Pappo Amparo (Otero)

Pappo, Amparo Amparo Otero was born in Cuba in 1896. She had had immigrated with her family to France and was living in Paris, where she married Yacob Pappo, a Jew of Bulgarian origin. In 1933 her husband died, leaving her with their one-year-old son. When the Germans occupied France, Amparo joined the many French people who were fleeing south to the so-called unoccupied zone. She settled in Siran, in the Cantal region, where her sister’s family lived, and made a living from manufacturing hats. Despite her personal hardship, Amparo felt it was her duty to help others in need. She was active in helping other refugees, organized events for children whose fathers were prisoners of war, and also took children into her home; two of these children were her husband’s niece and nephew, Jacqueline (b. 1935) and Chaïm (b. 1923). Amparo also took in Liliane Frangi, whose family had fled from Paris in April 1942. Liliane’s grandmother had refused to leave her home; she stayed behind and was arrested during the Vel d’Hiv roundup of the Paris Jews three months later, and was afterwards deported to Auschwitz. The Frangis first went to the Marseille area, but when the Germans occupied Vichy France in November 1942, the Frangis fled to the Italian zone, which was still relatively safe. In October 1943, when that part of France also came under German occupation, the family fled to the mountains, but sent their 13-year-old daughter Liliane to Siran, where she was hidden by Pappo. Liliane told Yad Vashem that for the sake of her safety she never went to school, and that Pappo asked the local priest to give her private lessons, and also found a member of the resistance who was a teacher by profession and taught her math. In her testimony Liliane wrote that as she was getting on in years her wartime memories were occupying an important place in her thoughts, despite her efforts to put that period behind her. She was troubled by the notion that she did not do enough toexpress her gratitude to the person who had saved her life. Initially she was not been aware of the Righteous Among the Nations program, and once she learned of its existence, she decided to submit the request to honor Amparo Pappo as Righteous Among the Nations. On July 14, 2011 Yad Vashem recognized Amparto Pappo as Righteous Among the Nations.