Synopses & Reviews
Rescuing the Children is the autobiography of an extraordinary woman, the history of a remarkable organization she worked for in World War II France, and a portrait of children in severe psychological distress.
The organization was the Œuvre de secours aux enfants (OSE, or Society for Assistance to Children), which saved thousands of Jewish children in France from deportation to Nazi extermination camps. These children were either hidden among non-Jewish families, placed in the eighteen children’s homes run by the OSE, or selected to escape clandestinely to the neutral countries of Switzerland or Spain. Due to the efforts of the OSE and like-minded organizations, both Jewish and non-Jewish, about 86 percent of the Jewish children in France survived the Holocaust.
One of the outstanding representatives of the OSE was Vivette Samuel. At the age of twenty-two she accepted the position of resident social worker in the camp of Rivesaltes, set up by the Vichy government to intern foreign "undesirables." Her daunting task was to obtain the interned parents’ written consent that would permanently separate them from their children so that the latter would live. In a period of six months, she was thus able to liberate nearly 400 foreign-born children from the camp. Samuel brought to this job great intelligence, linguistic fluency, and a character both deeply compassionate and steely in its resolution. She applied these qualities to the other tasks she performed for the OSE outside the camp after May 1942 and repeatedly risked arrest by the Gestapo.
Elie Wiesel and Charles B. Paul were among the children helped by the OSE. Their contributions to this book are a tribute of gratitude to Vivette Samuel and her heroic colleagues.
Review
andldquo;A valuable addition to the field of Holocaust history that provides solid institutional information along with dramatic, poignant, heart-rendering tales of rescue and survival.andrdquo;andmdash;Susan Zuccotti, author of The Holocaust, the French, and the Jews
Review
andldquo;This testimony by Vivette Samuel is important not only because she describes dramatic events that took place during the occupation of France but also because she brings to light insufficiently known facts about an organizationandmdash;the andOElig;uvre de secours aux enfants (OSE)andmdash;whose devotion to human causes does honor to humanity. I confess that I read this book with a great deal of emotion, because I owe so much to the OSE. It was the OSE that, in June 1945, took charge of the four hundred andlsquo;children of Buchenwald,andrsquo; [including me].andrdquo;andmdash;Elie Wiesel, winner of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize
Synopsis
Rescuing the Children is the memoir of Vivette Samuel, who at age twenty-two began working for the andOElig;uvre de secours aux enfants (OSE, or Society for Assistance to Children). The OSE and similar organizations saved 86 percent of Jewish children in France from deportation to Nazi concentration and extermination camps.
About the Author
Vivette Samuel had a long career in social work and lived in Paris, France. Charles B. Paul, a historian, is professor emeritus in the humanities department at San Josandeacute; State University. He was among the children rescued by the OSE.
Table of Contents
Illustrations
Foreword: Rescue the Childrenandmdash;but the Others?
A Reminiscence
Introduction
1 Odessa to Paris
2 War, Exodus, and Occupation
3 To Be Committed at the Age of Twenty
4 Rivesaltes: Behind the Barbed Wire
5 At the Time of the Deportations
6 The Hunt for the Children
7 Going Underground
8 Coming Out of the War
9 Fifty Years Later
10 Children's Odysseys
Appendix 1: What Happened to Them?
Appendix 2: Some Numbers
Appendix 3: Chronology
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Index