The family name “Rozenfeld” must have been known in the Flieder family. Why else would Ida’s half-brother Izrael Flieder have given “Rozenfeld” as his stepmother Rosa’s maiden name, although this is most likely a mix-up? My mother Ida Dehn, née Flieder, has an envelope addressed to her in her papers, sent in March 1964 from “Rozenfeld” in Paris, Rue Caffarelli 16. Who wrote the unfortunately missing letter? Although the connections between the Flieder and Rozenfeld families have not yet been clarified, a connection seems to have existed. Unfortunately, contacting Ginette or relatives was unsuccessful, especially as the addresses found for her in Paris were probably long out of date. Nevertheless, a circle could be closed.
Peter Dehn, June 2024.
Often enough, a web search turns up something interesting and worth reading. In this case, it is a letter from Ginette Scher, who lived at 16 Rue Caffarelli in Paris in 1942. In a letter to Marc Dhuesme, Ginette, née Rozenfeld, tells how Marc’s grandfather Olivier saved her from the extermination camp during the rafle du Vel d’Hiv[1] The Velodrome d’Hiver was the largest assembly point for the mass deportations of more than 13,100 Jews from Paris to extermination camps on July 16 and 17, 1942. The roundup was carried out exclusively by Frenchmen, retrieved June 15, 2023. on July 16, 1942. I was deeply moved and inspired by Olivier Dhuesme’s incredible courage[2] The letter was found incidently on the web, retrieved 2021. and resolute cheekiness which is emplary for all civil resistance against state injustice. Regardless of the unresolved relationship, Ginette’s story and her letter are to be preserved and belong on dunera.de.
Here you can read Ginette’s letter about her rescue from the concentration camp thanks to the courageous solidarity of her neighbor.
“I understand nothing and understand everything”
Monsieur,
you have asked me to make a statement in favor of your grandfather Olivier Dhuesme.
I am happy to answer, and as you will understand, very emotionally.
In the 1940s, Monsieur Dhuesme, his wife and their son Robert were our neighbors. We lived with them in the same house: Rue Caffarelli 16 in the 3rd arrondissement. The Dhuesmes lived on the fourth floor, my family and I on the sixth. But we were more than just “neighbors”.
We were close, we helped each other, we appreciated each other, as you can tell.
On July 16, 1942, a sad memory, the Vel d’Hiv[3] Wikipedia about the Velodrom, (German), retrieved June 10, 2023. roundup took place. I was 14 years old and, like dozens of other Jewish families, I was taken by the police to the courtyard of the town hall of the 3rd arrondissement. It was a mysterious and shocking gathering, because we didn’t know its purpose. We wait. We don’t know what we want, where we’re going and whether we’re going anywhere at all. The town hall is crowded. We are waiting.
We have to wait and I’m here, near my parents. Urgent questions, fear: this moment, which lasts I don’t know how long, resembles nothing familiar.
Found by chance on the web: Ginette’s letter to the son of her saviour.
Suddenly I see Mr Dhuesme entering the courtyard, accompanied by a policeman. This familiar face, this person who knows me as well as a close relative … I walk a little towards him as he walks straight towards me. Our talk is as brief as it is surreal and I don’t know if I remember the exact words he says. In two sentences, I hear him tell me that he can “get me out of here”. And he asks me if I agree to follow him. I agree. I follow this man I know, because I know it’s dangerous to stay in the courtyard of the town hall. Monsieur Dhuesme, I and the policeman enter the office for Jewish affairs a few meters away. Everything goes even faster. Mr Dhuesme explains that I am French, born on French territory, in Paris on October 6, 1928. I listen and understand the following: My parents are of Polish origin (Rozenfeld), therefore foreigners, and have been legally summoned to the courtyard of the town hall, where only foreigners are supposed to gather. My case is different: I am 100 percent French and am wrongly counted among the others.
After this debate, Monsieur Dhuesme continues and I hear him suggest to the authorities that I should be adopted. He then signs a document officially confirming my adoption by Monsieur and Madame Dhuesme.
I understand nothing and understand everything and we leave the office very quickly.
On the street, Mr Dhuesme asks me if I want to go back to say goodbye to my parents. I don’t have time: the buses are already there, already full. I see my parents, look at them and they look at me and we wave goodbye. At that moment, I don’t know that it’s the last time I’ll see my mother. We only have this ridiculous and tiny gesture to say goodbye forever … So I say goodbye to my parents and return with Mr Dhuesme to his house, to our building. A few days later, I go on vacation to St. Quentin with Madame Dhuesme.
Here’s what your grandfather did for me, sir: he saved my life by adopting me on July 16, 1942. And he did so regardless of the consequences, reprisals and persecution that threatened him or his family. He adopted me “on the spot”, which is what made this reaction possible in the first place.
I couldn’t tell you in a single letter what the war has done to us. But here is another example of your father’s kindness.
My father returns from Drancy[4] Wikipedia about the Drancy camp (German), retrieved June 10, 2023., not my mother. Together we start life again in Rue Caffarelli. He worked and I went to school in Rue Censier Daubenton.
It was now early 1944 and one day I received a phone call from a friend who had been warned by an inspector about a new raid in the neighborhood.
While she advises me to come to her house and hide there, she also advises me to warn my father not to come home that evening and the following evenings. Which he will do.
Before I leave the apartment and flee to my girlfriend, I think of quickly wrapping the candlesticks, silver cutlery and other valuables in a quilt. I take the large parcel two floors down to Monsieur and Madame Dhuesme. I entrust them with the bundle containing our belongings and memories. I choose them quickly and safely, because these people are also my family, whatever happens.
Months pass. My father and I have made it to the free zone[5] Wikipedia about that territory in southern France administered by the Petain government, which made a pact with the fascists, retrieved June 10, 2023.. Then the war is over. One day we return to our old address. There, Mr Dhuesme gives us back the heavy eiderdown with our belongings and memories intact.
The portrait photo of Ginette was enclosed with the letter to Ida and was probably taken in the early 1960s. Dehn family archive.
That, sir, is the testimony I can give in favor of your grandfather.
My infinite gratitude goes to this man who, in the midst of an anti-Semitic climate during the war, was not afraid to adopt a Jewish teenager to save her from the worst.
I hope that your activities in his favor will be successful to soften the memories and to lengthen the list of the good, the brave, the just. Mr Olivier Dhuesme was one of them!
Yours sincerely, monsieur, and a greeting to Robert, your father and my lifelong friend.
Footnotes
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- [1]↑The Velodrome d’Hiver was the largest assembly point for the mass deportations of more than 13,100 Jews from Paris to extermination camps on July 16 and 17, 1942. The roundup was carried out exclusively by Frenchmen, retrieved June 15, 2023.
- [2]↑The letter was found incidently on the web, retrieved 2021.
- [3]↑Wikipedia about the Velodrom, (German), retrieved June 10, 2023.
- [4]↑Wikipedia about the Drancy camp (German), retrieved June 10, 2023.
- [5]↑Wikipedia about that territory in southern France administered by the Petain government, which made a pact with the fascists, retrieved June 10, 2023.
