mum's war - 1
i'm adding this as a PS to my post about Rascal Shadows at Waddesdon Manor and because i want to record some material about my family's history and experiences
after the germans invaded calais and closed the schools (as well as lots of other stuff they did) gramie was invited to act as housekeeper for a contingent of boys who were being evacuated to the Chateau du Masgelier in the Creuse area, in (so-called) free-france - the group was organised by a family friend Maurice Boucher who was a senior teacher at a local boys secondary school
gramie was a primary school headmistress, widowed shortly before the war - she was accompanied by my mother, Monique - her son Daniel was already in Paris in the care of a family member to protect him from being taken to a work camp by the germans - the boys in the evacuated party were mostly too young for work camps or unsuitable for some other reason
Le Masgelier had been used by the OSE as a children's home for jewish refugee children - but this activity was halted when the vichy government started to implement actively anti-semitic policies, rounding up and deporting jews including those in the OSE run establishments
after the refugees had left Le Masgelier was taken over by the local authorities and used for evacuees, which is how mum and gramie ended up there - the jewish children had all been moved by the OSE - but a few of the adults who had worked there remained - they continued to work in the chateau in various roles but had to stay "under the radar" - if found they would have been deported (at least) and it is likely that there would have been severe consequences for the other residents
more links: le masgelier & jewish refugees
extract from: The Politics of Everyday Life in Vichy France: Foreigners, Undesirables....
after the germans invaded calais and closed the schools (as well as lots of other stuff they did) gramie was invited to act as housekeeper for a contingent of boys who were being evacuated to the Chateau du Masgelier in the Creuse area, in (so-called) free-france - the group was organised by a family friend Maurice Boucher who was a senior teacher at a local boys secondary school
gramie was a primary school headmistress, widowed shortly before the war - she was accompanied by my mother, Monique - her son Daniel was already in Paris in the care of a family member to protect him from being taken to a work camp by the germans - the boys in the evacuated party were mostly too young for work camps or unsuitable for some other reason
Le Masgelier had been used by the OSE as a children's home for jewish refugee children - but this activity was halted when the vichy government started to implement actively anti-semitic policies, rounding up and deporting jews including those in the OSE run establishments
after the refugees had left Le Masgelier was taken over by the local authorities and used for evacuees, which is how mum and gramie ended up there - the jewish children had all been moved by the OSE - but a few of the adults who had worked there remained - they continued to work in the chateau in various roles but had to stay "under the radar" - if found they would have been deported (at least) and it is likely that there would have been severe consequences for the other residents
more links: le masgelier & jewish refugees
extract from: The Politics of Everyday Life in Vichy France: Foreigners, Undesirables....
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