Dear Val and Malc,
We are proud to know you and thankful for the tireless way you work to improve the lives of others.
What some of your detractors may not know, or choose to forget, is that St Antonin has a long history of very brave people who risked their lives to save others. In 1943 Armand and Alice Fraysse who had started a youth hostel at Saleth before the war, took in six year old Polish Jewish refugee Jacques Bronstein and passed him off as their nephew for the rest of the war. On 22 December 1997, the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem awarded Armand and Alice Fraysse the title of “Righteous Among the Nations” and the Mairie of St Antonin placed a commemorative plaque on their house near the Protestant Temple.
In early June 1943 German police based in the Brasserie were rounding up Jews who were under house arrest in St Antonin. 13 were arrested and deported to Auschwitz, however the mayor, Dr Paul Benet, who was also leader of the St Antonin undercover resistance, managed to warn a further 60 who disappeared into the countryside. Dr Benet has also been cited for saving other Jews in St Antonin at the time and of course was recognised after the war by the naming of the main thoroughfare in town “Avenue Dr Paul Benet”.
Love to you both
John
Val says this made me cry John and Susan, how interesting and what brave people. I did not know that about " Dr Paul Benet" or Armand and Alice Fraysse.
NB John has made a PowerPoint diaporama of these brave people. Email taglines82@gmail.com if you would like us to send you a copy.
NB John has made a PowerPoint diaporama of these brave people. Email taglines82@gmail.com if you would like us to send you a copy.
ZIzou says
je me souviens bien de la cérémonie à la mémoire d'Armand et Alice Fraysse, reconnus "Justes parmi les nations". C'était un beau moment, très émouvant, et je pense que c'était en 1999, puisque mon mari était maire depuis peu de temps et avait été très fier d'être associé à cette commémoration..
suite : merci à "John" d'évoquer les bons côtés de St-Antonin : il y en a beaucoup, et il suffit d'ignorer les mauvais !
comments to
taglines82@gmail.com
taglines82@gmail.com
