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Juliette Jeanne BOGUSCH
Photo courtesy of the Shoah Memorial in Paris.
This biography was written by Sigrid GAUMEL, Associate Professor of Geography.
In this biography we have tried to trace the personal history of Juliette Jeanne Bogusch. We also encourage the reader to refer to the biographies of Rosalie Marie Geismar née Bogusch, de Madeleine Edmonde Strauss née Geismar, de Léon Norbert Strauss, et de Lydie Strauss née Zitko on the Convoi 77 Association website[1]. These five people, all from the same Jewish family, who lived in Colmar in the Haut-Rhin department, were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau on Convoy 77 on July 31, 1944.
Juliette in the time of the German Empire (1885-1914)
Juliette’s childhood in Gunsbach, in Alsace (1885 – 1897?)
Juliette Jeanne Bogusch was born on January 17, 1885 at Gunsbach[2], a village in the Munster valley in the Haut-Rhin department in the east of France. Her parents were Jakob Bogusch[3] born in 1852 at Grajewo in Russia[4] (currently in the north east of Poland), a trader, and Mélanie Bogusch, née Geismar, born on June 4, 1853 in Turckheim[5], also in the Haut-Rhin department of France. Mélanie was the youngest of 10 children born of Madeleine[6] Geismar, née Metzger, born on January 18 in 1811 in Muttersholtz)[7] and Marc Geismar, born around 1803 in Turckheim. He was a butcher and the couple lived in Turckheim.
Juliette had two older sisters, Rosalie Marie Bogusch, born February 23 1881 at 14 Neue Strasse in Hanover in Germany[8], and Henriette Bogusch, born January 13, 1884 at Gunsbach[9] and died on January 20, 1884 also in Gunsbach[10].
The family had been living in Gunsbach since around 1883. Since the Treaty of Frankfurt, signed on May 10, 1871, the Alsace and Moselle regions of France had been annexed by Germany and had become part of the Reichsland Elsass-Lothringen, thus Gunsbach was, at that time, in Germany.
Some other family members also lived in Gunsbach: Joseph Geismar, born October 29, 1843 in Turckheim[11], Mélanie’s brother, a trader who was married to Veronika Geismar, née Dreyfus and who died in Gunsbach on February 5, 1889[12] at the age of 45; and Madeleine Geismar née Metzger, Mélanie’s mother, the widow of Marc Geismar, who died in Gunsbach on January 26, 1892[13] at the age of 81.
We know that Jakob, Mélanie, Rosalie and Juliette lived in Gunsbach from 1884 to 1895. We do not know exactly when the family left Gunsbach[14] for Colmar, due to a discrepancy in their residence records: Juliette Bogusch’s address record mentions her arrival in Colmar on October 14, 1895[15], whereas Jakob Bogusch’s suggests that he moved to Colmar on October 14, 1897[16]. The year 1897 seems to us to be the most plausible[17], since the name Jakob Bogusch first appeared in the Colmar town directory in the year 1898[18].
The family settled in Colmar, probably in 1897.
Jakob and Mélanie Bogusch, along with their two daughters, Rosalie, who was 16, and Juliette, who was then 12, seem therefore to have moved to Colmar on October 14, 1897. In the five years between 1897 and 1902, they were to move four times, always staying in same neighborhood in the center of Colmar, near to the synagogue[19]: from October 14, 1897 to December 5, 1897, they lived at 1 Nordstrasse, from December 6, 1897 to April 1, 1902, at 13 Nordstrasse, from April 1, 1902 to December 10, 1902, at 29 Vaubanstrasse and finally on December 11, 1902, they moved again, to 27 Vaubanstrasse.
Juliette’s older sister, Rosalie, then aged 29, was married in Colmar on August 8, 1910 to Marcel Geismar[20], her cousin, who was 31 years old and worked as a merchant[21]. Marcel Geismar was born on September 23, 1878 at 89 Judengasse in Turckheim[22]. He was the youngest of 13 children born from the marriage of Salomon Geismar, a trader and Pauline Geismar, née Mauss. From the marriage of Rosalie and Marcel Geismar, Madeleine Edmonde Geismar was born on April 24, 1911 at 35 Bärengasse in Colmar[23].
Juliette remained single and continued to live with her parents in Colmar[24]. From December 11, 1902 to March 12, 1912, they lived at 27 Vaubanstrasse and then on March 13, 1912, they moved to 17 Nordstrasse.
Juliette’s father, Jakob, died on October 24, 1912 at 17 Nordstrasse in Colmar[25] at the age of 60. We have found no trace of his grave in the Jewish cemetery in Colmar, nor in any other Jewish cemetery in Alsace[26]. We surmise that Jakob Bogusch was buried in the Jewish cemetery of Colmar but has since been destroyed[27]. After Jakob’s death, Rosalie, her husband Marcel Geismar and their daughter Madeleine went to live with Mélanie and Juliette Bogusch, who was then 27 years old, at 17 Nordstrasse[28].
The First World War (1914-1918) and its impact on the family
Juliette’s brother-in-law’s enlistment in the German army
When the First World War broke out, Marcel Geismar, Juliette’s brother-in-law, had to don the German army uniform. He was one of 380,000 people from Alsace and Moselle to be called up, 4400 of them being Jewish[29]. He was assigned to a soldier in the 65th infantry regiment and to a battalion of mine-setters (Wehrmann der Minen werferabteilung)[30].
Suffering from grenade wounds, Marcel Geismar was admitted to the German Military Hospital, the Kriegslazarett, in Jarny, which is now in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department of France[31]. This hospital, set up by the Germans in what is now the Alfred Mézières middle school, treated a large number of wounded from the front. With an ophthalmic unit, a dental surgery and several operating theatres, this hospital became an essential part of the German rear line.
Marcel Geismar died there at the age of 38 on April 7, 1917 as a result of his injuries and heart failure[32]. His name is included in the book of names in the German area of the 1914-1918 military cemetery in Colmar[33], as well as on a plaque on the wall of the synagogue in Colmar and on the monument in the Jewish cemetery in Wintzenheim. His grave is in the Jewish cemetery in Colmar.
Juliette’s French citizenship reinstated
After the First World War, Alsace-Moselle was returned to France by the Treaty of Versailles of June 28, 1919.
Along with everyone else in Alsace-Moselle, Juliette, Rosalie, Mélanie, and Madeleine waited for the signature of the Treaty of Versailles, then until 1920 for the publication of a decree regarding its application, in order to the process of being “reintegrated into French nationality”[34]. Reinstatement was only granted definitively after approval of an information submitted to the new authorities. These were then entered in reinstatement registers created in each municipality[35]. Juliette, Rosalie et Mélanie were naturalized as French by a judgement made on 28 July, 1920[36].
When her husband Marcel died, Rosalie found herself alone with her daughter Madeleine, aged 6. After the war, Rosalie and Madeleine went to live with Juliette and Mélanie Bogusch, Rosalie’s mother and Madeleine’s grandmother, at 17, rue du Nord in Colmar[37]. Juliette was a salesperson [38] and in 1925, at the age of 40, she was a manager at the Galeries Alsaciennes[39], a haberdashery and fashion store located in the heart of Colmar, at 15-21 rue des Clefs, owned by Weyl and Bloch[40], which has since closed down.
Juliette’s life in Mulhouse between the wars
Juliette’s mother, Mélanie, died at 17, rue du Nord in Colmar, on January 18, 1930[41] at the age of 76. She is buried in the Jewish cemetery Colmar.
Juliette, then aged 45, left Colmar for Mulhouse on March 3, 1930[42]. Presumably, she moved for professional reasons, because while in Colmar, she was a manager at the Galeries Alsaciennes, but from 1932 onwards, this store is no longer mentioned in the Colmar town directories. Perhaps the store in Colmar closed down? In Mulhouse, Juliette worked as a manager and her address changed several times. From March 3, 1930 to April 25, 1930, she lived at 31 rue des 3 Rois[43], and then from April 25, 1930 to April 4, 1940, at 17 rue de la Sinne. However, the 1936 census does not mention Juliette Bogusch having been resident there at the time[44].
Madeleine, Juliette’s niece, was married in Colmar on September 26, 1934[45] to Léon Norbert Strauss, who was born November 24, 1907 12 Marktgasse in Obernai[46]. After they were married, Madeleine and Léon Strauss lived in a second floor apartment 17, rue du Nord in Colmar[47] with Madeleine’s mother, Rosalie. Madeleine was an office worker, a secretary at the Colmar Medical U and Léon was a sales person at Lehmann Cuirs, a leather store, in 1936[48]. The 1936 census mentions that Madeleine, Léon and Rosalie were of French nationality and could speak French. Léon was educated to a level equivalent to Sophomore year and held a certificate of musical aptitude and a driving license[49].
Madeleine and Léon Strauss had a daughter, Lydie, although she was not their natural daughter. Lydie, née Zitko, who was born on November 14, 1936 at Wiesbaden in Germany[50], had been taken in by the “NID” in Strasbourg [51], probably an association or public welfare service that took in orphaned or abandoned children for adoption. We have been unable to find the legal act relating to Lydie Zitko’s adoption[52], and thus do not know the exact date when she arrived to live with Madeleine and Léon Strauss.
At the end of the 1930s, anti-Semitism was increasing in France. The population, which was suffering from the world economic crisis, political clashes and politico-financial scandals at the time of the Popular Front, turned against the Jews. In Alsace, extreme right-wing organizations and parties called for a boycott of Jewish businesses and distributed anti-Semitic leaflets and newspapers[53]. After the signature of the Munich Agreement, on September 30, 1938, the Jews were accused of inciting France to go to war in order to defend German Jews. Anti-Semitic groups attacked Jewish businesses, particularly in Strasbourg and Mulhouse, breaking windows, ransacking and looting shops and injuring their employees.
At the beginning of April 1938, Rosalie Geismar, Madeleine and Léon Strauss, probably together with Lydie (?), moved to 8, rue Erckmann-Chatrian in Colmar[54] (although, according to the 1938 Colmar town directory, they were still living at 17, rue du Nord in Colmar and, what’s more, in the 1939 Colmar directory, they were not listed at all). Similarly, Juliette Bogusch, who moved to Mulhouse in 1930, continues to be mentioned in the Colmar directories of 1932, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937 and 1938.
The start of the war and the flight to Cannes and then to Le Cannet, in the Alpes-Maritimes, in 1940.
On September 1, 1939, the German army invaded Poland and then on September 3, France and England declared war on Germany.
In Mulhouse, Juliette Bogusch, then aged 55, moved on April 4, 1940 and stayed, for just two days, at 13, rue Ernest Meininger . On April 6, Juliette[55], along with her sister Rosalie[56], her niece Madeleine and Lydie fled Alsace and took refuge in Cannes, which is in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the south of France). There they lived at 14bis, rue d’Antibes[57] [58].
Léon Strauss was callled up on August 23, 1939, and assigned to the 28th Fortress Infantry Regiment (RIF), which was stationed on the Maginot line of the Rhine holding the fortified sector at Wolfgantzen, to the north-west of Neuf-Brisach in the Haut-Rhin department. He was taken prisoner by the Germans when the 28th RIF were captured on the June 21 and 22, 1940[59]. Léon managed to escape and join his family, probably in Cannes[60].
The family then moved to Le Cannet, a town close to Cannes, although we do not know the exact date on which they moved. Madeleine, Léon, Lydie, as well as Rosalie and Juliette, lived in the Villa Le Bosquet at 6, rue de Madrid in Le Cannet[61], a magnificent villa with a huge garden, where they stayed until June 25, 1944.
The armistice, signed with Germany on June 22, 1940, and with Italy on June 24, 1940, came into force on June 25, 1940. France’s territory was divided into two zones: the zone occupied by the Germans in the north, and the so-called “free” zone in the south, controlled by the Vichy government. Alsace-Moselle was effectively annexed and incorporated into the Nazi Reich. The German army occupied this area and established its headquarters there. On July 13, 1940, Robert Wagner, the Gauleiter, the head of the civil authorities in Alsace, decided to expel the remaining Jews in Alsace and to confiscate all their property, interests and privileges for the benefit of the Reich[62].
More than 3,000 Jews were expelled to the non-occupied zone. Within 3 days, the Nazis had turned Alsace into a Judenrein (German for “cleansed of or free of Jews”) area. The Nazis also sought to erase all traces of the Jewish presence in Alsace. They destroyed or damaged many synagogues, particularly in Strasbourg and Mulhouse, and ransacked Jewish cemeteries, notably the one in Colmar.
Life under the Vichy regime (June 22, 1940 – November 8, 1942), and under the Italian occupation (November 9, 1942 – September 8, 1943).
After the signature of the Armistice by France on June 22nd 1940, the Alpes-Maritimes department was in the southern zone, or Free Zone, where the Vichy regime was in power. Marshal Pétain’s government demonstrated its racist anti-Semitism and declared the existence of a “Jewish race” in the autumn of 1940. On October 3, 1940, it passed a law on the “Status of the Jews,” and on June 2, 1941, it ordered a nationwide census and enacted a second status for Jews. Until the end of 1942, the French State adopted and published more than a hundred legal texts targeting the Jews[63]. It was also actively involved in the deportation of foreign Jews. Jews from Alsace, although they held French nationality, were subject to the Jewish Statute of October 3, 1940. However, the Vichy government did not require Jews in the Free Zone to wear the yellow star.
In response to the Anglo-American landings in North Africa on November 8, 1942, the Germans immediately decided to invade and militarize the Free Zone, leaving the area east of the Rhône to the Italians, including the Alpes-Maritimes department where the Geismar-Bogusch-Strauss family lived. In the departments they controlled, the Italians proved themselves to be sympathetic towards the Jews. There were almost no more arrests, and they even opposed the German and French directives by force, thus putting pressure on the Vichy Prefects not to require the mention of the word “Jew” on identity papers[64]. The Geismar-Bogusch-Strauss family must have benefited from the mercy of the Italians. Lydie Strauss, who was 6 years old in 1942, no doubt went to a school in Le Cannet[65].
The German Occupation (from September 9, 1943), arrests and deportation (July 31, 1944).
Everything changed with the Italian Armistice and the arrival of the Germans on September 8, 1943. The Alpes-Maritimes department, occupied by the Germans until August 1944, ceased to be a safe haven for the Jews. Aloïs Brunner, the Obersturmbannführer (literal translation “senior assault unit leader”) of the SS, arrived in Nice on September 10, 1944 to lead a special commando unit responsible for organizing a systematic hunt for all of the Jews on the Côte d’Azur[66]. Their headquarters, the Hotel Excelsior, near to the Nice train station, was used to assemble and house Jews destined for deportation. Paid informers and “physiognomists” assisted the Gestapo units. They roamed the streets and raided the hotels. All the men were forced to drop their trousers, examined and, if they were circumcised, were immediately arrested[67]. From when Brunner and his men arrived in Nice until their departure in December 1943, about 80 days, 2142 Jews were arrested and registered at the Hotel Excelsior[68].
The fate of little Lydie, who was only 7 years old, of her adoptive parents Madeleine and Léon Strauss, of Rosalie Geismar, and of Juliette Bogusch, was later described by Doctor Kruger from Cannes[69], during the trial on June 7, 1945, at the court in Grasse, of the man who denounced the Geismar-Bogusch-Strauss family, a man named Finck. According to Dr. Kruger’s report, the family was arrested on June 25, 1944 and taken to the Villa Montfleury, the Gestapo headquarters in Cannes. On June 27, 1944, the family was transferred to the Excelsior Hotel in Nice, and then, two weeks later, transferred to the Drancy camp, located 4km (about 2 miles) from Paris in Seine-Saint-Denis.
Drancy was a transit camp, where Jews were assembled before being deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. On arrival at the Drancy camp, the French authorities seized all the internees’ possessions, meticulously filling out a form for each person[70]. A duplicate of the receipts for confiscated valuables was issued by the Jewish service. Usually only one receipt was issued for an entire family. Léon Strauss had 3158 francs confiscated by the administration, as can be seen on the receipt dated July 12, 1944, signed by the “chief of police for Jews” at the Drancy camp[71].
On July 31, 1944, Lydie, her “adoptive” parents Madeleine and Léon Strauss, Rosalie Geismar and Juliette Bogusch were deported from Drancy to Auschwitz-Birkenau on Convoy 77, as recorded on the original list of those deported[72]. They arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau on August 3, 1944.
According to the testimony of another deportee, Albert Broido or Broydo,[36] Leon Strauss’ comrade in the Auschwitz camp, it is more than likely that the three women and Lydie, “being pale and suffering,” were immediately transferred by truck to the gas chambers where they were gassed and ultimately incinerated[74]. Rosalie[75], Juliette[76], Madeleine[77] et Lydie[78] all died on August 3, 1944.
Leon Strauss, when he arrived at the station at Auschwitz, walked to the Auschwitz camp [42]. Stripped naked, shorn and tattooed on his left arm (B88 and two unknown numbers), Leon was forced to work for two months in the camp; he was assigned to the kommandos working on street repairs and later on the sewage system. At the end of September, Léon Strauss had an acute finger infection and had to go to the camp infirmary. On October 3, 1944, Leon Strauss was killed in the gas chambers at Birkenau and then incinerated in the crematorium. His death certificate includes the words “Mort pour la France“, i.e. “Died for France” as recommended by the Department of Veterans Affairs on November 28, 1945, which every deportee who was deported due to their race is entitled by law, along with the words “Died during Deportation” in accordance with the recommendation of the Minister of Defense dated September 29, 2003[80].
Memorial sites and commemorative projects.
Various memorial sites exist to commemorate the deportees. On the Wall of Names at the Shoah Memorial in Paris are the names of Bogusch Juliette, Geismar Rosalie, Strauss Edmée, Strauss Léon, and Strauss Lydie[81].
The memorial monument at the Jewish cemetery in Colmar mentions the names and ages of the Jewish deportees who lived in Colmar: Bogusch Juliette (58 years old), Geismar-Bogusch Rosa (60 years old), Strauss Léon (38 years old), Strauss-Geismar Madeleine (33 years old) et Strauss (Zitko) Lidy (8 years old). In Mulhouse, the memorial monument at the Jewish cemetery mentions the name of Bogusch Juliette (55 years old). We note the approximate spelling of the first names, and the differing ages of the people named on the monuments.
In the Tivoli gardens in the heart of Le Cannet, a monument was erected on July 1, 2011, near the 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 War Memorials, in memory of the Jewish inhabitants of Le Cannet who were deported between 1942 and 1944. The plaque mentions the names of Léon and Edmée Strauss and their daughter Lydie (8 years old). Once again, the spelling of first and last names is an approximation: Madeleine Edmonde Strauss née Geismar and Lydie Strauss née Zitko. Also, the names of Rosalie Geismar and Juliette Bogusch are not included on this monument. We contacted the Association pour la Mémoire des Enfants Juifs Déportés des Alpes-Maritimes (Association for the Memory of the Jewish people deported from the Alpes-Maritimes) about this and A Mr. Wolman, on behalf of the Association, assured us that the names of Rosalie and Juliette will soon be added on a new commemorative plaque.
Juliette’s memory could be further honored by the laying of Stolpersteine outside her home at 17, rue de la Sinne in Mulhouse [82],
Note
No mention is made here of the life of the family of Marcel Geismar’s elder brother, Aron Lazare Geismar. 8 members of the Geismar-Weil-Wolff family, who took refuge in Eymoutiers in the Haute-Vienne department, which is in the Limousin region of France, were rounded up on April 6, 1944 by the SS division commanded by General Brehmer, incarcerated in the Limoges prison, transferred to the Drancy camp on April 12, 1944, and then deported on convoy 72 on April 29, 1944. 7 of them lost their lives there[83].
The photograph of Juliette Bogusch included in this biography comes from the website of the Shoah Memorial in Paris, the Memorial being one of the sponsors of the Convoi 77 association. Reference: 1915488.jpg. Yad Vashem.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Ms. Nicole Hermann, daughter-in-law of Ms. Mariette Hermann née Geismar, for allowing me to complete the family tree of the Geismar family. I would also like to thank Mr. Ivan Geismar and Mr. Jacques Geismar and his father.
I am very grateful to Mr. Serge Jacubert and the Association Convoi 77, for providing me with many documents from the Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Historical Research Service in Caen.
I would also like to thank Ms. Michèle Merowka, President of the Association for the Memory of Jewish People Deported from the Alpes-Maritimes, an association which aims to put up commemorative plaques in educational establishments, and Mr. Roger Wolman, who provided me with information about the archives available at Le Cannet town hall, and some photographs.
I also thank Mr. Daniel Fuks for sharing work papers and for his help and advice.
Finally, I would like to express my thanks to Ms. Doris Kohl, archivist at the Colmar municipal archives, for her help, advice and the documents provided, and to Mr. Olivier Holder, archivist at the Haut-Rhin departmental archives, for his assistance and his availability. Lastly, thanks to Mr. Martin Gugg, a German teacher, for his linguistic assistance.
Biography completed on April 5, 2020.
References
[1] The spelling of people’s surnames and first names changes according to the documents of the German authorities (between 1871 and 1918) and the French authorities (after 1918), and according to the authors and sources of the documents. For example, with regard to the documents of the French authorities, Madeleine Edmonde Geismar is sometimes mentioned as Madeleine Edmée Geismar, Rosalie Marie Geismar married name Bogusch, as in Rosa Geismar- Bogusch or Rose Geismar, Juliette Jeanne Bogusch as Jeanne Juliette Bogusch or Julie Bogusch and Lydie Strauss née Zitko as Lidy Strauss.
[2] Birth certificate of Juliette Jeanne Bogusch, Haut-Rhin Departmental Archives, reference N 1883-1892 Gunsbach 5Mi EC121; and Birth certificate of Juliette Jeanne Bogusch, Gunsbach Municipal Archives.
[3] Depending on the documents, Jakob Bogusch is mentioned as Jankiel Bogusch or Jacob Bogusch ou Jacques Bogusch.
[4] According to the death certificate of Jacques Bogusch, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[5] Birth certificate of Mélanie Geismar, Haut-Rhin Departmental Archives, reference N 1850-1862 Turckheim 5Mi 503/7.
[6] Depending on the documents, Madeleine is sometimes mentioned as Minette or Magdalena.
[7] Birth certificate of Madeleine Metzger, Archives départementales du Bas-Rhin, 4 E 311/2 (online).
[8] Birth certificate of Rosalie Bogusch, Stadtarchiv Hannover, available on the Yad Vashem website.
[9] Birth certificate of Henriette Bogusch, Haut-Rhin Departmental Archives, reference N 1883-1892 Gunsbach 5Mi EC121.
[10] Death certificate of Henriette Bogusch, Haut-Rhin Departmental Archives, reference D 1883-1889 Gunsbach 5Mi EC121.
[11] Birth certificate of Joseph Geismar, Haut-Rhin Departmental Archives, reference (online).
[12] Death certificate of Joseph Geismar, Haut-Rhin Departmental Archives, reference. D 1883-1889 Gunsbach 2Mi EC121; and Death certificate of Joseph Geismar, Gunsbach Municipal Archives.
[13] Death certificate of Minette [Magdalena] Geismar née Metzger, Haut-Rhin Departmental Archives, reference D 1890-1892 Gunsbach 2Mi EC122; and Death certificate of Minette [Magdalena] Geismar née Metzger, Gunsbach Municipal Archives.
[14] In 1906, the family no longer lived in Gunsbach, as they were not mentioned in the 1906 census of the population of Gunsbach, Familienbuch der Gemeinde Günsbach aufgestellt in Jahre 1906, Gunsbach Municipal Archives.
[15] Address record of Juliette Bogusch, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[16] Address record of Jakob Bogusch, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[17] Due to several errors in records for Juliette Bogusch: her first name (Julie rather than Juliette), the name of a road (Luzelle or place called Lucelle) and omissions(many successive addresses in Colmar are not mentioned).
[18] Adressbuch der Stadt Colmar, 1898, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[19] Address record of Jakob Bogusch, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[20] Marriage certificate of Rosalie Bogusch and Marcel Geismar, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[21] Mention of Geismar Marcel, Kaufmann. Adressbuch der Stadt Colmar, 1911/1912, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[22] Birth certificate of Marcel Geismar, Haut-Rhin Departmental Archives, reference N 1873-1882 Turckheim 5Mi 499/4.
[23] Birth certificate of Madeleine Edmonde Geismar, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[24] Address record of Jakob Bogusch, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[25] Death certificate of Jakob Bogusch, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[26] According to the site of the Jewish community in Alsace and Lorraine: http://judaisme.sdv.fr/. The name of Yentel Bogusch is mentioned in the Jewish cemetery in Colmar, but we have not been able to establish a definite family link between Yentel and Jakob Bogusch.
[27] The Jewish cemetery in Colmar was ransacked during the Second World War. The graves were ripped out by stonecutters and reused to pave the streets or build anti-tank barriers, according to Mireille Biret, “Le sort des Juifs d’Alsace pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale”, Base Numérique du Patrimoine d’Alsace, Canopé, Académie de Strasbourg, 2011 (online at http://crdp-strasbourg.fr).
[28] Mention of Geismar Marcel, Kaufmann, Nordstr. 17. Adressbuch der Stadt Colmar, 1913/1914, and 1914/1915, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[29] Philippe Landau, 1871-1918 Les citoyennetés à l’épreuve, in sous la dir. de Freddy Raphaël, “Juifs d’Alsace au XXe siècle, ni ghettoïsation, ni assimilation”, Strasbourg, La Nuée Bleue, 2014.
[30] Death certificate of Marcel Geismar, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[31] Kévin Goeuriot, “Jarny pendant la Grande Guerre”, Jarny Patrimoine, n° 8, Supplement Jarny Mag, July 2014.
[32] Death certificate of Marcel Geismar, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[33] Namenbuch, Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof 1914-1918 – Aufgestellt von der Deutschen Dienststelle (WAst) Berlin in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge.
[34] Bernard Wittmann, Une épuration ethnique à la française, Alsace-Moselle 1918-1922, Fouesnant, Yoran Embanner, 2016.
[35] We have a copy of the extract from the register of persons entitled to the full rights of a French citizen dated August 9, 1920 for Léon Strauss (certified copy on March 10, 1954) and a certificate of nationality for Juliette Bogusch (dated December 17, 1947). Victims of Contemporary Conflicts dept., Historical Service of the Department of Defense, Caen (document obtained through the Convoi 77 association).
[36] Address records of Marcel Geismar and Jakob Bogusch, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[37] Colmar town directories of 1920, 1921, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929 et de 1932, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[38] Colmar town directory of 1920, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[39] She was not the principal of a school as mentioned in the the book by Jacky Dreyfus and Daniel Fuks, Le Mémorial des Juifs du Haut-Rhin, Martyrs de la Shoah, Strasbourg, Jérôme Do Bentzinger, 2006.
[40] Colmar town directories of 1925, 1926, 1927 et de 1929, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[41] Death certificate of Mélanie Bogusch née Geismar, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[42] Address record of Juliette Bogusch, Mulhouse Municipal Archives
[43] The two address records for Juliette Bogusch, at Colmar and at Mulhouse, contain different information. The file for Colmar indicates that Juliette Bogusch would have moved on March 3, 1930 to 1 bis de la Luzelle (probably Lucelle), while the file for Mulhouse mentions a move on March 3, 1930 to 31 rue des 3 Rois. In reality, this is the same building, which is located on the corner of the two streets.
[44] 1936 census of Mulhouse, Haut-Rhin Departmental Archives.
[45] Marriage certificate of Madeleine Geismar and Léon Strauss, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[46] Birth certificate of Léon Strauss, Bas-Rhin Departmental Archives (online), 4E348/55.
[47] Colmar town directories of 1936, 1937 and 1938, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[48] 1936 census in Colmar, Haut-Rhin Departmental Archives.
[49] Ministry of War, subdivision of Sélestat, register number, class of 1927, 3rd volume, Leon Strauss identification number 1146. Bas-Rhin Departmental Archives, reference 806D20.
[50] Birth certificate of Lydie Zitko, Wiesbaden (Germany) Municipal Archives.
[51] According to the witness statement of Ms Mariette Hermann dated 22.10.1991, available on the Yad Vashem website.
[52] Documents consulted: register of acts required to be registered at the Tribunal de Première Instance in Colmar, business register O, P, Q, Z of the 1st chamber of 1934 to August 1941, Haut-Rhin departmental archives, AL125082; register of acts required to be registered at the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Saverne, alphabetical list of cases of the 1st civil chamber from 1903 to 1953, Departmental Archives of the, 2044W7; register of acts required to be registered at the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Strasbourg, alphabetical list of cases of the 1st civil chamber 1932 to 1944, Departmental Archives of the, 811D7, 811D8, 811D9 ; register of acts required to be registered at the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Strasbourg, alphabetical list of cases of the 2nd civil chamber of 1937 to 1939, Departmental Archives of the Bas-Rhin, 812D9 ; register of acts required to be registered at the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Strasbourg, alphabetical list of cases of the 3rd civil chamber of 1933 to 1939, Departmental Archives of the Bas-Rhin, 813D31.
[53] Freddy Raphaël, Les Juifs d’Alsace et de Lorraine de 1870 à nos jours, Paris, Albin Michel, 2018.
[54] Address record for Léon Strauss, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[55] Address record for Juliette Bogusch, Mulhouse Municipal Archives.
[56] Address record of Rosalie Geismar, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[57] Address record of Léon Strauss, Colmar Municipal Archives.
[58] According to Mr. Roger Wolman, the number 14bis, rue d’Antibes does not or no longer exists now (June 2019). The numbers 14 and 16 have succeeded it.
[59] According to the website: www.memorialgenweb.org.
[60] Letter dated May 21, 1945 from Henri Strauss to the Ministry for Prisoners, Deportees and Refugees in Paris. Victims of Contemporary Conflicts dept., Historical Service of the Department of Defense, Caen (document obtained through the Convoi 77 association).
[61] Death certificates of Léon Norbert Strauss and Madeleine Edmonde Geismar dated 13.12.1948, Le Cannet town records; Death certificate of Lydie Strauss dated 03.05.2013, Le Cannet town records; Death certificate of Rosalie Marie Bogusch dated 06.01.1949, Le Cannet town records; letter from lawyers Maîtres Léon Rapp and Jules Weil of October 6, 1947 to the State Prosecutor.
[62] In July 1940, the two heads of the civil administration, Robert Wagner in Alsace and Joseph Bürckel in Moselle, decided to rid Alsace-Moselle of all the “undesirable elements” unworthy of populating Germanic lands: Jews, gypsies, criminals and the incurable. The French and Welschisants were to be expelled to the unoccupied zone. The Jews of Alsace-Moselle had between one and twenty-four hours to prepare for their departure and could only take with them a 45-65lb suitcase and a small amount of money. From Freddy Raphaël : Les Juifs d’Alsace et de Lorraine de 1870 à nos jours, Paris, Albin Michel, 2018.
[63] Jean Kleinmann, “Les politiques antisémites dans les Alpes-Maritimes de 1938 à 1944”, Cahiers de la Méditerranée, 74, 2007 (online).
[64] Jacques Semelin, La survie des juifs en France 1940-1944, Paris, CNRS Editions, 2018.
[65] According to Ms Michèle Merowka, President of the Association for the memory of Jewish people in the Alpes-Maritimes, we cannot find out where Lydie Strauss went to school due to lack of school records in Le Cannet.
[66] Jean Kleinmann, “Les politiques antisémites dans les Alpes-Maritimes de 1938 à 1944”, Cahiers de la Méditerranée, 74, 2007 (online).
[67] Renée Poznanski, Les Juifs en France pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, Paris, CNRS Editions, 2018.
[68] Jean Kleinmann, “Les politiques antisémites dans les Alpes-Maritimes de 1938 à 1944”, Cahiers de la Méditerranée, 74, 2007 (online).
[69] Jacky Dreyfus et Daniel Fuks, Le Mémorial des Juifs du Haut-Rhin, Martyrs de la Shoah, Strasbourg, Jérôme Do Bentzinger, 2006.
[70] Annette Wieviorka et Michel Laffitte, A l’intérieur du camp de Drancy, Paris, Perrin, 2015.
[71] Receipt in the name of Mr. Strauss, Drancy search logbook No 156, receipt No 6441, available on the website of the Shoah Memorial in Paris.
[72] Original list of the deportation convoy available on the website of the Shoah Memorial in Paris.
[73] Albert Broido or Broydo was born in 1905. Arrested on June 27, 1944 and deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, his left arm was tattooed with the number B 3705. He was returned from Buchenwald on April 21, 1945. He was living at, 11 rue du Trésor in Paris in June 1945, and then at 33, Boulevard Saint-Martin in July 1947.
[74] Jacky Dreyfus et Daniel Fuks, Le Mémorial des Juifs du Haut-Rhin, Martyrs de la Shoah, Strasbourg, Jérôme Do Bentzinger, 2006.
[75] Death certificate of Rosalie Marie Bogusch dated 06.01.1949, Le Cannet town records.
[76] According to the note on the birth certificate of Juliette Jeanne Bogusch, Municipal Archives of Gunsbach. The Le Cannet town records has not issued, to date, a death certificate for Juliette Bogusch.
[77] Death certificate of Madeleine Edmonde Geismar dated 13.12.1948, Le Cannet town records.
[78] Death certificate of Lydie Strauss dated 03.05.2013, Le Cannet town records.
[79] Jacky Dreyfus et Daniel Fuks, Le Mémorial des Juifs du Haut-Rhin, Martyrs de la Shoah, Strasbourg, Jérôme Do Bentzinger, 2006.
[80] Death certificate of Léon Norbert Strauss dated 13.12.1948, Le Cannet town records.
[81] Inscription on the Wall of Names. Website of the Shoah Memorial in Paris.
[82] Regarding Juliette Bogusch, it does not seem appropriate to lay a Stolperstein at 13, rue Ernest Meininger in Mulhouse, given that Juliette only lived there for two days.
[83] Witness statement of Françoise Azoulay, daughter of Jeanne Geismar, in Jacky Dreyfus et Daniel Fuks, Le Mémorial des Juifs du Haut-Rhin, Martyrs de la Shoah, Strasbourg, Jérôme Do Bentzinger, 2006.
Contributors(s)
Sigrid GAUMEL, Associate Professor of Geography
