Héritier Paul

Héritier, Paul Dr. Paul Héritier lived and worked in Chamalières, a suburb of Clermont-Ferrand. He owned another house in Chaumargeais, a village near Chambon-sur-Lignon, in the département of Haute-Loire. This house was ordinarily the family’s vacation home, but in 1942-1944, it became the residence of André Chouraqui, who, with his wife, fled from a roundup of Jews by French police in Clermont-Ferrand. Paul Héritier did not know the Chouraquis, who had contacted him upon the recommendation of a mutual friend, a Protestant minister. However, he accepted without hesitation, though he had been warned about André Chouraqui’s underground activities: Chouraqui had placed himself in the service of the OSE. His task was to find families willing to take in Jewish children and to provide hiding places for adults in the surrounding villages. Dr. Paul Héritier was well known and highly respected in the region. He made it known that he supported the work of his “tenants,” thus gaining the cooperation of the local population. Moreover, whenever he came through Chaumargeais, he provided medical advice and care for anyone who needed it. Dr. Héritier’s summerhouse, placed at the disposition of the underground activists, permitted them to save not only the Chouraqui family, but also numerous Jewish children and adults. On October 6, 1991, Yad Vashem recognized Dr. Paul Héritier as Righteous Among the Nations. File 4921