Dousselin Paul ; Son: Jean-Michel

Dousselin, Paul Dousselin, Jean-Michel Nicolas, Antoinette Paul Dousselin ran an industrial gas factory in Strasbourg. After Alsace was annexed to Germany in 1940, he transferred his business to Massiac (Cantal). René Weil, one of his employees, went to him asking to have his job back after having been demobilized. Paul Dousselin not only rehired him but also promoted him to the position of executive manager, despite Vichy’s anti-Jewish legislation. Once he was settled in Massiac, René sent for his nearest relations: his wife and his daughter, Mireille, his sister-in-law and her husband, and his parents and parents-in-law -- nine people in total. René pointed out the possibilities in Massiac to other Jewish Alsatian families, and a small community was created. On the eve of Pentecost (Shavuoth) in 1944, the family was warned of a roundup expected for the next day. They had time to disperse, but René entrusted his eight-year-old daughter Mireille to friends in Massiac. The next day, all the inhabitants of Massiac were ordered to assemble in the market square. Paul Dousselin, seeing Mireille among her classmates, simply took her by the hand and brought her to his home to avoid her identity being checked. The same evening, policemen went to warn René and his family along with his sister-in-law and her husband that there was a warrant for their arrest. Paul Dousselin was alerted and had false identity papers made for them overnight. He placed an isolated farm he had in Bessac (Vienne) at the disposal of the five people being hunted down and accompanied them himself to the station. He also gave instructions to his property manager to get them food ration cards. A few days later, René’s parents and parents-in-law were also threatened with arrest. Antoinette Nicolas, a neighbor who had sympathized with the family because her husband, a prisoner of war in Germany, was in the same Stalag as René’s brother-in-law, warned them of the presence of the police. She offeredthem shelter in her modest home until the Dousselin son, Jean-Michel, could take them to Bessac in a horse-drawn cart. All survived thanks to the selflessness of Paul Dousselin, his son and Antoinette Nicolas. On October 29, 2000, Yad Vashem recognized Paul and Jean-Michel Dousselin, along with Antoinette Nicolas, as Righteous Among the Nations.