Ferté de La Eugène & Henriette (Porges)

De la Ferté, Eugène De la Ferté, Henriette The Marquis Eugène de la Ferté, a landowner, along with his wife Henriette, came from old aristocracy and lived in Mâron (Indre). Eugène was also the town mayor. In 1942, after the Paris Winter Velodrome roundup, Mr. Halkin and his wife Albertine with a three-year-old daughter decided Paris had become too dangerous for Jews and sought refuge in Mâron. They were joined by their relatives, including four members of the Felzen family, four members of the Pinszomski family and three members of the Segal family. There were 14 of them in all. As soon as they arrived, Eugène de la Ferté and Jules Gilbert, who was a teacher and the town clerk, granted them refugee status, which was given to populations evacuated during the military campaign or to inhabitants of areas annexed by Germany that had fled south. This status allowed the fugitives to benefit from official assistance. The marquis and Jules Gilbert found them an apartment, which they furnished with beds, mattresses, blankets, a woodstove and kitchen utensils. They also allocated funds and food ration coupons to them. The children were sent to school and were greatly helped by the marquise, who paid for all their meals at the school cantina. She also obtained clothing and shoes for the families. The marquis gave a sewing machine to Mr. Pinszomski so he could work and offered Albertine Halkin a secretarial job. Mr. Halkin, her husband, found work with farmers. The entire village knew their origins but no one said a word about it. During German raids, the farmers who were alerted hid them in their farms and attics. The risks they took in providing this help were enormous, because the Militia in the region exacted harsh reprisals. Some of the fugitives’ relatives were massacred not far from Mâron, at the water-wells of Guéry. The de la Ferté couple, along with Jules Gilbert, who also helped the Resistance, were kind people who helped save many Jews during the war. On May25, 2005, Yad Vashem recognized Eugène and Henriette de la Ferté, as Righteous Among the Nations.