Abstract
Jacob Kaplan, one of the two temporary Chief Rabbis of France during that period, worried about the problem of the Finaly children, long before that became a “case”. There was a crisis among the Jewish institutions, a latent Christian proselytism was staying then, and the Jewish organizations competed fiercely in order to be those who got the hidden children back. When the affair burst out at the beginning of 1953, he got to great pains but succeeded in quieting down all kinds of activists. He got the situation well under control in spite of the severe criticism he came in for and obtained the return of the children, thanks to his quiet determination, his unwavering diplomacy, his tactfulness, his personal connections with members of the Catholic clergy which he established on the subject of the rescue of children during the Second World War, mainly with Cardinal Gerlier, and which were renewed. Contrary to all expectations and thanks to his personal determination, the affair resulted in a temporary reunification of French Judaism and started a new chapter in the Judeo-Christian relations in France.
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