Giraud Gilbert & Suzanne

Giraud, Gilbert Giraud, Suzanne File 5209a Gilbert Giraud headed the French Scout movement during the occupation. Roger Eisinger, the founder of the Jewish Scouts in Marseilles, and also his wife and two children, owe their lives to Giraud and his wife. On January 21, 1943, as he left for a Scouts rally near Marseilles, Eisinger imprudently carried his real identity papers, which were stamped with the word “Jew.” He was arrested at the railroad station with a large group of Jews. Fortunately, Gilbert Giraud, who knew him from his involvement in the Scouts, saw him and told his family. Eisinger’s wife turned to Maurice Dejean (q.v.), an inspector with the youth and sports commission in Marseilles. Thanks to his many contacts, Roger Eisinger was released. Dejean then hid Eisinger in his home. The other Jews arrested with him were deported to the Sobibor extermination camp, never to return. The Gestapo continued to hunt for Eisinger. His wife and two children were no longer safe at home. Consequently, Gilbert Giraud and his wife, Suzanne, sheltered the three of them until liberation day, despite the risk, seeking no recompense. Eisinger, who wrote poetry under the pseudonym Emmanuel Eydoux, and his family, remained friends of the Girauds after the war. On April 16, 1992, Yad Vashem recognized Gilbert and Suzanne Giraud as Righteous Among the Nations.