Durban Ferdinand & Lucie (Hehre)

Garette, Casimir Garette, Marie Durban, Ferdinand Durban, Lucie Aharon and Fanny Schreiber lived in Antwerp, Belgium, before the war. They had four children: Raphael (b. 1929), Joseph (b. 1935), Myriam (b. 1934), and Benjamin (b. 1939). In 1939, Aharon died from an illness, leaving Fanny alone with the four children. When the war broke out, Fanny decided to leave Belgium and flee to the south of France with the children and her parents, Léon and Sara Saenger. They settled first in Bandol (Var), where they stayed until November 1942, when the south of France was invaded as well. Shortly before leaving Bandol, Fanny managed to smuggle Myriam out of France to relatives in Switzerland, where she survived the war. In December 1942 the Schreibers settled in Vic-Fezensac (Gers), near the Spanish border. The three children were sent to a boarding school for about a month, until the family found a place to live. Ferdinand and Lucie Durban lived next to the Schreibers, and the families quickly became friends. The Durbans knew their neighbors were Jews and used to call Léon Saenger “Monsieur le Rabbin” (Mr. Rabbi). In 1943 the Schreibers’ oldest son, Raphael, began working on Casimir and Marie Garette’s farm, and he befriended them as well. The Durban and Garette families always opened their doors and hid the Schreibers anytime there was danger of a search or arrest in the area. The grandparents, who could not walk very far, found shelter at the Durbans’ place. When Léon Saenger died in 1943 of an infection, his wife,Sara, stayed with the Durbans, who took care of her until the liberation. Marie Garette took care of Léon’s grave throughout the war. Whenever there was danger, Fanny and her boys found shelter at the Durbans’ vineyard, where they hid in a barn, and during the winter, they fled to the Garettes, who sheltered them in their home. Fanny, her mother, and her children managed to survive the war thanks to the courage and goodwill of the Garette and Durban families, who risked their own lives to save them. The friendship between the families remained strong for many years after the war. On June 1, 2015, Yad Vashem recognized Casimir and Marie Garette, and Ferdinand and Lucie Durban as Righteous Among the Nations.