Altorffer Charles

Altorffer, Charles Pastor Charles Altorffer, elected as representative from Strasbourg to the National Assembly in 1919, was named director of the Department of Religions in Alsace-Lorraine in 1929. Under the Occupation, when Altorffer moved to Périgueux (Dordogne) with those from Alsace and Moselle who had opted for France, the Vichy government maintained his appointment as head of that service. His duties included managing the salaries and careers of the clergy of the different religions, including those of rabbis and cantors. With the promulgation of the French State’s anti-Jewish legislation, Altorffer assured the Jewish religious officials under his direction that their administrative status would be respected. He made sure their salaries were paid regularly, along with the salaries of Jewish clergy interned in camps, so that their families would be looked after. Being responsible as well for refugees from Alsace and Moselle in the Dordogne, Charles Altorffer accorded refugee status to many of them so that they could receive a government living allowance when out of work. In May of 1944, the Militia arrested Jeanine Weil-Bloch, a social worker at the assistance bureau for Jewish refugees in the Dordogne. She was carrying the living allowance money destined to support the children she had hidden in foster homes. She managed to alert Charles Altorffer, who visited her in prison and was able to get the money out. He saw to it that the various sums went to the people to whom they were intended. He also ensured that Jeanine Weil-Bloch would avoid deportation by remaining in prison until the Liberation. As the offices of the Périgueux French Jewish Council (UGIF) were closed, Charles Altorffer secretly took responsibility and continued to distribute aid from his social services office to Jews in need. Under his direction, the department of religions that had moved to Périgueux remained an oasis of Republican legitimacy that made it possible for many Jews tosurvive. On June 18, 2001, Yad Vashem recognized Charles Altorffer as Righteous Among the Nations.