Chesneau Germaine

Chesneau, Germaine File 568 In late August 1942, (thirteen-year-old) Haya and Pinhas Spielman were separated from their parents, Jewish immigrants from Belgium, in the Vénissieux camp near Lyons. In fact, the parents were sent to the Drancy camp and then deported to Auschwitz. The Spielman children, together with another 106 youngsters, were rescued from Venissieux by members of welfare organizations. After the police demanded the children’s return, the rescuers dispersed the group and hid them. Thus, Haya and Pinhas arrived at the home run by Germaine Chesneau in an old chateau on the Peyrins estate in the Alps near the town of Romans (Drôme). They were welcomed warmly. Germaine Chesneau dedicated herself entirely to the plight of homeless children, and her establishment sheltered a large number of Jewish children and adults. Several of these adults were employed as teachers and counselors. Germaine Chesneau was aware of the danger that her attitude caused both for her institution and her family. She installed a telephone and a bell to warn the children in case of a raid by the police or the Gestapo. The counselors had to hide them in the cellar of the chateau if necessary. She renamed the Jewish children and removed and buried anything that might betray their origins -- Jewish prayer books, bibles, and souvenirs from home. Throughout their stay, the children lacked for nothing. Chesneau did her best to distract them from the pain and anguish of separation from their parents. The Spielman children stayed at the home for nearly a year, until the spring of 1944, when members of the OSE took them to Toulouse, and from there they crossed the Pyrénées into Spain. They were then taken to Lisbon, and in November 1944, they reached Palestine, and established themselves on a kibbutz. Chesneau continued to take an active interest in their wellbeing throughout her life. Whenever Israel was at war, she invited them to stay with her until the danger passed. After thewar, Haya Spielman remained very attached to her. Pinhas Spielman remembered Chesneau with deep gratitude and in his testimony, described her as a “precious woman” whose actions probably defy the very possibility of reward. In 1970, after she was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations, Chesneau wrote to Yad Vashem of the touching loyalty of so many survivors in Israel and elsewhere who stayed in regular contact with her. Sylvia Bordan Grossman of New York, author of a book on the rescue of Jewish children in France during the Holocaust, interviewed several Jews who survived thanks to Chesneau’s efforts, and she interviewed her in 1982, shortly before her death. On October 7, 1969, Yad Vashem recognized Germaine Chesneau as Righteous Among the Nations.