Bastide René & Germaine

Bastide, René Bastide, Germaine File 8259 During the occupation, Renè Bastide was a district inspector of schools and his wife Germaine, a nurse, worked in a tuberculosis clinic. In June 1940, the Bastides and their daughter, Lucile, of Romans sur Isère (Drome), were profoundly affected by the sight of hundreds of thousands of refugees swarming on the roads from the north. At that time a young couple, Andrè and Marcelle Picard, with a two-year-old son, Daniel, asked for shelter. The Bastides made available to them a small house that they had purchased with the intention of moving there, asking for only a symbolic rent. Soon the two families became close friends. In November 1942, when the southern zone was occupied, Romans was in the Italian zone. Some fifteen relatives of the Picards reached this town, including the Lèvy, Kauffmann, and Weil families, three young couples with children. The Bastides took care of all these Jewish refugees. This task became more difficult in September 1943, when the Germans occupied the former Italian zone. The plight of the Jews was extreme. Aware of the danger that the refugees faced, Bastide prepared a hideout for the adults in an isolated farm a short distance from town and utilized his position to place the Jewish children in schools under false names. In 1944, the occupation forces and the partisans waged severe battles in the Vercors mountains, which were part of this region. The Germans raided the city and arrested Jews and suspected supporters of the partisans. René Bastide, who had prior knowledge of the impending operations, informed the Jewish tenants of the hideout and the three Picards, whom he concealed in his home. With the exception of André Picard, who joined a partisan unit and died in combat, all the Jews whom the Bastides protected and concealed, survived. The warm friendship between the rescuers' and the survivors' families, including their children, remained strong for many years after the war. OnNovember 11, 1998, Yad Vashem recognized Renè and Germaine Bastide as Righteous Among the Nations.