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LeMonde
2 days ago
- LeMonde
Two Jewish sisters' fight to honor the couple who hid them during the Holocaust
Arlette Testyler often says she was born twice. First in 1933, in Paris, a year after her sister Madeleine. The second time was in Vendôme, in 1942. Their parents, Polish Jews, had come to France to work and start a family, believing they would be safe far from the pogroms already ravaging their homeland. In 1941, their father, Abraham Reiman, who had enlisted in the French army two years earlier, was arrested by the police after being summoned for an identity check. In 1942, he was deported and murdered at Auschwitz. On July 16, Arlette, her sister and their mother were also arrested by the French police and held in inhumane conditions at the Vélodrome d'Hiver stadium in Paris during the mass round-up that led to the arrest of nearly 13,000 people. "It was Dante's inferno," she often says. They remained confined for three days before being transferred to the Beaune-la-Rolande camp, ahead of deportation to Poland. But, by a miracle unique to those tragic times, all three managed to escape and return to Paris before ending up in Vendôme, in central France, where many families had organized to hide Jewish children. It was there that Arlette and her sister found new life, hidden and saved, along with their mother. On Monday, June 16, the town will host a most unusual ceremony. Jeanne and Jean Philippeau, born in 1913 and 1910 and who died in 1992 and 1993, will be honored by the State of Israel. Both will receive the highly prestigious title of Righteous Among the Nations, awarded by the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem and the Supreme Court of Israel. The couple will be honored for saving the lives of the two girls as well as a boy, Simon Windland, now dead, "without any personal gain," as specified by the French Committee for Yad Vashem – a prerequisite for the award.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Holocaust survivor says he's alive because family hid him in Holland
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — A Rochester Holocaust survivor said he is alive today because of a Christian family who hid him in Holland as a child. Carl Wetzstein shared his story as a speaker Monday night for International Holocaust Remembrance Day. 'One day, a man came to the house. He said, 'I'm here to pick up your son.' He told [my parents] 'You've got to send him with me now. He has a good chance to survive the war,'' Wetzstein said. Wetzstein said he lived with that family's nephew and attended school and church while he was placed with them. He said his parents survived the war, and they were later reunited. 'My mother came and picked me up,' Wetzstein said. 'I still remember seeing [what looked like] walking skeletons.' Wetzstein said despite the hardships, he managed to live a relatively normal life under the circumstances. He told News 8 it's important to recognize the Righteous Among the Nations — those that protected the Jewish neighbors like that family did for Wetzstein. 'Of all the horrors with the Holocaust, people have to know that there were people who helped Jews, and risked their lives for that,' Wetzstein said. Some of those Righteous Among the Nations who risked their lives to help Jewish people have local ties. Guest speaker and Albion High School Assistant Principal Tara Devay highlighted their bravery in her speech, and said it's also important to hear survivors' stories to inspire action against injustice. 'One of the things that survivors have said over and over again, why they speak is so that people will know their stories once they're gone,' Devay said. 'And one of the things I've always said to my students now that you've heard these stories, now it's on you. You heard it. Your job now is to bear witness.' Those who spoke at Monday's event said they have had many local educators sign up for the Holocaust Educators Network, a program said to provide teachers with the skills they need to make the Holocaust relevant for today's students. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
