You can read the earlier part of this story here: Hidden children in France part II
… in October 1943, we were suddenly awakened in the middle of the night by Madame Lemas. She told us that the Gestapo had arrived on the premises to pick up the Jewish families she was hiding. She told us to pretend to be fast asleep during their search and she left. Once again, we were extremely frightened. A few moments later, she returned to the pavilion accompanied by the Gestapo agents. I could see them through my half-closed eyes. She picked up the little girl who had awakened in tears and told the Nazi policemen that the little girl and we were “her children” and that we could not be touched. They flashed their lights into our faces, opened a back door that led to the street to make sure that no one was escaping and left the pavilion without any further verification. An open miracle had occurred.
When I woke up the next morning the Jewish families were gone except for old Mrs. Bialystok who had been deemed unfit to be transported. My sister who visited us from time to time happened to come by that day. I told her what had happened. She immediately contacted the representatives of the Marcel network. Shortly thereafter, they came to pick us up lest the Gestapo return. I learned that they did come back, as was their practice, to pick up the belongings of the Jews they had arrested.
After the Liberation, Mrs. Bialystok, who survived, accused Madame Lemas of having informed the Gestapo about the Jewish families she was hiding. Charges were brought against her and I was called to testify before an investigating magistrate. I was shown a line-up of arrested Gestapo agents but I did not recognize anyone. I merely retold the events as I had lived them. I never knew the outcome of the case and never knew whether Mrs. Bialystok’s accusations were justified or not.
We were taken to the Collège Sasserno, a Catholic boarding school in Nice. Coincidentally, it was located near the now deserted apartment where we had lived. I was sad not to be able to return to our building conscious of the reality of the situation. At school, the Fathers welcomed us and showed much sympathy for our plight.
After a stay of three weeks, the representatives of the Marcel Network took us to the house of Madame Andrée-Pierre Viénot, called “La Messuguière” (an estate which serves to this day as a resort for literary and artistic celebrities), located in Cabris, a suburb of the city of Grasse. (…)
Madame Viénot showed us a quasi maternal affection. (…) After staying with her for a week, she told us that we were to be taken to a boarding house for children in Villard-de-Lans, a village located in the Vercors region near the French Alps. A few days later, Monsieur Saint-Luc, a gentleman of aristocratic origin and demeanour came to take us. We travelled by bus during the night. In the morning, we arrived in Grenoble and boarded another bus that took us to Villard-de-Lans. Amid the snow-covered mountains, we discovered a magnificent village where the children of well-to-do French families boarded. We had arrived at the “Pension Bon Accueil,” directed by Monsieur and Madame Saint-Luc. We were given a new identity. Our names were now Joseph and Léon Baroux.
Léon and Joseph Sungolowsky, Villard-de-Lans, 1944
We adapted quickly and pleasantly to life at the pension or boardinghouse. We were well cared for and well-fed, which today might be inconceivable because food was extremely scarce. Monsieur and Madame Saint-Luc did their utmost to minimize the differences between us and the other children. (There was one other Jewish boy by the name of Lucien Vélin who apparently had been placed there by his family rather than the some child rescue organization). The Saint-Luc couple had also welcomed three Jewish female counsellors. We were not as well-dressed as the other children and we attended the village public school while the others went to private schools, but mostly, we did not receive as much mail as the other children did, which made me very sad. The curriculum of the school I attended was intended for rural children. Expecting to enter the French Lycée the following year, I had to pass a government entrance exam for which this school did not prepare its students. Consequently I did not take my studies seriously. (…)
At “Bon Accueil,” the other children were told we were Protestant, and, therefore, not subject to any specific religious practices. Yet, we had brought along our Jewish prayer books. Madame Saint-Luc was made aware of the dates of the Jewish Holy Days for she called us into her office and had us stay there so that we might recite our prayers.
Fina and her parents, Rabbi Aron Gerson Sungolowsky et his wife Esther née Berger, in 1946
Madame Viénot had written to us once or twice, but ceased all correspondence, leaving my letters unanswered. In later years, I realized that she may have been reluctant to call attention to herself because of her husband’s high position in the Resistance and of her own underground activities, including helping to hide Jewish children as in our case, I then decided to violate one of the cardinal rules of rescue organizations which forbade hidden children to correspond with their parents. Before leaving them, my parents had told me that if I ever wanted to contact them, I could write to a neighbour, Madame Tosti, who lived in our building, addressing her as “Dear Aunt.” I did just that. Shortly thereafter, I was overjoyed to receive a letter bearing my father’s handwriting. From then on, I corresponded with my parents. Constantly risking her life, as the Gestapo regularly came to look for us in the building, my older sister Fina, who had stayed with my parents, periodically came to pick up my letters from Madame Tosti. When the Marcel Network representatives got wind of that arrangement, they severely reprimanded both my parents and my sister for continuing to correspond with us.
At “Bon Accueil,” life continued to be pleasant. Yet, I was constantly worried about the fate of my parents. Cousine Rose no longer wanted to house them. They decided to move in with Rabbi Wolf Brum, his wife and their little boy, in a house located in the outskirts of Nice. I learned afterwards that, on his way to his new hiding place, my father, who had shaved off his beard, performed a circumcision on a newborn Jewish boy, namely Gérard Tugendhaft who is living in New York. With the Gestapo constantly cruising the streets of Nice in their black Citroën cars, looking to pick up Jews, their situation was very dangerous. Neither family felt safe in the new place. Rabbi Brum and his family decided to leave the area and move to the southwest of France. (My parents learned later that the family, father, mother and child were caught by the Nazis and shot on the spot.) My parents also thought of leaving. They wrote to me that they were planning to move to Lyon, which I thought be an extremely dangerous decision.But they changed their minds and decided to stay in Nice.
This account is adapted from: The Hidden Child. Newsletter published by Hidden Child Foundation/ADL Vol. XVI, 2008, pp.23-25
You can find a fuller version in French: ”Enfants dans la tourmente (1940-1944) Témoignage de Joseph Sungolowsky” in TSAFON, Revue d’études juives du Nord, 2004, pp.21-38
Adapted French versions can also be found on the website of the ”Association des Amis et Enfants Abadi”:
http://www.moussa-odette-abadi.asso.fr/fr/temJS.htm
and the AJPN:
http://www.ajpn.org/personne-Leon-Sungolowsky-1259.html
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