Tribute to Henri Kaufman, former child of Izieu

Group of former children of the house, with children and adults in front of the house, 6 April 2014. In the foreground on the right Henri Kaufman, behind him on his right Bernard Waysenson, in the background on the left Roger Wolman.

 

We want to pay our tributes to Henri Kaufman, one of the 105 children of Izieu.
He died on 8th August 2023, at the age of 85.

Henri was born in 1937. Due to his mother’s health problems, he was soon placed in a children’s home in Bougival. He hereby unknowingly escaped his family’s arrest in Nice in July 1942.
An uncle, who lived in Nice worried about him, after his parents’ deportation. He had the child returned to Bougival in October 1943, but was arrested and deported in the meantime.

Henri arrived in Izieu on 30 October 1943. Upon his arrival, he was recognized by one of his cousins, Henri Wolman, who had arrived a few days earlier with his brother Roger Wolman.

The three of them left Izieu on 6 November 1943 and were accommodated at a farm near Clermont-Ferrand, where they herded sheep.

After the war, Henri was taken in by an uncle. He lived in Paris, then in Rennes.
He often came back to Izieu for the remembrance ceremonies. We fondly remember his last visit with the other children of Izieu in 2019.

 

Group of former children of the house, ceremony of 6 april 2019. Henri Kaufman alongside Roger Wolman, Samuel Pintel, Hélène, Adolphe and Bernard Waysenson.

Seminar for Greek teachers at the Maison d’Izieu

The fate of Jewish children during the Shoah in France 1943-1944

From 3 to 6 July 2023 at the Maison d’Izieu

The Maison d’Izieu has welcomed 25 teachers from Greece, for a seminar on the fate of Jewish children in France during the Second World War. This seminar, which was co-organised with Yad Vashem, is part of a long-standing partnership with the Israeli memorial that organises trainings for European teachers each year, to sensibiliser them about topics related to History, memory and the education about the Shoah.

The seminar’s program:

  • Visit of the House and the permanent exhibition
  • Presentation of the archives and the temporary exhibition with original objects “The year 1943 in the Home, from the collections of the Maison d’Izieu”
  • Lecture by the historian Sylvie Altar “Being Jewish in the region of Lyon during the war”
  • Lecture by Brigitte Sion, President of the scientific council and international expert on museums, memorials and material cultural heritage, “What is a memorial today? Comparative study”.
  • Presentation of the educational activities at the Maison d’izieu
  • Educational workshops “How was written the History of the children of Izieu” and “The history of St. Louis”

Visit to the Historical Centre of Resistance and Deportation in Lyon

01 / 05

6 April 2023: 80 years, memory of a place of life

80 years ago, in April 1943, the “Home of refugee children from Hérault” was opened by Sabine and Miron Zlatin. During almost a year, over a hundred Jewish children from all over Europe were welcomed at the Maison d’Izieu, to escape from racist and anti-Semitic persecutions. 61 of them were saved.

On 6 April 1944, 44 children between the ages of 4 and 17, were arrested and then deported on the order of Klaus Barbie, head of Gestapo in Lyon. With the exception of two teenagers and Miron Zlatin, who were shot in Reval (today Tallinn) in Estonia, the whole group was deported to Auschwitz. Only Léa Feldblum survived.

On 6 April 2023, a great commemoration ceremony was organised to pay them tribute.

Firstly, two commemorative ceremonies were held in Brégnier-Cordon and then in Izieu, in the presence of Serge and Beate Klarsfeld, Samuel Pintel and Roger Wolman, two former children of the house and Pierre-André Wiltzer, son of the sub-prefect of Belley in 1943.

 

The day was continued with the discovery of the busts of Sabine and Miron Zlatin, which were created by the artist Denis Chetnboune and by the opening of the new exhibition “L’année 1943 à la colonie, dans les collections de la Maison d’Izieu” [“The year 1943 at the House, from the collections from Maison d’Izieu”].

Finally, two conferences gave the possibility to look back at the development of one of the first places of remembrance of the Shoah in 1993 and the role of places of remembrance today.

 

Commemoration of the Izieu roundup Watch the replqy of the commemoration ceremony (in French)

Round table : How did Historians, architects and muséographes approach the development of one of the first memorial sites dedicated to the Shoah? Watch the replay of the commemoration ceremony (in French)

Press reports

France 3 région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes – France infos :

SEE THE ARTICLE ABOUT THE COMMEMORATION OF 6 APRIL

SEE THE STORIES OF FORMER CHILDREN OF IZIEU

France culture :

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST : LE COURS DE L’HISTOIRE

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST : ESPRIT DES LIEUX

La revue l’Éléphant :

SEE THE ARTICLE

Le Progrès :

article : Il y a 80 ans…

Article : « on était choyé et bien nourris »

Article : Un lieu entre violence et tolérance

RCF Radio :

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

A look back through photos

01 / 28

Program of the day

 

COMMEMORATION
79 years since the roundup of the children and adults of the home of Izieu

11h00 • 11h15
Official ceremony in Brégnier-Cordon, gathering in front of the stele (La Bruyère)
Speech by Thierry Vergain, mayor of Brégnier-Cordon

11h30 • 12h15
Official ceremony in Izieu, gathering in front of the House of Izieu
Speech by Thierry Philip, President of the Maison d’Izieu,
Pierre-André Wiltzer, son of the former sub-prefect of Belley Pierre-Marcel Wiltzer
and Serge Klarsfeld, President of the FFDJF (Association of Sons and Daughters of Jewish Deportees from France).
Reading of the names by students of the Lycée Ampère de Lyon

Kaddish by Samuel Pintel, former child of the House of Izieu
Laying down of 51 roses by the students of CM2 de l’École Charles de Foucauld de LyonMinute of silence

Ceremony broadcast online from 11h30 on the Maison d’Izieu Facebook page.

VERNISSAGE DE L’EXPOSITION
« L’année 1943 à la Colonie, dans les collections de la Maison d’Izieu » [“The year 1943 at the House, from the collections from Maison d’Izieu”]
discovery of the busts of Sabine and Miron Zlatin created by the artist Denis Chetboune.

12h15 • 15h00
Inauguration in the Zlatin Gallery in the museum
Visit of the exhibition in small groups.

MEETING IN THE MUSEUM

30 years after the presidential decree that made the Maison d’Izieu a site of national memory : where do we stand now?

14h • 14h45
Round table n°1 • How did Historians, architects and muséographes approach the development of one of the first memorial sites dedicated to the Shoah?
Wiltzer hall

With Pierre Birnbaum, historian, François Guiguet, architect for the memorial-museum project in 1993 and Hélène Waysbord-Loing, honorary Presidnet of the Maison d’Izieu.
Moderation : Brigitte Sion, President of the scientific council of the Maison d’Izieu

15h15 • 16h15
Show recorded by France 3
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes • What is the role of a site of memory today?
Museum/Grange 1 

With Dominique Vidaud, director of the Maison d’Izieu, Olivier Lalieu, head of the network of memorial sites in France, Mémorial de la Shoah from Paris, Sophie Elizéon, Interministerial delegate for the fight against racism, antisemitism and anti-LGBT hatred, Piotr Cywinski, director of the State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau and Brigitte Sion, President of the scientific council of the Maison d’Izieu.

Presentation : Bérangère Bourgeot, journalist at France 3 Rhône-Alpes

The show will be broadcasted on 16 avril 2023 at 10h50 on France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

 

DOWNLOAD THE PROGRAM (IN FRENCH)