Rist Jean

Rist, Jean File 6804 Jean Rist (b. 1900) lived in Fraisse (Loire) with his wife and children. He held a senior post in a steel plant. Raised in the spirit of respect for his country and human values, he was one of the first to join the Resistance and saved many Jewish families, including the Bloch, Nerson, Schwerin, Hochmann, and Trebitch families. There were many others. Jean Rist hid Jews in his home, provided them with forged papers and ration cards, and arranged their clandestine passage to Switzerland. Rist personally escorted M. and Mme Trebitch, Jews from Austria, to the Swiss border. The Trebitches were captured by a French border patrol and sent to the Rivesaltes camp. Rist himself was arrested, prosecuted, and imprisoned. He appealed to his father, Charles Rist, the deputy governor of the Bank of France, who asked the Vichy minister of justice to intervene. Jean Rist was released and the Trebitches were given an official crossing permit. Jean Rist continued to fight in the Resistance and became the commander of a Resistance unit that caused the Germans severe losses. He fell in battle on August 21, 1944, the last day of the occupation. After the war, Charles Rist published a memorial volume for his son so that his three grandchildren would know what kind of person their father had been. Along with his son’s many feats of valor, the elder Rist quoted impressive excerpts from a diary. a personal notebook, in which Rist had made hurried entries throughout the war years. Among them, the elder Rist found the following: “Do what you must, no matter what. That is the best motto in a difficult situation. .... It is often very hard to do well, but it is always possible to do better.” On January 16, 1996, Yad Vashem recognized Jean Rist as Righteous Among the Nations.