Des catholiques au secours des Juifs sous l’Occupation [Catholic Aid to Jews under the Occupation] by Limore Yagil

Abstract

Reviewed by: Des catholiques au secours des Juifs sous l’Occupation [Catholic Aid to Jews under the Occupation] by Limore Yagil Rebecca Moore Des catholiques au secours des Juifs sous l’Occupation [Catholic Aid to Jews under the Occupation]. By Limore Yagil. (Montrouge: Bayard. 2022. Pp. 359. €21.90. ISBN: 9782750914448). French-Israeli historian Limore Yagil is well-equipped to write about how Catholic Christians under the Occupation helped Jews living in France. The author of at least eight books about World War II, she has examined Christian resistance to Nazism, both Catholic and Protestant, in numerous venues. The present volume concentrates specifically on Catholic efforts undertaken in France. Examinations by other authors have highlighted Protestant endeavors, so Yagil’s focus on Catholic interventions is a welcome addition to the literature about righteous gentiles—those non-Jews who came to the aid of Jews during World War II. Yagil begins by noting the paradox of Jewish survival in France compared to other European nations. Although almost a quarter of the Jews in France—especially foreign-born Jewish refugees—were deported to death camps, an astounding 75 percent survived. This is in contrast to neighboring countries like the Netherlands (with 80 percent deported) and Belgium (with 45 percent deported). Although part of the explanation may lie in France’s topography and politics, a large part of Jewish survival according to the author was due to the efforts of bishops, priests, seminarians, men and women religious, and lay Catholics. An important distinction that Yagil makes throughout the book is between public pronouncements condemning anti-Jewish laws, internment camps, and deportations, and the secret—and more important in her view—actions that occurred in church sanctuaries, behind convent and monastery walls, and with church approval. These covert undertakings required formal church involvement, such as issuing baptismal certificates, work permits, enrollment documents, identity cards, and travel authorizations. While the creation of paperwork may appear trivial, these documents were required for employment, education, travel, and obtaining basic necessities under the Nazi Occupation. Other activities, which frequently required church oversight and funding, included offering housing, providing schooling, hiding refugees, and, on occasion, smuggling Jews out of the country. The heart and soul of the book comprises seven chapters that recount the actions of each and every diocese before and during the war. This is a monumental body of research, which Yagil obtained by scouring diocesan records, ledgers, letters, [End Page 215] speeches, and other documents. She begins in the south of France, on the border with Spain along the Pyrenees. This was the most dangerous location for rescue given the fact that most of the French internment camps were located here, and the Gestapo patrolled the border for those in flight. Networks of clerics, religious, and lay Catholics, working with Jews, Protestants, and Communists, ran large and small operations. She concludes with consideration of the diocese of Paris and dioceses in the west. Yagil discusses the question of conversion, especially of Jewish children, throughout the book and asserts that ecclesiastical leadership strongly condemned conversionary efforts. The historian could find no directive to convert in any of the archives she examined, and takes pains to reiterate the claim that a false baptismal certificate was not considered a conversion. She states that no more than forty or fifty children were converted, out of 10,500 rescued. Like the issue of baptism and conversion, the question of Pope Pius XII’s role during World War II is also addressed. According to Yagil, the pontiff provided financial help and tacit support to the dioceses of France. The pope’s silence, she writes, “hides concretely the many discreet initiatives of rescue and mutual aid” that occurred in Italy, other European countries, and in particular, France (p. 333). The great strength of Des catholiques au secours des Juifs sous l’Occupation, however, is its detailed presentation of the actions of ordinary, and extraordinary, Catholics in every diocese in France. Limore Yagil relates countless stories of heroism, based on meticulous research. One comes away from this book with deep appreciation for the leadership shown at all levels of the Church. It is to be hoped, therefore, that an English translation of this valuable...