the Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
, recalls the life of Germaine Ribière, who received the title of Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....
and concludes: "Ribière was a unique individual - a catholique believer and a French patriot who dedicated all her forces and her talents to the supreme mission to save Jews".
Germaine Ribière's altruism
After observing the roundups of the Jews in Paris, Germaine Ribière notes in her diary : "I ache for them in my whole being, I ache for my Jewish brothers and sisters"., but also declares :"In the presence of hatred I feel an icy chill... Hatred is not the world of God, it is the refusal of God".Walking, in 1985, in the streets of Paris with Eva Fleischner and seing a little girl aged two, Germaine Ribière asks herself if she is not lost and might be looking for her mother. For Eva Fleischner, this attitude is typical of her character : "She is Germaine Ribière because she notices a little girl who may be lost and in need of her help, in the middle of Paris in 1985, just as the Jews needed help during the war
Gerda Bikales
It took sixty years to Gerda Bikales to discover the identity of the person who had saved her life and the one of her mother.- «
- « At the height of Nazi persecution, my mother and I were Jewish refugees from Germany trying to survive illegally in Lyon, France. Though we tried to be inconspicious and avoided official premises of any kind, we nevertheless had to appear periodically at the headquarters of the UGIF (Union Générale des Israélites de France) on Rue Ste. Catherine. This was where the "Jewish Council" was located, and where Jews had to report every so often to receive their ration coupons.
- « The UGIF was an instrument of the occupying Nazi bureaucracy which appointed such councils in all the occupied territories and forced them to cooperate in rounding up their fellow Jews. At the time, we did not fully grasp the nefarious role of the Council but we always feared potential trouble in a place where only Jews congregated.
- « That morning, I accompanied my mother as she went to collect food stamps. I had stopped going to school because people were arrested at all hours, in their homes and on the street, and I was afraid to separate from my mother for even a short time. We had learned to look for signs of danger everywhere, and as we neared our destination, we cased the surroundings. All seemed normal, so we entered the building and started up the flight of stairs. Halfway up we noticed that the woman who was busy cleaning the first-floor landing was waving her hands at us, discreetly signaling us to leave. We didn't ask any questions, just turned around and left.
- « Later that day we learned that the Gestapo had taken over the UGIF office that morning, without betraying any hint of their presence. For several hours, they had trapped unsuspecting people as they entered the office. Over ninety people were arrested in that raid, and eighty-four were deported.
- « Since that day, I have often wondered about the woman who saved our lives. Was she the janitor,who had observed the Germans enter but not leave? Was she an office worker somewhere in the building? Or maybe a tenant in one of the apartments? One thing I knew for sure. She had risked her life to warn Jews of the danger awaiting them. Had she not been there that morning, I would not be here now to tell the story.
- « Many years later, my husband was vaguely talking about retirement when he received an invitation to take a new post in Paris. Without hesitation, we moved to France. I visited Lyon, and found myself in front of 12 Rue Ste. Catherine. The 1943 Gestapo raid that had nearly ensnared me was memorialized with a modest plaque affixed at the building entrance, placed there by the Jewish community of Lyon.
- « In Paris, I attended a lecture and book signing by Germaine Ribière, the author of a newly published memoir about the Finaly affair, which had gripped French society for eight years immediately following the war. At the center of the drama was the fate of two young boys, Robert, born in 1941, and Gerald, born in 1942. Their parents, Fritz and Annie Finaly, had sought refuge in France after their native Austria was annexed to Nazi Germany - to little avail. They were deported from Nazi-occupied France in 1944. Before their arrest, the parents had found shelter for their children in a convent, from which they were later transferred to a municipal nursery run by a devout Catholic woman who had them baptized.
- « After the war, when it was determined that the boys' parents had been killed in Auschwitz, the Church refused to release the children to their surviving aunt, who lived in Israel. At issue was the assertion by the VaticanHoly SeeThe Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
that no child baptized in the Catholic Church could be allowed to grow up in a Jewish home. A long and bitter custody battle ensued. The French court's final ruling favored the aunt. Ignoring the verdict, the church has whisked away the children to a convent in Spain. Germaine Ribière played a pivotal role in negociating their eventual release and their safe return to their Israeli aunt.
- « Germaine Ribière was by now very elderly, her voice barely audible. I bought the book and asked her to inscribe it to me, which she graciously agreed to do despite an unsteady hand. I slowly spelled my unusual name for her, and thanked her.
- « After some interesting years in Paris, my newly retired husband spent ample time reading a wide range of publications. One day, he called out excitedly, "You won't believe this! - read this!" He handed me a small French periodical, open to the obituary page. It announced the death at an advanved age, of Germaine Ribière, a Catholic Resistance fighter who had rescued many Jews during the Holocaust years. Among her numerous exploits, mention was made of her presence during the UGIF raid in February 1943. Upon espying that the Gestapo had taken over the office in Lyon, she had dressed as a cleaning woman to warn Jews of lurking danger.
- « After the war, she resumed her career as a scientist and remained a devout member of her church. But she stayed close to the traumatized Jewish community, becoming its advocate in epic struggles for the custody of Jewish orphans hidden with Catholic families or in Catholic institutions. She had published a book about her role in recovering the Finaly children, who had been hidden in Spain to keep them away from their surviving Jewish relatives.
- « So, sixty years later I learned something about my rescuer. Sadly, I also discovered that our paths had crossed, without any awareness on either side of the bond between us.
- « Postscript: Coincidences don't always lead to happy endings. They sometimes leave us with deep regrets about what could have happened, but didn't. How satisfying it would have been to thank my rescuer for the gift of life, my own and my mother's! For Germaine, burdened by the infirmities of old age, it would have been a meaningful encounter, so many years later, with a child she had pulled back from the edge of catastrophe.
- « Still, I am pleased to know more about this courageous woman. In my travels, I have looked for her name on the Righteous Gentiles memorial at Yad VashemYad VashemYad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
, in the United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumUnited States Holocaust Memorial MuseumThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history...
in Washington, D.C., and just recently, on the new Wall of the Righteous in Paris. I think of her often, with affection and gratitude. She is no longer a vague, anonymous figure in my mind. Her country and the Jewish community have honored her, and honored themselves by doing so. And I take special pride in my heroine.
Movies on the Finaly Affair
- Une enfance volée : l'affaire Finaly, directed by Fabrice Génestal. Scenario, adaptation and dialogues by Philippe Bernard, in collaboration with the historian Catherine Poujol. Produced by Elizabeth Arnac for Lizland Films. This made-for-TV movie, shot in April 2008, for France 2France 2France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...
was broadcasted by this network on Tuesday November 25, 2008 with Charlotte de TurckheimCharlotte de TurckheimAnne-Charlotte de Turckheim is a French actress, screenwriter, comedian and film producer. Born in Montereau-Fault-Yonne, Seine-et-Marne, France, the daughter of Françoise Husson and Arnaud de Turckheim, a member of a noble Protestant family from Alsace, Charlotte de Turckheim studied theater...
(Mademoiselle Brun) and Pierre Cassignard.
- The documentary L’affaire Finaly, the documentary by David Korn-Brzoza, was also broadcated by France 2, on Tuesday November 25, 2008. Written by Noel MamèreNoël MamèreNoël Mamère is a French singer, cyclist and politician.He rose to fame in the 1980s as a TV entertainer, in particular on Antenne 2....
, Alain Moreau and David Korn-Brzoza, it was produced by la société de production Program 33 for France 3France 3France 3 is the second largest French public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5, and France Ô....
.