Emonet Augustine

Emonet, Augustine (Mother Michaël) Mother Michaël (Augustine Emonet) was the mother superior of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Bourg convent and administrator of its boarding school in Roclenge-sur-Geer, in Liège, Belgium. There were a hundred girls studying at the school; among them were six Jewish girls. The girls were mostly children of prosperous Flemish farmers. Along with their academic studies, they raised farm animals and helped grow vegetables. Thus, despite the wartime rationing, there was no dearth of food. The nuns were strict disciplinarians, and the Jewish girls attended daily prayers together with the other children. When the farmers’ children went home for weekends and holidays, the Jewish girls remained on the premises. Erika Mandl (later Fuld) was born in Austria and moved with her mother to Belgium in 1939. Her father had already left for the United States, and her mother awaited the arrival of her emigration papers at the home of her sister, Mrs. Charlotte Frumkin, in Liège. The papers that arrived, however, were only for her mother, who left for England before the German occupation, leaving Erika with the Frumkins. Once the deportation of the Jews began, a neighbor suggested that the Frumkins send their daughters, 16-year-old Rosa (later Rose Pasternak) and 11-year-old Martha (later Fleischmann), as well as Erika, to the convent boarding school in Roclenge-sur-Geer. They stayed there throughout the war. After the liberation, Erika was sent to an orphanage until she was able to travel to America, where she was reunited with her parents. Martha and Rosa, whose parents had perished in Auschwitz, eventually found their way to the United States too. On October 20, 2013, Yad Vashem recognized Augustine Emonet (Mother Michaël) as Righteous Among the Nations.