Vidal Juliette

Guy, Marinette Vidal, Juliette File 518 During the German occupation, Marinette Guy and Juliette Vidal ran the Aide aux Mères, a well-baby clinic in the town of Saint-Etienne. As former Scouts, the two became friendly with members of the Jewish Scouts, several of whom were active in La Sixième, the Scout’s underground organization, while others were active in OSE. Because of their friendship with the Jewish Scouts, Guy and Vidal took part in many rescue operations of children. They turned their clinic into a social center and hostel for activists in La Sixième and OSE. Guy and Vidal also assisted and arranged shelter for the parents of the Jewish children whom they rescued. Vidal and Guy looked after the Isboutskys’ two daughters. They also found modest accommodations for their parents in the Alps, not far from the children’s home where their daughters were placed. After the war, the older daughter, Fella Isboutsky, testified that she and her young sister, and other Jewish children, had been warmly welcomed at the children’s home. Jewish children, from six years old and up, attended an elementary school in the nearby town of Chamonix. A counselor made sure that they recited Shema Yisrael (Jewish prayer) each morning. On Friday night, the children were gathered in a separate corner, where they lit candles and sang Sabbath songs. During Hanukka of 1943, Guy and Vidal visited the home and brought presents and candles to the Jewish children. In June 1944, ten of the children were driven to the Spanish border, smuggled into the Principality of Andorra, and then to Spain. From there they immigrated to Palestine. Among the children in this group were the three Einhorn sisteres, Berthe (later Batia Maayan), Tony (later Aliashar) and Nelly (later Nurit Reuvinof). Guy and Vidal’s nobility and resourcefulness is evident in another incident: Rabbi Samy Klein, who had delivered several lectures in the “club” at the Aide aux Mères in Saint-Etienne, was arrested andmurdered in June 1944, by the French militia. Guy and Vidal looked after the rabbi’s widow, who was left with two small children, and moved her to a safe hiding place. On January 2, 1969, Yad Vashem recognized Marinette Guy and Juliette Vidal as Righteous Among the Nations.