Today is the 100th birthday of my
mother’s first cousin, Germaine Davys. Germaine was murdered in 1944, as she –
according to an eyewitness – tried to flee from Auschwitz. She was born in
Bucharest, had apparently been an active youth leader in the communist cell in
Bucharest before leaving for Paris to study for her doctorate in philosophy at
the Sorbonne.
In 1942, she was arrested by the French
police, who at the behest of the German authorities rounded up Jews and
delivered them to the SS for deportation to Auschwitz.
Her mother, my great-aunt Feli, told me how
for years, whenever she heard steps in the Garden, she would instinctively look
out hoping that it was Germaine who had survived and come back.
This portrait of Germaine
hung in my
great-aunt Feli’s small flat in Tel Aviv.
It so good that you write about stories like the one of your aunt Germaine Davys. The more we know about that terrible time - the more we have to make sure that it should never, ever happen again - das klingt so platt - so blöd - Es ist ein Thema, das mich nie los lässt.....
ReplyDeleteWarum????
Rigashta oti . Amos
ReplyDeleteGreat to have access to your blog again.
ReplyDeleteThanks especially for the story of your cousin.
Great honour to know something of your aunt germaine.touches my heart and soul.
ReplyDeleteThanks for giving more details about jarmaine that I didn't know about her Especially that now is her 100th birthday and more other details.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you paid tribute to your cousin (and my distant relative) Germaine Davys. She seems to have been a remarkable women with so much to offer if she hadn't been murdered.
ReplyDelete