Aiguebelette is a picturesque commune in the foothills of the Savoie, sheltered at the foot of the Epine massif. A tunnel was dug at the end of the 19th century between Aiguebelette and Saint-Cassin-la-Cascade to open up the valley, and the arrival of the railways favoured the development of small-scale tourism. Hotels, guest houses and restaurants multiplied. Guests from Lyons made up a large part of the clientele. There were equally a certain number of secondary residences. After the 1940 armistice, Aiguebelette was situated in the free zone under Vichy control.
1942
From 1942, the population of Aiguebelette increased significantly due to the number of Jewish families under house arrest, mostly under the edict of the Rhone prefect. Others chose to settle there to escape the internment measures or to get closer to the Swiss border. The various archives that we have been able to consult have enabled us to list eighty-nine Jews who lived in Aiguebelette from 1942-1944, out of a local population estimated at two hundred people.
Chana and Matys Rochtzajd
Chana Leska and Matys Rochtzajd, and their two children Paula and Maurice, who lived in Lyons at 31, rue Malesherbes, were placed under house arrest in Aiguebelette by the prefect of Lyons on March 1st 1942. It is likely that, as with a large number of Jewish refugees from Belgium, they arrived in France after the roundups of May 10th 1940 at Anvers and Brussels. The house arrest list of March 1st featured 35 people. In a previous letter the authorities of the Savoie prefecture declared that there was a housing capacity of 50 people at Aiguebelette.
On April 4th and 5th, those placed under house arrest (all foreign Jews, many of them refugees in France from Belgium since May 1940) had to report to the constabulary of the Pont de Beauvoisin.
Paula Rochtzajd was provided with schooling from the month of April, and attended class with the children of Professor Bernard Halpern (Françoise and Georges), and the Fixler daughters. Paula was absent for several months in June and then returned in July (the school holidays began on July 14th) On the register for the distribution of food cards it is stated that the family was in possession of cards issued from Laives, Saône et Loire. Mrs Dupraz-Canard states that she sold 2,5 litres of milk a day to Chana, which is well above the norm in view of the restrictions that were in place. Doctor Martin from Pont de Beauvoisin made out a certificate on May 27th 1942 prescribing a diet with extra milk for Paula.
The roundups of foreign Jews took place on August 26th in the free zone. Chana was arrested by the Paul de Beauvoisin constabulary with five other Jewish residents including Ewa Fixler, mother of four young girls. The two women were deported together. Jean-Pierre Foucault, nephew of Chana Leska-Rochtzajd described the arrest of Chana by the French constabulary, and the flight of Mathys whose life was saved thanks to his wife.
Fifteen people managed to cross over into Switzerland before December 1942 and the toughening of the reception policy of the Swiss confederation. Six people were deported by convoy 27 on September 2nd 1942 and two by the 1943 convoys.
The daughters of Moïse and Ewa Fixler, Sara, Helene, Isabelle and Esther crossed the Swiss border with her non-Jewish guide, who was a member of a protestant aid network, on December 29th 1942 at 19h30. They were quickly entrusted to the care of their aunt, as their father had been interned in a Swiss camp since September 26th.
The Halpern family
The Halpern family chose to rent a house in Aiguebelette in spring 1942 in order to get their two children, Georges, 7, and Françoise, 5, out of Lyons. Doctor Bernard Halbern did not declare the presence of the family to the Vichy authorities and the two children received their schooling in a mixed school in the single class of Miss Duport. A young woman looked after them while their parents were in Lyons.
Georges remembers his walks and pilfering of fruit in the orchards, boat trips on the lake, swimming and playing games. Bernard Halpern continued his job as a researcher in Lyons despite the bans and the risk. The family escaped the roundups of August, but the Gestapo was looking for Bernard Halpern, who had just published an important scientific article on his discoveries. When the free zone was invaded by the Germans in November, the danger grew. In a biographical note that he composed in the 1960s he writes: “One cold, grey day in December 1942, I was arrested at the factory exit by two French policemen. I was taken to the kommandantur and put in an office where two German officers were waiting from me. On the table, there was a fascicule of the International archives of Pharmacodynamies where my work on synthetic antihistamines had been published. They only asked me one question. Are you the author of this work? I was completely taken by surprise. I couldn’t deny it. They assigned me a policeman who was to accompany me home so that I could take a few personal belongings in preparation for departure… When I got home I quickly explained the situation to my wife. She had this astonishing reaction: “you won’t leave!” In Lyons, we were sub-letting and our room was only separated by one door from the apartment of the owner. My wife explained what was happening to the landlady and asked her to let us go through and leave through the door of her apartment. Several minutes later, we were in another street. Our only idea was to leave Lyons and to join the children in Aiguebelette. We jumped onto a train and we arrived late at night at our destination. We intended to reach Annemasse and to attempt to cross into Switzerland. I asked my colleague, Miss Walthert, who was of Swiss nationality, to accompany us on the journey so that she could save the children in the event that my wife and I were caught. We stopped at Annecy where we knew people who could put us in touch with the resistance network in Annemasse. At Annecy, the situation was very dangerous. When we got to the station to catch the train, we noticed groups of unfortunates who had been caught in the roundups on the same night, and who were waiting to be loaded onto the train…
The Halpern family managed to cross the border and was not refused by the Swiss authorities.
Jankiel Szyfman
Jankiel Szyfman was born in Poland in 1909, he was a writer and journalist. He was expelled from Palestine by the British and returned to Poland. In Warsaw he was engaged in political and social campaigning and was wanted by the Polish police of the Pilsudski regime. He took refuge in France in 1934 and was joined by Chawa in 1935. Jankiel joined the volunteer corps of the Foreign Legion in 1939, avoiding internment. He was demobilised in 1940 and rejoined his wife in Paris, where they tried in vain to emigrate to the United States.
They stayed in Paris until the birth of their son Albert, nicknamed Nouni, in 1941. In 1942 they decided to seek refuge in the free zone. The family lived for a time in Aigurande in the Indre region, where they were arrested during the roundups of August 26th, and interned in the groupment camp of Douadic. They were freed before the transfer of the interns to Nexon. It seems that Jankiel’s time in the legion had saved him.
They eventually reached the hotel Beausejour in Aiguebelette at the start of 1943. There, Jankiel joined a resistance network. On November 13th 1943 he was arrested in Chambery with his friend Majer while they were on a supplies mission. Jankiel managed to communicate with his wife before being transferred to Drancy, from where he was deported by convoy no. 62 on November 20th 1943.
On November 15th Jankiel wrote from Chambery prison: for the time being we are in the departmental prison of Chambery in German hands. We don’t yet know our fate, but in any event we are in good spirits. We are sending you the food card and the tickets. We took Eddi’s card from Majer and it’s necessary to go to the town hall for the ticket. For as long as we are here he is going to send the parcel with warm clothes and linen because I no longer have my overcoat. Majer is sending Eddi’s November milk tickets. How are you? Take care of the children. Send also writing paper, stamps and some money. Best wishes and kisses, Jankiel. PS: we are fine here; if you can send someone with the parcel, send it. Here we can have visitors every day at any time of day. So that the ticket doesn’t get lost, we leave them with XXX. We hope that you can send someone to collect it. But it must be quick. A kiss for Nouni. Chawa Szyfman stayed at Aiguebelette until the liberation when she returned to Paris with Albert.
Albert and Chawa Szyfman Aiguebelette Collection A. Szyfman
the two children received their schooling in a mixed school in the single class of Miss Duport. A young woman looked after them while their parents were in Lyons.
