Antier Auguste & Marie (Cussonneau); Son: Auguste

Antier, Auguste Antier, Marie Antier, Auguste Jean Wagener was the only child of Shlomo and Fajga Wagener, Polish Jewish immigrants who lived in France. At the beginning of World War II, Shlomo joined the French army, was captured, and remained a prisoner of war for the duration of the hostilities. In September 1942, Fajga decided to put seven-year-old Jean into the care of La famille du prisonnier, an organization that looked after the welfare of the families of French POWs, including finding them refuge. He was placed among a group of twelve Jewish children who were taken to the town of Cholet (Maine-et-Loire), and from there dispersed among families in the surrounding villages. One member of the resistance who helped find hiding places for the children was 18-year-old Auguste Antier, son of the local baker in the village of Champtoceaux (Maine-et-Loire). Antier was part of an underground network that found shelter for Jewish children, and he made sure that they were well received in the homes in which he placed them. Jean was taken to stay at a remote farm belonging an elderly lady, who lived alone in a house without electricity or running water. Shocked by the turn of events, Jean began to cry. In an attempt to comfort the distraught boy, Auguste told his would-be hostess that there had been a mistake, and took Jean to the home of his parents, Auguste and Marie Antier. He asked them if they would be willing to accept the boy, and they readily agreed. The couple's daughter, Simone, helped Jean feel at home from the very beginning. The Antier family enveloped him with love, and he was introduced to everyone as a city boy in need of some country air. He attended school, and went to church with his foster family. Jean lived with the Antiers until liberation, and recalled those years as among “the happiest in his life.” After the war, Jean was reunited with his parents, but remained close to the Antier family. Over the years, he visited themduring his summer vacations, and as an adult, he kept a spare room in his apartment in Paris for whenever they were able to visit him. On October 26, 2008, Yad Vashem recognized Auguste and Marie Antier, and their son, Auguste, as Righteous Among the Nations.