Gisela Edel and another Jewish teenager live under false identities in a nursing home operated by a convent. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Naomi Elath
During the Holocaust, some Jews were helped by members of various religious congregations in France. Some opened the doors of their convents and institutions such as guest houses, nurseries, retirement homes, and parishes to hide Jewish adults and children. Some communities helped by placing Jews in private homes, providing false identification or food ration cards, and assisting them to illegally cross the border. The unique lifestyle, the rules of behavior, the ethos, and the communal living created challenges to their clandestine activities and affected their modes of operation. This lecture will open up the discussion of the religious as rescuers by trying to understand the ecclesial and congregational aspects as well as the relational context in which these actions took place.
Speaker
Eliot Nidam Orvieto, PhD candidate in History of the Jewish People, Tel Aviv University, and Judith B. and Burton P. Resnick Fellow for the Study of Antisemitism, Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies
This program is made possible by the Campus Outreach Lecture Program of the Museum's Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, supported by the Leonard and Sophie Davis Fund.