Bohny Friedel

Bohny-Reiter, Friedel Friedel Bohny-Reiter, the wife of August Bohny* was a Swiss citizen who, in 1940, joined the staff of Secours Suisse, an organization affiliated with the Swiss Red Cross that sponsored and ran relief programs for needy children in the southern zone of France. The operation was run by Maurice Dubois* from his office in Toulouse. He also opened day centers and clinics for Jewish children in dire circumstances in the quarantine camps of southern France. Bohny-Reiter’s regular base of operations was the Secours Suisse hut in the Rivesaltes camp (Pyrénées Orientales). With great resourcefulness, warmth, and devotion, she made sure that Jewish children received medical and nursing care. In August 1942, Reiter made enormous efforts to save children and other young people from the large-scale deportations from Rivesaltes. Sixteen-year-old Hilda Kreizer was waiting in line to be deported by train with her mother and younger sister. A policeman was assigned to make sure the Jews boarded the trains in orderly fashion. Taking advantage of a lapse in the policeman’s attention, Hilda, who knew Friedel well because she had taken care of Hilda in her work for Secours Suisse, ran with her sister to Bohny-Reiter, who had signaled to them. Bohny-Reiter led them to an unlit storeroom in the camp, which contained the food supplies of Secours Suisse. Bohny-Reiter continued to deliver young children to the storeroom until the train left. She then sent the youngsters to private homes affiliated with her organization, thus saving their lives, since their parents were deported to Auschwitz and murdered there. In her rescue actions, Bohny-Reiter disregarded instructions from the heads of Secours Suisse, who stressed that their activists must obey the French government’s orders and diligently punished operatives who acted to save Jews contrary to the authorities’ wishes. On July 16, 1990, Yad Vashem recognized Friedel Bohny-Reiter as Righteous Among theNations. File 4681