Shoah Victims from LaManche, France

Introduction by Nolan Altman

BACKGROUND

Manche is a coastal French Department in Normandy on the English Channel.  Manche is also known as La Manche. It was one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790.

The following sections are from the Manche Archives website (https://www.archives-manche.fr/) and more specifically, the Holocaust period in Manche is told through stories of specific families at https://www.archives-manche.fr/r/249/les-juifs-de-la-manche-sous-l-occupation-1940-1944/

“On May 29, 1942, the 8th German ordinance prescribed the wearing of the yellow star to Jews over six years of age in the occupied zone, from June 7, 1942. In exchange for a point on their textile card, each Jew must receive three stars. It should be worn visibly on the left side of the chest, firmly sewn. Although the Vichy government has refused to promulgate a law requiring the wearing of the star on its territory, the French administration and law enforcement are in charge of issuing badges and respecting the execution of the prescription. The Germans are hoping for an anti-Semitic reaction from the French population, but the yellow star sparked the first noticeable movement of popular disapproval of the anti-Jewish measures. “

“A racial law had been demanded in France for several years by an anti-Semitic and xenophobic minority. On October 3, 1940, Vichy defined the Jew and enacted professional prohibitions: a Jew "is any person from three grandparents of the Jewish race or of two grandparents of the same race, if his or her spouse is Jewish". Most civil service professions are prohibited to Jews, as are information and cultural professions, depriving native French people of income in particular. “

“According to the work of Serge Klarsfeld, for France, 11,600 children died and 72,400 survived, 62,000 with their parents, 8,000 to 10,000 saved and hidden by individuals or Jewish or Christian organizations. 85% of children were spared in France, which is remarkable compared to other countries occupied by the Nazis. For the Manche department, the youngest victims were 3 years old (Léon Mielnicki) and 4 years old (Robert Mielnicki and Michèle Albagli). 14 of the 44 children and adolescents identified in the department in October 1940 were murdered 85% of Jewish children in France escaped deportation. While the majority were saved by their parents, a considerable number were saved by women and men guided by their conscience. Within the Catholic Church, a large number of priests and nuns very early on defied the ban on bringing aid to persecuted Jews, opening their doors, providing false baptismal certificates ... The public declarations of several bishops at the summer of 1942 encouraged this attitude.”

DATABASE

This database consists of 99 victims of the Holocaust from Manche.

The fields in the database are:

• Surname
• Given Name
• Date of Birth
• Place of Birth
• Residence in Manche
• Place of Death
• Date of Death
• Age at Death
• Comments

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We’d like to thank Eric Feinstein, a JewishGen volunteer for finding this information. The original source of the material is the Archives Departmentales De La Manche (https://www.archives-manche.fr/)

We’d also like to thank Mike Kalt, Html Volunteer, for placing this description online, and to Nolan Altman, Director of Special Projects and Coordinator of the Holocaust Database, for his continued devotion and dedication to JewishGen's important work.

June, 2021

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