Macouin Clovis & Clémentine

Macouin, Clovis Macouin, Clémentine Clovis Macouin was a prominent figure in Parthenay (Deux-Sèvres) in Brittany. A decorated veteran of World War I, he had lost his arm in battle. In the interwar period he served as mayor of Moncoutant and as a member of parliament. Being a conservative Catholic, he supported Marshal Petain and the establishment of the Vichy State, and even complained against two local officials who were members of the Free Masons. Notwithstanding his political views, Macouin and his wife contributed to the rescue of two Jews in Parthenay. When Huguette Blum (born 1924) was arrested in Parthenay by the French gendarmerie in March 1943, her classmate, Marie-Hélène Macouin, asked her father to intervene. Clovis Macouin went to the German commander and managed to convince him that the arrest was a mistake. Huguette was released. A year later, in February 1944, the Blums were again in great danger when the Jews in Parthenay were rounded up. The parents of Huguette, Isaac and Sara Blum, were arrested and deported to Auschwitz, where they perished. Clovis and Clémentine Macouin again came to the rescue of Huguette and hid her in their home. Huguette stayed hidden at the Clovis home for eight days, after which Clovis provided her and her brother Pierre (born 1922) with false papers. He also arranged for them to go to Paris, where they were not known and could better conceal themselves. After the war Clovis Macouin became the mayor of Parthenay, and was re-elected to the parliament in General de Gaulle's party. He passed away in 1966. Pierre Blum and his sister Huguette (Blum) Meyer turned to Yad Vashem and asked for their rescuers to be recognized as Righteous. On March 22, 1999, Yad Vashem recognized Clovis and Clémentine Macouin as Righteous Among the Nations.