Beaumanoir Anne ; Mother: Marthe ; Father: Jean

Beaumanoir, Anne Beaumanoir, Marthe Beaumanoir, Jean File 7291 After the war, when Anne Beaumanoir was asked why she had rescued two Jews and risked her own and her parents’ lives, she answered simply, “I hate racism. For me, it’s a physical thing.” Beaumanoir, born in Dinan (département of Côtes d’Armor), was a medical student in Paris. She was active in the Communist underground. Her parents, who shared her worldview, ran a small restaurant in their town and regularly sent her food parcels in care of friends in Paris. One day, Beaumanoir’s friends told her of an impending police raid on the thirteenth arrondissement that night and asked her to warn Victoria, a woman who was hiding a Jewish family. Although she knew that the Communist Party forbade unauthorized rescue activity, Beaumanoir decided to go to Victoria’s apartment. From there she was taken to the Lisopravski family. Only two of the Lisopravskis—the son, Daniel, and the daughter, Simone—agreed to leave with her. Beaumanoir took them to a hiding place where many Resistance members had taken shelter. Shortly afterward, probably following a denunciation, Gestapo agents arrested everyone at the hiding place, except for the two young Jews and the group leader, who escaped by climbing over the roof. Because Beaumanoir was not in Paris at the time, the group leader placed the two Jews in a temporary hiding place in the eighteenth arrondissement; Beaumanoir, who eventually joined them, decided to find a safer refuge. She chose her parents’ home in Dinan. When she arrived with her two Jewish wards, her mother Marthe was waiting at the train station. At that very time, Beaumanoir’s father was being interrogated at the police station on suspicion of Resistance activity; the police had discovered his name and address while searching Beaumanoir’s room in Paris. The investigation revealed nothing and Beaumanoir’s father was released. Marthe Beaumanoir placed Daniel and Simone in separate temporary hidingplaces for the next fortnight. She then brought them to her home and sheltered them for about a year. Simone helped in the restaurant and Daniel, although inexperienced at gardening, worked as an assistant to the gardener, who treated him indulgently. After the liberation, the survivors stayed in touch with their rescuers—especially with Anne, who eventually became a professor of neurology. On August 27, 1996, Yad Vashem recognized Anne Beaumanoir and her parents, Jean and Marthe Beaumanoir, as Righteous Among the Nations.