Our departure for Biarritz
It is surprising to note the strange delay between our marriage and our departure from Paris.
After the debacle of our army, Simon was a prisoner in Germany; Bernard (Annas' husband), after Dunkirk, was in England; Serge (Maurices' brother) with his Colonel on a sidecar retreated and was somewhere in Auvergne.
We packed what we could and entrusted it to the railways. We had faith in our institutions. In the packages were goods, furs, sewing machines etc for the farthest possible destination from Paris: Biarritz. We rented a villa to house the whole family: Bolek Papier(Maurice's cousin), Anna (sister), David (brother), Rosa (wife) and I, my mother and father.
In order to bring the Brutmans (Rosas' family), Rosa sent a certificate of accommodation, so that as foreigners, they could move freely. I still found myself in a fog, pampered by my wife, fed by my mother who does wonders with chicken wings.
Moses saved from the waters In Bayonne, in front of the Spanish consulate, there was an endless queue of refugees trying to get a passport to go to Spain. There were two ways to get there, by mountain paths, or by boat. In Biarritz the town was surrounded by German troops. Germans on the top of the casino, machine guns in position, and the beach guarded. Time had stopped, the weather was fine, the beach of Biarritz was frequented by Germans as well as by refugees, persecuted people, Jews, etc. One day in July I went bathing in the sea. Between two rocks, a current dragged me away. I struggled to get back but a groundswell drew me to the depths. A woman gave the alarm that someone was drowning. The Germans thought it was one of their own and rushed to save me whilst the French engaged in "passive resistance" leaving the Germans to fend for themselves. |
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Bolek told me that he saw Rosa rushing to see what was going on. She has a feeling of foreboding because she has lost sight of me while watching me bathing. Bolek signaled to her not to come any closer. The Germans made a rescue chain,caught me and dragged me to the shore.
The Germans said by bringing me back, "DAS KERL IST FELORIN" (this boy is lost). I was pulled out of the water unconscious. Lying on the sand, I was forced to expel water from my lungs so I could breathe. I was saved.
Rosa and her father saw the crowd. They rushed over, and that's when Bolek waved to her. She immediately understood that it was me. Anna and Rosa started shouting that it was a Frenchman who had drowned. They took me to a clinic where I spent some time, and I felt very tired. What a beautiful present I made to my dear wife after six months of marriage!
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My mother-in-law's armour Shortly after my drowning, on my return to Paris, my mother-in-law, whilst on her way to fetch bread, was run over by a German car. My father-in-law had made corsets for his daughters and his wife, entirely lined with gold coins. So my mother-in-law was knocked down wearing this expensive armour. She was in shock, but intact. She had some difficulty in getting up, probably because of the weight of the armour, and was taken to a caf�. Ida and Rosa were informed and went looking for her, and the three of them returned home. December 1941. The situation was calm enough to celebrate the anniversary of our marriage and to make the honeymoon trip we had not made. We went to Nice for 15 days, to the Francia Hotel. A ride in a carriage, outings, restaurants, we forgot that we were in exile and that there was a war. Toulouse We were on the lookout for news. We had heard that the Germans were going to mobilize men for fortification work, the TODT (OT) work which consisted of reinforcing the fortifications of the Atlantic Wall with bunkers. Who will be caught first? Jews between 20 and 45 years old. There was now an occupied zone administered by the Germans and a so-called "free" zone administered by a French government in Vichy. After a family council meeting we decided to leave for Toulouse. Once again, the luggage was packed, and parcels were sent by rail to Toulouse. |
Maurice and Rosa Nice 1941 |
Once in Toulouse, Rosa went from door to door looking for a flat to rent. She found a two-roomed flat and moved the Brutman parents in with Ida and Charles.
Rosas' father had a very serious case of meningitis and a doctor performed a lumbar puncture on him. I was asked to hold him very firmly so that the doctor could perform the puncture and extract the spinal fluid which saved him. He had heard that life in Paris was picking up and people were working. He went back to Paris with his wife, Ida and Charles. It was March 1941.
The two of us, my parents and the rest of the family, found a room to live in while waiting for something better.After their departure we got organised. My father rented a large flat with a terrace at 121 Avenue des Minimes
The court of miracles Rosa was kind enough to invite them often to eat, and once, Simon, who had had a leg amputated, took a chicken leg and said that he was going to put it in place of his missing leg. There was a friendly atmosphere. My resourceful wife kept the house well supplied. A happy event was coming, the beginning of a pregnancy. In the same courtyard of 121 Avenue des Minimes, Anna and Bernard, who had been repatriated from England, rented a flat on the first floor, at the back of the courtyard. On the ground floor lived the Wallachs, Rose and Jacques with their baby, G�rard. For furniture they had a double bed, some boxes and two chairs.Rose and I took over the Wallachs' flat, and bought their furniture. So we moved to 121 avenue des Minimes, and the whole family was together in the same courtyard, with Anna above us. Serge joined us later. We settled in as if nothing had happened, in spite of the Vichy laws, the Jewish Affairs administrators, etc. |
121 avenue des Minimes (recent photo) |
The dividing line
I bought a bike with a luggage rack in the front, to do any kind of shopping.
I worked with my parents in the fur trade and also on my own account; I took on contract work from a furrier in Toulouse, a man called Kepecki, who also served as a cover to prove we had income, because he paid with pay slips.
Life in Paris was not getting any better for Jews. Rosa was three months pregnant and could not think of anything but the danger her parents faced in Paris. She decided to go to see them. L�on Zylberberg, a friend of the L.I.C.A.(International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism) , accompanied her, and my mother told me that if I let her go alone she would not be able to return. So I decided to go with her.
The three and a half of us left for the border, where we had to change trains. Whilst changing trains on the station platform we saw a patrol of German soldiers. Rosa heard them say that they are going to check the passengers on the train we were about to take. She told us what she had heard, and we decided to walk to the border.
We had to pass through fields to avoid the patrols, and we arrived in Tours. The town was full of Germans. We ate in a caf� as if nothing had happened and later the same day we took a train to Paris. For the record, Rosa was wearing a pair of city shoes with stiletto heels, and she walked without complaint for more than twenty kilometers.We arrive in Paris exhausted and Rosa, who was pregnant, has a little bleeding. The doctor prescribed rest if she wanted to keep the baby. The situation was getting worse in Paris every day without us realizing it, by little things that were making day-to-day life more difficult.
Who could have predicted that the first people called up to go to Baume la Rolande, or to other camps, would suffer what happened. They said that they had not found a better place. Most of the conscripts came forward spontaneously, especially those who volunteered for the French army of the French Republic, on the strength of their patriotism.The disarray we lived in was terrible. I was not too concerned, as I was a naturalized French citizen. But who would have thought that the French..... words fail me .... would let go of a part of the population. There are even those among us who claimed to know, but who listens to good advice?
After three-month in Paris, after the July roundup, I set out to find a guide to return to Toulouse, where the situation was more peaceful. I was given an address where I could find someone to help us: at the Cafe Coliseum on the Champs Elysees. L�on and I decide to go back the same way we came. Miraculously Rosa was well, and the moving baby reminded her of its presence.
Life in Toulouse.
Back in Toulouse, the parcels sent from Paris arrived. My parents decided to bring the rest of their goods, fabrics, linings, thread, cloth, machines, (only the heads), as quickly as possible, and we put all this in the room we occupied which looked out onto the courtyard.We also housed refugees who were passing through. 121 Avenue des Minimes was well known! We often had visits from different people to eat, sleep, help out... For example, the Rabbi of Belgium, the sister of a friend, or simply the family from Belgium, a diamond merchant, the Wajsblums, and especially Paul who stayed with us for a long time, fed, housed, and bathed. He was still a teenager, a real smart aleck. Or the Silcret brothers, Bob and Jery, who were still dressed in sailor suits.
For a while I traveled the countryside to collect waterfowl, rabbit skins, foxes, muskrats, in short, anything with hair.
The news from Paris was not good. My wife was doing well. The midwife who attended her during and after her pregnancy was the butcher's daughter, so she was well supported by her father, which was appreciated.
There was also a Spanish family who were grocers. Their daughter Marinette took a liking to my wife and gave her the nickname "BOUCHON", because of her curves. All these contacts that my wife made were important to us, especially at that time. Marinette owned a flat in the house where she lived. This flat was rented to a man who was a prisoner in Germany. She reserved it for us in case of any emergency.
Life went on, with the coming and going of refugees passing through 121 avenue des Minimes with the harassment of the Administration of Jewish affairs and the repeated identity checks.
To get through , I had a "BAUF" outfit with my bicycle, my Basque beret, a bag slung over my shoulder, trousers with bicycle clips, a real "Franco" "Franco-touhesse". This way I avoided a lot of inspections.The arrival of NICOLE We tried to keep Rosa away from the worries of life, so as not to affect her pregnancy, and everyone was looking forward to the birth. We filtered, censored and hid the mail that did not bring good news, always in order to save her the least upset, so that the baby was in perfect peace. Perhaps this overzealousness was causing Rosa to have some doubts. She said that she was not at ease, she was even convinced that in Paris, especially regarding her parents, there was something wrong. She said that something has happened to "Jacqueline", the codename for her father in the letters, used because the letters could have been opened and read by the censors. In Paris, her father had been arrested. After four months of detention in the "Drancy" camp, he developed an inflammation that caused him to swell up considerably. The camp authorities decided to release him and some others so that they could die at home. In fact they did not want to take care of the expensive burial, and to look good during the Red Cross inspections. On 4 November 1941 he was released, and by chance, after a short convalescence, he was sent with the help of a smuggler from Paris to Ch�teauroux station. We were notified by Ida that the "Jacqueline" parcel has been sent. I took the train to pick it up on November 21, 1941 leaving my wife about to give birth. Her father was on his way at the same time as Nicole. I waited for the parcel which arrived on the evening of the 25th. The anxiety of waiting caused my wife to have the first contractions, and my brother Serge took her to the Sisters' clinic, who mistook him for her husband. On the 23rd November Nicole was born. I arrived in Toulouse on the 26th with my father-in-law. Fortunately the journey went smoothly. I discovered my little girl who was beautiful. |
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After a restful stay, my father-in-law had some things shipped and brought Ida and Charles (?) to our home, most probably through the same channel as him. They were lucky to be able to leave the occupied zone without too much trouble.
The party
To celebrate the arrival of Nicole, we celebrated the event as it should be. The first child of a new generation, and moreover in the current situation where it is good to forget everything.
So, all our friends, workers, all those we knew were invited to our place, 121 avenue des Minimes.
My brother-in-law, Bernard, was the natural leader of the drinks, the "Boit-sans-soif" congregation, he lined up a dozen different bottles of alcohol and poured a glass of each. The game is to pass each one in front of the counter and to drink each glass one after the other to Nicole's health, the whole thing being accompanied by songs urging us to drink.
Needless to say that after a few rounds, the queue shrinks as the rounds were finished, but on the other hand, there was a shift in the people towards the corridor, the bedroom and the toilets; everyone was ill, and there was a cruel lack of chamber pots, so some people leaned out of the window to relieve themselves...
Marinette's hideout
After a stay in Toulouse, my parents-in-law received a residence permit to live in a village, Boulogne sur Sesse, in the Hautes-Garonne district. I often went back and forth from Toulouse to see them, and above all to give them news of developments. As soon as they saw me, they would get nervous, because they were afraid of bad news.The first months of the detention were quiet, but after a while, towards the end of 1942, the TODT organisation, still building the Atlantic wall, summoned foreigners, especially Jews, and my father-in-law was forced to go to work.
Jacques Brutman, my father-in-law, escaped from the TODT. He joined his family. Rosa brought them to Toulouse and divided them into two groups. The first group was Papa and Mama Brutman, the second group Ida and Charles who was 4 � years old. They arrive at the home of a cousin of Marinette, and will stay for the duration of the war. Marinette explained to Rosa what she would do for us and what she would do for her family.
Meanwhile, the raids, controls, harassment and discrimination started to get worse in Toulouse. Bernard and Anna found a solution. They bought a villa called Val de Gr�ce and we were the only ones who knew about their "hideout".
1942 September: My parents, Serge and David, left Toulouse for Switzerland.
The Swiss Files - Dossier Nr. 04626
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We stayed in Toulouse for a while, but the situation was getting worse. We were informed that the French police would be coming to 121 avenue des Minimes, because the occupants (us) were housing foreigners.
Knowing this, we packed our things in a small suitcase and a leather bag that my mother had given to Rosa. We managed to hide ourselves by staying for a while at Marinette's flat, but with a child who cried day and night, it would not go unnoticed and could have created big problems for everyone.
The Hunt
We went to the countryside, to Saint Paul Cap de Joux, to a hotel. We took a room and spent a night there. The French police summoned us in the morning to the Police Station to check our identity.We left behind our luggage and took the pushchair as if we were going for a walk, and we left. At the station we took the train, and returned to our starting point, Toulouse. We arrived at Marinette's house and told her our story. I decided to leave with Marinette the next day to get our luggage and the leather bag.
We arrive at the hotel and ask the owner for our things and the leather bag.
- What bag?
- The leather bag I left with you. The bag that my mother gave to my wife.
Meanwhile, the French police were warned by the "good" inhabitants" ( who in1945 will all become "resistance fighters"), and picked me up.
Marinette witnessed the scene, and went back alone to Toulouse, to warn my wife of the unfortunate outcome of our trip. My wife entrusted Nicole to Marinette and with a friend, Jacques Taler, went to see a lawyer to try to release me before my departure for the regional camp : "Rivelsat".During the arrest, I was brought to the police station where they emptied my pockets, took my French papers with the "JEWISH" stamp, my French naturalization decree, the little money I had on me, except for a banknote that I had stashed away for the hard times and then I was put in a corner to wait for the Police car.
Through the window I saw a bicycle against the wall of the building, right next to the toilets.I asked to go and do something urgent.
I walked past the bike. It spoke to me. "Take me, Take me," it said. Without turning around, I got on this heavenly bike and pedaled like a pro. As soon as I left the village, there was a small wood along the road, I got off and hid myself on the ground by some bushes.
It didn't take long for the French police to come after me on motorbikes. They passed by me without noticing anything. I waited for some time. The French police passed by again. I was safe.
Two hours later I arrived in Toulouse. I found Marinette in tears, looking after Nicole. She told me that Rosa has gone to see a lawyer.
I asked: "Which one ? Which one?"
"I don't know" Marinette replied.
I asked her again where there was a lawyer; she replied that she believed that ..... well, the first one I went to see was the one. I returned to Marinette's house with my treasure of "Bouchon".
Not having any more papers, I went the same day to Tarbes, to see a police commissioner who could provide me with new identity papers, obviously for a fee with no small profit. He produced the papers with the note "JEWISH" on the identity card! ! !Anna was informed of our situation.
Our parents are "set up". Rosa was calmed down by Marinette, then we decided to leave for Switzerland to save our daughter.
The route to Switzerland
Anna went alone to Lyon to prepare the ground for us to find a smuggler and get false papers without showing the word "Jew".
March 1943: The three of us arrived in Lyon. After one day, everything was ready for us to leave for Switzerland. The false papers, the false network, everything. The smuggler ?
We had an appointment in Annemasse, the nearest town to Geneva.
To get from Lyon to Annemasse, there were different areas to pass through and you have to rely on luck. My basque beret, a false identity card, and above all a large dose of innocence. We had all this and more. We had a small black briefcase for Nicole's belongings who was now 18 months old. My wife, in order not to carry any luggage and look like a refugee, wore the four different coloured blouses made in Nice, and a good measure of innocence! ! !
Our train journey took us from the occupied zone to the even more heavily guarded and controlled 'Red Zone'.
We were sitting in a compartment, Rosa opposite me on the window side, I was holding Nicole on my lap.
An inspection: "PAPIEREN BITTE"
I remember it as if it were now. The first three people in the compartment were checked. The German asked me for my papers. I held out my papers, and all of a sudden someone called out to him and he went off. I put my papers back in my pocket and when he came back he looked at me, and said in German "ALLES IN ORDERNOUNG" (everything is in order). He thought he had checked me, the Miracle, the happy Chance.I can't explain it and I still wonder to this day if the papers I had were valid.
We arrived in Annemasse on 23 March. The caf� where we had to wait for our guide (a railway worker), was full of Germans. It was their habit to get drunk and the cafe owner also got drunk with the drunk Germans. In short, the reasoning is that where there are many Germans there are no checks. We left Anna in Lyon to pay the guide. As proof of our passage, a photo cut in two, half of which I would give to the smuggler after our passage, and the other half in Anna's possession to verify the truth, all for the sum of 120,000 francs at the time (estimated as equal to 29,000 euros in 2025). It was a small price to pay to save three lives. The guide came to pick us up. Rosa took Nicole's little black suitcase (which she now keeps as a souvenir), I took in my arms our most precious possession in the world, our little daughter. When we arrived at the railway tracks, the ferryman "blessed" us and asked for the other part of the photo, and told us that he could not go any further, but that we had to follow the tracks straight on and that we would run into the Swiss border guards. |
Annenasse 1942 |
And he drops us there...
By the grace of God...
It' s the risk we had to take.
Loaded with our precious daughter, we walked. Rosa was pale, I suppose I was the same. With our hands full, we moved on. We looked at each other, without a word, we walked. Nicole started to cry. I gave her my hair to amuse her. She liked it, and pulled my hair. Now I wanted to scream.
To top it off, I saw a soldier. He pointed his rifle at us, and in German ordered us to stop. He approached us, his recognizable German helmet and his grey-green coat looming in the darkness, Rosa and I could not feel our legs anymore, the second it took seemed like an eternity.
The soldier asked us to move on and led us to the border post.
We were in SWITZERLAND.
Places mentioned in Maurice's Memoirs