Bernichon Honoré & Léa (Faraboz)

Bernichon, Honoré Bernichon, Léa David Garbarg, a milliner by trade, worked for his father-in-law Léon Braslawsky selling clothing materials. His wife Alice was a piano teacher, and the couple lived in an apartment in Paris with their two young children, Myriam (b. 1938) and Serge (b. 1939). At the end of 1941, the Garbarg family decided to leave Paris, and traveled to Aix-les-Bains (Rhône-Alpes) in southeastern France. They settled in the nearby village of Côtefort, where they rented an apartment and conducted a fairly normal life until waves of arrests began in the area. The family was forced on a number of times to flee their apartment at a moment's notice. The cleaner of the villa in which they rented their apartment, Léa Bernichon, offered to hide the children at her home in the nearby town of Saint-Innocent. Bernichon and her husband Honoré, a building foreman, were dedicated members of the underground, and provided refuge for the two young children for varying periods of time, until the danger was perceived to have passed. During their stay in Saint-Innocent, the Bernichon's teenage son Norbert would look after the children, acting as a "look-out" for German forces, and hiding them when necessary. Norbert also aided other members of the underground by passing them critical information via previously agreed-upon signs. In December 1943, Honoré Bernichon received information from fellow underground fighters that a new wave of arrests was to take place in Aix-les-Bains and its surroundings on the night of 7-8 December. The danger to the Garbarg family was even greater, as David Garbarg was suspected of helping sabotage a train track near his home. Bernichon immediately arranged for the Garbargs to flee the town, and found them refuge at a small isolated farmhouse in Mont Revard. Meanwhile, Léa Bernichon and her son Norbert went to empty the Garbargs' apartment in Côtefort of all their documents and possessions, narrowly escaping a surprisesearch of the apartment by German forces. In January 1944, hours before the Germans arrived at their farmhouse in Mont Revard, Honoré Bernichon managed to bring the Garbargs to a the home of Mme. Curtaz, and friend of his, in Chambéry. The escape took place during the night, while a snowstorm raged around them. After the danger passed, David and Alice Garbarg took the advice of the Bernichon family and decided to separate from their children. Léa Bernichon took Myriam and Serge first to the Abry family, friends of hers in Montcel near Aix-les-Bains, but some ten days later she brought them to the Clairfleurie children's home in Trévignen, run by sisters Francia and Louise Labioz-Lamberlin*. The children stayed at the home until May 1944, receiving twice weekly visits from Léa Bernichon, come rain or shine. Bernichon provided them with constant warmth and concern for their welfare until Honoré was able to return them to their parents, who awaited them in Dijon. The Bernichons also returned all the possessions the Garbargs had left behind in Côtefort. The Jewish family continued to find refuge for themselves until the area was liberated. On November 19, 2008, Honoré and Léa Bernichon were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations.