We Survived … at Last I Speak

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Zea E-Books Zea E-Books 2-22-2013 We survived … At last I speak Leon Malmed [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeabook Part of the European History Commons, European Languages and Societies Commons, and the Jewish Studies Commons Recommended Citation Malmed, Leon, "We survived … At last I speak" (2013). Zea E-Books. 14. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeabook/14 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Zea E-Books at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Zea E-Books by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. We survived … At last I speak. Leon Malmed Tree planted at Yad Vashem Memorial in Jerusalem in honor of the Righteous Henri and Suzanne Ribouleau We survived … At last I speak Leon Malmed Zea Books Lincoln, Nebraska 2013 Copyright © 2013 Leon Malmed. All rights reserved. isbn 978-1-60962-026-4 paperback isbn 978-1-60962-027-1 e-book Set in Constantia types. Design and composition by Paul Royster. Zea Books are published by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Libraries. Electronic (pdf) edition available online at http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeabook/14/ Print edition can be ordered from http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/unllib Eighth printing The front and back cover illustrations are stills from “The Promise,” an animated documentary based on the story of Leon Malmed, produced by the Advanced Animation Class at the College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita, California. Image credit goes to one of the students, Rachel Crane. The film was created with support of Chancellor Dr. Dianne Van Hook and the College Foundation Board under the mentorship of Ruah Edelstein and Masha Vasilkovsky. https://vimeo.com/236617904 [code: rcp] Acknowledgments My gratitude goes to all those, too many to mention, who have entrusted me with their memories, sometimes painful. They have helped me unravel the tangled threads of the first seventy years of my life and allowing me to reconstruct the distant events more accurately. To Pascale Martin, Jeanette Reed, Ellaraine Lockie, Bob Cliff, Ann Koch, and Maria Guerra, who each by their own perception of the events have generously extended their time and talent for the betterment of this book. To Salomon Malmed for his contribution to this book and in me- mory of the difficult years we endured together. To Catherine Ribouleau and Daniel Ribouleau, grandchildren of Henri and Suzanne Ribouleau for their moral support and lasting love. To my sister, Rachel who inspired me to write this testimony and for her important contribution to this book with her memories. To my brother-in-law, Izzy Epstein, to whom I am forever inde- bted. His generosity and persistence allowed me to rejoin my sister after a fourteen-year separation and provided me with the opportu- nity to flourish in America. My affectionate thoughts go to my cousin Jacques Malmed and Aunt Sarah Blum, both now deceased, and to my cousin Jean Ger- baez with whom I still exchange jokes across the ocean. The three of them were the only family members who were born in Poland, and who immigrated to France, and survived the Holocaust. And to my wife Patricia, whose unending support, love and steadfast encouragement during the five years it took to write this book first in French and then in English. I am infinitely thankful to all. This book is a tribute to Henri and Suzanne Ribouleau, my loving second parents, Righteous among the Nations, and to their sons René and Marcel who by their courage and devotion saved my life and my sister’s life. We shall forever keep their memories alive and those of my father and mother, Srul and Chana, the twenty members of my family, uncles, aunts and cousins and the six million Jews and non-Jews who were massacred according to the diabolical plan of the Nazis’ “Final Solution.” “They did not know it was impossible, so, they did it!” Forewords The rapid conquest of France in the early days of World War II did not prepare that country’s Jewish population for what was to come. Who among them could imagine a Drancy (the primary transit camp in France for Jews being deported to Nazi death camps in the East), the evil intent of SS Captain Klaus Barbie (“The Butcher of Lyon”) or the mind-wrenching collaboration of some members of the French police? The letter from the author’s parents, Srul and Chana Malmed, to their Christian neighbors asking them to send some clothes and household items to them in Drancy reveals the ability of humans to deny a worse possible scenario—that Drancy could lead to a worse place, namely Auschwitz and death. Reading Malmed’s parents’ note, one can imagine their optimistic thinking that a yellow mea- suring tape would allow them to better survive the harsh conditions of the transit camp, with Srul, a tailor by trade, bartering his sew- ing skills for food or favors from the guards. And, as in many let- ters sent from Jews to their family members and friends back home, there is the misplaced hope that they will return. Here we read Cha- na’s promise to her neighbors, “I’ll pay you back one day.” For most of this emotionally charged memoir, the all-too-famil- iar tragedy that was to befall the authors’ parents is countered by the loving kindness of the family’s neighbors, Suzanne and Henri Ribouleau, who did what only a small percentage of those under the Nazi grip did—risked everything to save a life. In this case, it was two lives—that of Leon Malmed (then five years old) and his sister Rachel (nine), who stayed with the Ribou- leaus ever since the French police knocked on their parents’ door on the sunny morning of July 19, 1942 and arrested them. Malmed grippingly brings the reader into the maelstrom of World War II Vichy France and the chaotic life of the Ribouleau parents, their two own children and their adopted charges. Most importantly, this beautifully written account captures what it was vii viii Forewords like to be a young child whose parents had disappeared and who was forced to hide his Jewish identity. We survived … At last I speak reveals the apathy of the majority in France who acquiesced to the Nazi barbarity, the acts of defiance of a few, and the remarkable courage of the Ribouleaus who swore to Monsieur and Madame Malmed that they would take care of their children until they returned. As both Papa Henri and Maman Suzanne, as Leon called them, would always respond: “These children are not hurting anyone. They need us. We will protect them.” Riva Gambert Director, Holocaust Remembrance Jewish Federation of the East Bay We survived … At last I speak, the story of Leon and his sister Ra- chel is an inspiration to everyone. It demonstrates that even within the horrors of the Holocaust there were people whose hearts were filled with kindness and courage. “Righteous Gentiles” who hid Jews risked their own lives to save others, and their acts of goodness should never be forgotten. In these days as Holocaust Survivors are getting older and dying it is important that their stories be preserved for future generations. Leon Malmed has done a service to us all by writing his memoir. Please share this amazing story with your children and grandchildren. We leave them with the responsibility to insure that we never forget these atrocities and that they never again happen to Jews or any other people. Joanne Caras Creator of The Holocaust Survivor Cookbook and Miracles & Meals, star of the JLTV series Miracles & Meal with Joanne Caras Forewords ix Leon Malmed was born in France. He didn’t come easily to writing his memoir. He was in his late 60s when he wrote it in French, and now in his 70s when he wrote the English version. It was a story he wanted to forget: the story of a 5-year old child and his 9-year old sister, whose Jewish parents were taken away by the French police under orders of the Nazis in 1942. His mother and father, des- perate, were told by their neighbors “Do not worry; we will take care of your children until you come back.” In a way it was a story he didn’t want to remember, but finally, one he needed to tell, for both himself and the world. To these children, who were effectively adopted by the neighbors, the truth didn’t come easily, and until now the story hasn’t really been told. The Ribouleaus became their parents and risked their own lives and the lives of their two sons. It is an inspi- ring story of turmoil and bravery by the Ribouleau family and the townspeople. It is about children who had to recognize finally that they would never see their parents again. And it is also the story about the lives of the French under the Nazi regime in France. Leon ultimately became a successful businessman, starting his career in France and then coming to the United States. In the end it is a story of personal success, but its roots could not remain si- lent. It is an emotional story that brings tears both of sorrow and of heartfelt gratitude for some of the people who helped their lives. It is a story that needs to be told today as the world becomes more tri- bal and hate becomes more apparent.

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