The orphans of the Shoah

2024-02-15T04:10:21.899Z

Highlights: In the spring of 1945, the war ended. A quarter of French Jews or residents of France perished in the death camps. Following the Liberation, the Central Children's Commission, the CCE, took care of more than 700 orphaned children in its homes. In partnership with Pocket Editions which publish Marie de Latte's novel La Promesse, Virginie Girod tells you the history of the C CE in a previously unpublished story. Themes covered: Shoah, Second World War, Liberation, Jewish Resistance and more.

What to do with all the children of deportees? Some were entrusted to Catholic couples. This is the case of Marie de Lattre’s father, whose story she tells in her novel “La Promesse”. But not everyone has experienced this outcome. Following the Liberation, the Central Children's Commission, the CCE, took care of more than 700 orphaned children in its homes to give them a chance to grow up and integrate into French society. In partnership with Pocket Editions which publish Marie de Latte's novel La Promesse, Virginie Girod tells you the history of the CCE in a previously unpublished story. In the spring of 1945, the war ended. A quarter of French Jews or residents of France perished in the death camps. The Jewish resistance networks, formed during the conflict, changed missions: they had to take care of Jews returning from the camps, find looted property and, above all, take care of the children of those deported and shot. This is how the Union of Jews for Resistance and Mutual Aid (UJRE), a Jewish organization born from the Resistance, founded the CCE: the Central Commission for Children. The latter takes care of orphans and children whose parents are too traumatized to take care of them. The institution quickly acquired houses in the Paris region to welcome them, and supervised sponsorships and summer camps. After ensuring their good physical recovery, the children receive a secular, Jewish and progressive education in these homes. Many of the leaders of the CCE are communist activists, who transmit an ideal of social progress and put spiritual life in the background. Common houses rely on innovative teaching methods, such as those of Janusz Korczak, to be discovered in a future episode, and Anton Makarenko. The CCE must ensure that children become independent quickly. In the 1950s, 83% of young people leaving CCE centers worked as workers in the metallurgy industry. Some of them will turn to intellectual professions, like Boris Cyrulnik! Themes covered: Shoah, Second World War, Liberation, Jewish Resistance