June 25, 1943 My sweet love, I hope this little letter reaches you. The man who will arrange a rendezvous is a friend; do what you can to meet him. I won’t describe the anguish I feel here, but I am happy that I haven’t yet seen you arrive here. I hope you’ll do what you must, I beg you, to avoid this at all costs. I am still here, I don’t know for how much time. I’ll do everything I can to hang on, but it seems nearly impossible, without a turn of events that we’re all waiting for. In any case, if fate separates us, my dear, know that I will leave full of courage and energy, because I am sure that now, it’s not far off. The image of you and of my dear little one are with me always, now and forever, and my love for you two will give me the strength to survive and overcome all the obstacles and ordeals still ahead… Above all, my love, stay brave and strong for me. I know that you must be going through terrible times. Above all, don’t give up and be as strong as you have been up to now. ANNUAL REPORT 2011 Above all, watch out. I would be desperate if I saw you arrive here, because, no matter what, I don’t want you to come here to share this vile and hideous existence with me… Above all, for you and our beloved Bichette… The only thing that could keep me here is a valid Romanian passport and a recent certificate of nationality. It’s extremely urgent to get this, as I have been selected for the first deportation. If you can, my love, bring cigarettes, tobacco and something to eat when you meet my friend. He will take care of it. You can trust him fully, and if you can give him the Romanian papers, as well as the address of Fima in Bucharest, of your parents and yours, if possible, so that I can write you if allowed. I am leaving you, my love. But I hope that fate will not separate us for long. My love for you will give me the strength to withstand anything, and you, my darling, I know that you are very brave, and that you will hold on for me. Kiss my darling Bichou. I am leaving you, my love. I adore you and I will fight to the end for you. Your Moustique EDITORIAL e have been We therefore have had fortunate to reaffirm our choices. to experience We placed a clear priority W ten relatively on providing support to Shoah prosperous years, marked survivors. With age, these by high returns on our people are facing increasingly endowment investments difficult situations, which and an ability to respond we are working to alleviate positively to a large majority as much as we can. Another of the projects that were priority: support for the submitted to us. Shoah Memorial, particularly the Drancy site. We must Nearly €170 million have maintain the history and been allocated since the memory of the Drancy camp, creation of our Foundation which was the antechamber to uphold the importance of death for the large of the history, memory majority of the 76,000 Jews and education of the Shoah deported from France. in our country; to expand Thanks to Serge Klarsfeld the capacities of social —whom I would like institutions taking care to congratulate for the of Shoah survivors in need; remarkable new edition and to support current of Memorial to the Jews changes in the overall Deported from France— community, particularly it was possible to construct in terms of developing a center directly opposite Jewish education. The the Cité de la Muette, upcoming years look to be where the Shoah Memorial more complex, due to the can present exhibitions, uncertain financial climate, notably for schoolchildren. as well as to the gap, which increases every year, These priorities will not between requests submitted stop the Foundation from to our Foundation and our its ongoing work in its other foreseeable resources. statutory missions, notably In this respect, 2011 was Jewish Culture, so as the worst year we have to continue promoting experienced to date. the values of Judaism. David de Rothschild, President of the Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah 1 Continue our actions despite a turbulent context e continue to In addition, it proposed work for the a number of ways to improve memory our Foundation’s operations. W of the Shoah Some have already been and to reduce anti-Semitism, implemented, particularly within a significantly more a reinforcement of our complicated climate that financial management has reminded us all of the procedures and the dangers of ideologies recruitment of a new of hatred. administrative and financial director. We therefore had The year 2011 saw a wealth the pleasure of welcoming of new projects for our Patrick Benarouch to this Foundation, with a continuing position in December 2011. high level of activity. Other improvements will be It was also a year characterized developed over the upcoming by a difficult financial context, months and years, as we which created an overriding cannot allow ourselves need to make difficult decisions to become complacent with so as to guarantee the stability past performance of our medium- and long-term and routine. activities. Generally speaking, our In anticipation of this on-going high-standards development and on of quality and equity continue the initiative of the Financial to guide our everyday actions. Committee, we launched It is a moral requirement, an audit of the Foundation given the origins of our for the Memory of the endowment, the importance Shoah, covering the years of our mission and what 2005 to 2010. This audit, we owe to the memory completed in the second of Jews assassinated half of the year, praised the during the Shoah. managerial capacities of our Foundation and control of expenditure, notably in terms Philippe Allouche, of operating costs. Executive Director It also underlined the high level of recurring funding and the risk of developing a trend in expenditure that would structurally exceed income. 2 Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah The Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah was created in 2000 in recognition of the French government’s responsibility in the Shoah. The ini- tial endowment of €393 million came from the res- titution by the government and certain financial institutions of dormant accounts from expropria- ted Jews living in France. With the funds gene- rated from this endowment, the Foundation sub- sidizes the Shoah Memorial; supports projects bearing on research and history of the Shoah; pro- vides assistance to survivors in need; and encou- rages the transmission of Jewish culture. 3 An independent and public-benefit foundation Projects submitted to the The Financial Committee Foundation are evaluated by manages the endowment’s five committees made up of investment strategy, provides volunteer experts: Solidarity, an opinion on the largest Memory and Transmission, projects and oversees the proper History of anti-Semitism use of its revenues. and the Shoah, Shoah Education, and Jewish Culture. Key figures Projects recommended by Since its creation, the Foundation the committees are submitted for the Memory of the Shoah has to the Foundation’s Executive financed more than 2,200 projects. Board, then to the Board In 2011, more than €8.3 million of Directors. were allocated to 217 projects. Evolution in the number of projects handled by the Foundation Projects accepted ProjectsProjects rejected acceptedor not followed up Projects rejected or not followed up 218 245 217 95 80 86 2009: 313 2010: 325 2011: 303 218 245 217 4 95 80 86 Permanent support for the Shoah Memorial The Foundation covers This Center of History and more than 80 percent Memory, run by the Shoah of the Shoah Memorial’s Memorial, will host schoolchildren operating and investment to explain to them the history of budget. the Drancy internment camp, set up in the Cité de la Muette, In 2011, this funding represented located just opposite the center. €7.1 million. Additional funding went to other projects, including trips to Auschwitz for teachers 13 817 535 7 738 917 9 191 849 7 183 020 13 518 371 7 211 620 8 308 543 7 100 000 and high school students. 64 % 36 % 56 % Key figures44 % 65 % 35 % 54% 46 % The Drancy Center, scheduled to This year, the share of funding open in 2012, is one of the for the Shoah Memorial represents Foundation’s priorities. The approximately 46 percent of the Foundation for the Memory of financinggranted by the Foundation the Shoah is financing the for the Memory of the Shoah (excluding specific projects). investment and operating costs. Evolution of funding granted by the Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah (in euros) Amount of subsidies allocated to the Shoah Memorial Amount of subsidies earmarked for projects 13 817 535 7 738 917 9 191 849 7 183 020 13 518 371 7 211 620 8 308 543 7 100 000 64 % 36 % 56 % 44 % 65 % 35 % 54% 46 % 2009: €16,374,869 2010: €20,729,991 2011: €15,408,543 5 Amount of subsidies allocated to the Shoah Memorial Amount of subsidies earmarked for projects Budget for projects: €8.3 million Key figures for 2011 Distribution of funds per committee Solidarity Shoah €3,313,877 Education €976,040 History of Jewish anti-Semitism 8 308 543 Culture*217 and the Shoah euros €2,122,567projets €667,330 Memory and Others Transmission €427,400 €801,329 Distribution of projects per committee Solidarity Shoah 19 projects Education 63 projects History of Jewish anti-Semitism8 308 543 217 Culture* and theeuros Shoah projets 56 projects 34 projects Memory and Others Transmission 3 projects 42 projects * Including the Foundation’s participation in project financed by the Gordin Foundation 6 One of the priorities of the In terms of Memory and Foundation for the Memory Transmission, the year of the Shoah is Solidarity was marked by start-up with Shoah survivors, funding allocated for which this year represented a Memorial Museum in Orléans 40 percent of the funds at the CERCIL, the Research allocated to projects.