Joussot Denise ; Mother: Marie ; Father: Henri

Joussot, Henri Joussot, Marie Joussot, Denise Henri and Marie Joussot were retired and lived in Lyons (Rhône). Henri had been a professional photographer. Denise, the youngest of their four children, age 25, taught literature at the Edgar Quinet High School in Lyons. She had also been active in the French Scouting Federation (FFE). Simone Alexandre was chief of her scout unit and the two were friends. The Alexandres were Jewish refugees from Alsace who had fled to Bordeaux and then to Lyons, ultimately settling in nearby Lozanne. In May 1944, however, Simone’s father and uncle were arrested by Klaus Barbie, head of the SS in Lyons, and subsequently deported and murdered at Auschwitz. After their arrest, Simone’s mother realized that they must go into hiding. Witnessing her distress, the Joussot family kindly offered to accommodate them at their modest apartment, even though it was next door to Militia headquarters. Denise and her partner transported the Alexandre family’s baggage from Lozanne on bicycles hitched to a trailer. The Joussot family hid Simone, her younger brother and their mother for three weeks. On July 14, 1944, however, the Militia came to visit their “suspect” apartment, which the concierge, even though unaware of the fugitives’ presence, strongly opposed. Before leaving, the members of the Militia agents fired a few shots near her feet. This incident pushed Marie Joussot and Denise to lodge a complaint the next day with the chief of the Militia, Paul Touvier, who gave his word that such an incident would not occur again. Still, an alternative arrangement for hiding the Alexandres would have to be found. Through Denise’s intervention, shelter was located in an isolated house in Meaux-la-Montagne, where they remained until the Liberation. Denise had also found shelter and obtained false papers for others being pursued by the authorities. Through their humanitarianism and patriotism, the Joussots saved the lives of three members of theAlexandre family. On April 18, 2000, Yad Vashem recognized Henri and Marie Joussot and their daughter Denise as Righteous Among the Nations.