Mathieu Camille & Denise ; Mother: Blanche

Mathieu, Camille Mathieu, Denise Mathieu, Blanche File 1098 Camille Mathieu was a French gendarme who lived with his wife, Denise, in Drancy, near Paris, and was posted to an observation tower at the Drancy camp. On August 21, 1941, while at his post, he noticed three women standing near the fence. It was early morning, and Mathieu easily guessed why the three women were loitering. Léontine Ajdenbaum, Adéla Herzberg, and Mme Fuks, three Jewish women from Paris, were hoping to get information about their husbands, whom French gendarmes had arrested the day before, on their way to work. At this time, only Jewish men were being arrested and interned. Mathieu approached the women and ordered them to move away from the camp fence, but the women, undeterred, entreated him to reconsider. Pitying the women, Mathieu said, “Write down your names and addresses, put them down on the ground, and disappear. I’ll give you news later.” About ten days later, Mathieu and his wife, Denise, visited the women in Paris and promised to spare no effort to effect their husbands’ release. The women gave Mathieu clothing and food parcels for their husbands. Mathieu planned to extricate the three men by adding their names to the list of sick prisoners. Failing this, he planned to smuggle them out through the sewers of Drancy. The first plan succeeded. The men were released in February 1942 on grounds of edema caused by protracted starvation. They were afraid of being arrested again and did not dare return to their homes in Paris. Mathieu helped them cross over to the unoccupied zone. The Fukses were afraid to cross the demarcation line and stayed with Mathieu’s mother, Blanche, in Lignières (Cher), for the rest of the occupation. In March, Mathieu’s wife helped Adéla Herzberg’s fifteen-year-old daughter cross into the unoccupied zone. The daughter was reunited with her father, who had meanwhile moved to Grenoble, and several months later, both were joined by Adéla and their youngerdaughter. Denise Mathieu brought the Herzbergs forged documents and ration cards. Camille Mathieu was eventually dismissed from his job in Drancy. He moved to Lignières, joined the French Resistance and, until the liberation, continued to show concern for his wards. The Mathieus never sought remuneration for their rescue actions. For many years after the war, they maintained warm ties with the three Jewish families they saved. On December 27, 1976, Yad Vashem recognized Camille, Denise, and Blanche Mathieu as Righteous Among the Nations.