Jouvenceau Jeanne (Cordelier); Brother: Cordelier Eugène ; Sister-In-Law: Cordelier Marcelle ; Daughter-In-Law: Jeanne

Jouvenceau, Jeanne (Cordelier) Jouvenceau, Jeanne Cordelier, Eugène Cordelier, Marcelle File 4472 Jeanne Jouvenceau owned a small house in St. Bonnet en Bresse (Saône et Loire), where her brother Eugène Cordelier and her son, Francis Jouvenceau lived. She herself had been working in Paris for a very long time in the household of Robert Weill. The latter left Paris and took refuge in Savoie, in Challes les Eaux, at the begininng of the occupation, along with his family, twenty people in all. Jeanne Jouvenceau, a loyal employee, followed them. The region passed under German occupation in September 1943, and all the Weills acquired false identification papers. However, the residents of that small resort town knew the Jewish refugees, whose security became more and more precarious. Jeanne took the initiative of bringing Robert Weill’s daughters, fifteen-year-old Micheline and twelve-year-old Françoise to her house and to look for safe refuges in the village for the other members of the family. She owned a two-room bungalow on the outskirts of St. Bonnet en Bresse, on the main highway, where her mother lived. The latter moved in with her son, Eugène Cordelier, to leave room for the refugees. Within a few days, the Weills left Challes les Eaux and moved into the hideouts that Jeanne had prepared from them in and around the village. Her daughter-in-law, whose husband Francis was a prisoner of war, graciously accepted relatives of Robert Weill, as well. Numerous acts of sabotage took place in the region, taking their toll of the Germans. In retaliation, they torched a village next to St. Bonnet and shot about ten men, including two of Jeanne’s nephews. Because the bungalow was adjacent to the main highway, it was dangerously exposed, so Eugène Cordelier and his wife Marcelle, who lived in the center of the village, took in its inhabitants. Despite the risks and the expense, they refused to accept any recompense. Their niece, Jeanne, the wife ofFrancis Jouvenceau, also refused material compensation. On November 28, 1989, Yad Vashem recognized Jeanne Jouvenceau, her daughter-in-law Jeanne, her brother Eugene Cordelier, and his wife Marcelle as Righteous Among the Nations.