Durand Roxane

Durand, Roxane Gontard, Rosa (Sister Valentine) When Roxane Durand was ten she lived in Paris and was best of friends with her classmate Fenia Rabinovitch, originally from Tbilisi, Georgia. The girls grew up and went their separate ways; Fenia studied physics at the Sorbonne, while Roxane studied literature. Roxane became a teacher in the girls’ municipal high school in the city of Gap (Haute Alpes). Not long after the Germans overran Paris, Fenia’s father died of illness. Fenia and her mother, Hinda, fled south and found a place to live in Bort-les-Orgues (Corrreze). However, following the German occupation of southern France in November 1942, Fenia and her mother were advised to leave town. Not knowing where to turn, Fenia sent a letter to Roxane with a request for help. Rather than responding by return letter, the young teacher immediately boarded a train and journeyed to Bort. She invited mother and daughter to come to Gap, with a promise to send them false identity papers, and to find them employment, as well as a place to stay. Roxane lived in a rented room in the apartment of friends in Gap, and therefore could not invite them to stay with her. When the two Rabinovitch women arrived in Gap, Roxane and Fenia visited the bishop, Mgr. Bonnabel, and he arranged for them to be sheltered in the Saint-Joseph convent, where there was a girls’ high school and an available teaching position. Fenia was a gifted teacher and among the subjects she taught the students were French literature, and English. The director of the school was Rosa Gontard (Sister Valentine). She arranged new false papers to replace the poor quality ones in the possession of the Rabinovitches. These papers were later instrumental in saving their lives. After the Italians signed an armistice agreement with the Allies, in September 1943, the Germans occupied Italy and all the territories under its control, including Gap. The Germans billeted Wehrmacht women on the ground floor of thegirls’ school, and the Gestapo were headquartered in a villa in the vicinity. This increased the danger faced by the two Jewish women and the risk taken by Sister Valentine. As the security situation deteriorated, one day the two Jewish women were summoned to report to the police station for an inspection of their papers. Sister Valentine accompanied them and made sure that the two “passed” inspection, by testifying on their behalf. On August 19, 1944, the Allies landed on the Mediterranean coast and the fighting, including aerial bombardments, approached Gap. The school director took the two Jews to stay with her relatives in a nearby village. Roxane accompanied them as they walked to their destination. A week later, the area was liberated and they returned to Gap. After the war, Fenia (later Berz) moved to London, where she and her husband became well known in the scientific community. Fenia corresponded with Roxane and Sister Valentine for many years. On March 26, 2008, Yad Vashem recognized Roxane Durand and Rosa Gontard (Sister Valentine) as Righteous Among the Nations.