Biography of Georges J. Harden (1906-1983)

 

Adjacent: Birth certificate, translated into French, with marriage certificate attached. Unfortunately, no photographs are available.

Work carried out by Lauriane BUSTANJI, Master’s student in Archives, 2017-2018, at Paris 8 University, under the supervision of Mme Marie-Anne Matard-Bonucci

Georges Jean Harden was born Jerzy Georges Harden on November 13, 1906 in Odessa, Russia^[1]. His parents were both of Polish origin and were married in a protestant church in Odessa in 1905. His father, Jean Jacob Harden, was a Polish businessman, a protestant, and his mother, Sofia Goïlov, was orthodox. His paternal grandparents were Ignace Harden and Annette Berger and his maternal grandmother was Marie Kremlin. Georges was baptized, soon after his birth, in a protestant Lutheran church in Odessa^[2].

He arrived in France in 1931, having already changed his name. His first known address, in 1938, was 24, rue Boccador in the 8^th district of Paris^[3]. He was naturalized as a French citizen on May 20, 1940, according to Act N°357X39^[4].

Georges married Yolande Boulanger on February 9, 1938. A religious wedding at the protestant church followed the civil ceremony, which was held at the town hall in the 16th district, on rue d’Auteuil. Georges’ father, who was at that time living in Rome, and Yolande’s mother accompanied the couple. Georges was 31 years old at the time, Yolande was 25, and they had signed a marriage contract a few days before with a notary named Estiennes in Asnières^[5].

Yolande’s parents were both French. Her father, Pierre Lucien Boulanger, was an important Government official, the honorary director of the Ministry of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones and a Commander of the Legion of Honour^[6]. Her mother was Marie Élise, née Pittet.

The newly married couple moved into their first apartment at 4, square Jean Paul Laurens, in the 16th district, where they stayed for almost twenty years. They had had two children before Georges’ was deported. The eldest, Philippe, was born on December 7, 1938, at the Belvédère clinic in Boulogne-Billancourt, barely nine months after the couple was married. He studied architecture at the École des Beaux-arts (School of Fine Arts) in Paris in the 1960s, married in Prague in 1971 and died on December 29, 2015, at the age of 77, at Creil in the l’Oise department^[7]. Their second child was born between late 1942 and early 1943 but records do not show whether it was a boy or a girl.

 

The Continental Import Company and the arrest of the Harden couple

 

Georges had been working for the Compagnie Continentale d’Importation

(Continental Import Company) since the mid 1930s. Created in 1919, the company was managed by its chairman, Jules Fribourg and six directors, all of whom were Jews ^[8]. In addition to its headquarters at 8, rue Cambacérès in the 8th district of Paris, it had branches in Marseille and Bordeaux, properties in Morocco and business interests in Spain and Bulgaria^[9]. Its main activity was the import of cereals from overseas, in particular from the French colonies^[10].

Georges continued to work there after the war began because although he had signed up voluntarily for military service he was deemed unfit for duty and therefore would never be called up.^[11]. Until 1940, he was simply an employee of the Company and owned no shares. In April 1940, he was promoted to the position of Managing Director. In June, when Paris was occupied and discriminatory measures against Jews were put in place, the Jewish owners and directors left the company and fled France. Pierre Moussié was appointed Chairman and Managing Director in July but died in March 1941. Georges then took over from him and managed the company until August 1943. Meanwhile, towards the end of 1940, Georges and his non-Jewish colleagues had decided to try to “save [the company] from the clutches of the Germans”. Together with the chief accountant and Albert Collin, one of the other directors, he falsified documents to prove that the sale of shares of former Jewish directors to non-Jewish people had taken place before the decree on economic Aryanization of May 23, 1940. The new major shareholders were Pierre Moussié, Compagnie Continentale du Sud Ouest (located in Bordeaux), the chief accountant Albert Collin and Georges. An attorney named Gide submitted these documents to the General Commissariat for Jewish Affairs and their file was approved in May 1941^[12]. A few shares remained in the names of two former Jewish directors, Lang and Rosenberg, and a Philippe Lebrand was appointed provisional administrator by the General Commissariat for Jewish Affairs (GCJA) in August 1941^[13]. However, the German authorities soon suspected that fraudulent activity had taken place during the transfer of company shares and, in September 1941, the GCJA opened an official inquiry^[14].

Georges had received the vast majority of the shares, nearly 1100, which had enabled him to take up the position of President and Managing Director of the company. While in this role, he tried to keep the company afloat and to help others who were affected by the occupation. In order to safeguard some young people from being drafted into the Compulsory Work Service, he set up a new line of business for the Company: the production of low-fat cheese in the Vendée and Charente-Maritime departments in western France. He thus succeeded in removing these young men from the draft list^[15]. The occupying authorities even agreed to place an order, in February 1943, for 15,000 kg (33,000 pounds) of low-fat cheese^[16]. Georges later testified that none of the agreed deliveries had taken place and that all the produce had gone directly to the Halles market in Paris to be sold to the civilian population^[17]. Unfortunately for him, his position as a manager of the company at the time of these breaches of promise to the German authorities, precisely when the company was under investigation, made him one of the prime suspects.

Georges continued to work and to travel on company business. He made several visa applications for Morocco, Switzerland and Spain, all of which were granted except for the last, which was made in early August 1943 but refused by the German authorities. On August 19 Georges and Yolande were arrested in their home by the SD (the Sicherheitsdienst: the intelligence service of the SS). The janitors, Mr and Mrs Villeguey, were witnesses.^[18]. Several reasons were given for Georges’ arrest: economic sabotage, anti-German propaganda and suspicion of being a covert Jew. It is likely that the authorities arrested Yolande as well because they believed her to be an accessory to her husband. The couple was taken the SD headquarters on rue des Saussaies, and there they were interrogated. They were not charged with any offenses but were nevertheless jailed in Fresnes Prison.^[19].

It is not known whether their children, both of whom were still very young, were in the apartment at the time of the arrest. One of the employees of the Police Headquarters noted that they were sent to relatives in Becheville, which is in Les Mureaux in the Yvelines department. These relatives are referred to by the initials S. and O., which rules out the possibility of them having been the children’s’ grandparents. They were probably an uncle and an aunt, or friends of the couple. As for the apartment, this was sealed up by the SD^[20]. Although it is highly probable that the German authorities looted the Hardens’ belongings, no declaration of property confiscation, request for return of any property or request for reimbursement has been retained in the archives.

Yolande and Georges were held in Fresnes prison for several months, from August to December 1943. Georges later stated that he was “bound by secrecy”, and gave no further details^[21].

Several external sources reported that Yolande was seriously unwell. Even before her arrest, she had been convalescing due to complications with the delivery of her last child^[22]. The Hardens remained in Fresnes prison until December 14, 1943, when they were separated. Yolande was released and Georges was taken to the internment camp at Drancy.

During their imprisonment and Georges’ internment in various French camps, efforts were made to help the couple. His family sought to have the charges against him dropped by providing evidence of his baptism and his parents’ Christian faith. In the autumn of 1943, the senator-mayor of Fontainebleau, a shareholder of the CCI, Mr. Dumesnil, made representations to the authorities on behalf of the couple. He vouched for their Protestant faith and provided information that could have helped them: Yolande’s father’s status as honorary director of the Ministry of P.T.T. and Commander of the Legion of Honour, as well as the age of the couple’s children^[24]. The General Delegation of the French Government in the Occupied Territories was also informed that Georges had no history of political activism and that Yolande was very unwell^[25].

Requests for information were made to the archives departments of the Direction des Renseignements Généraux et des Jeux (Directorate General Information and Games) and of the Cabinet du Préfet (Prefect’s Office) to find out the reasons for their arrest by the German authorities, but nothing incriminating was found. Georges was not known to the Police Judiciaire (Judicial Police) or to the Greffe du Parquet de la Cour de Justice de la Seine (Seine Court of Justice Public Prosecutor’s Office) and his name was not mentioned in any Court records.^[26].

In November 1943, when they had already been imprisoned in Fresnes for a few months, the investigator appointed by the Aryanisation Économique (a department within the General Commissariat for Jewish Affairs that dealt with financial issues), a Mr. Grimpet, submitted his report. This casts doubt on the real reasons for Georges’ arrest. It is possible that the authorities suspected him of being Jewish on account of the trust placed in him by the company’s Jewish directors, who had so rapidly promoted him to the position of Managing Director. However, the Treuhand und Revisionsstelle  (an official escrow and auditing agency) concluded that his arrest was unrelated to the investigation to which he had been subjected^[27]. The French authorities, then, were still “totally” unaware of the reasons for his arrest^[28].

 

Internment in the French camps

 

When Georges arrived at the Drancy camp in December 1943, the French authorities that had previously run the camp had already been replaced, in July of that year, by the SS. The new management, led by the German Aloïs Brunner, was known for its “inflexible determination to deport all of the Jews in France, by deception or by force, to their deaths”^[29]. The internees were sorted into several categories, which determined what would happen to them. The last category of deportees included Jewish spouses of Aryans and half-Jewish people, along with Aryans who had helped Jews^[30]. Georges was included in category A since he was married to an Aryan woman despite the fact that, even though the authorities suspected him of being Jewish, nothing had yet been proven^[31].

Like all the other internees, he was searched on arrival at the camp, and the 3100 francs and 5 Italian pounds he had on him were confiscated^[32]. He was given the serial number 10067 and assigned to one of the camp buildings, initially 18.4 and then in 18.3^[33]. The details of his life in Drancy are unknown. In his testimony in the 1960s, Georges only said that he had participated in the underground mail network in the Drancy camp and for that he had been sentenced to several days in jail. He also names one of his co-detainees, a certain Jean Reich, who was then living in Paris^[34].

His placement in category A meant that he was to be sent to the Camp de la Gare, also known as the Austerlitz Camp^[35]. This was one of the three Parisian camps, Austerlitz, Bassano and Lévitan, where “Opération Meuble” (Operation Furniture) was taking place. The German authorities sent any movable property that they had looted to these camps to be cleaned, repaired if necessary, sorted and packed and then sent out as gifts, either to important people or directly to Germany. These tasks were carried out by category A internees, men and women of all ages with marginal status as spouses of Aryans, wives of prisoners or half-Jews^[36].

Georges stayed there from March to July 1944. On July 17, he was part of a group of Austerlitz internees brought back to Drancy^[37].

In the meantime, the General Commissariat for Jewish Affairs had pursued its investigation into the falsified Aryanization of the Continental Import Company. A bailiff named Guest, and Maurice Loncle, an attorney at the Court of Appeal, had tried to defend Georges and his stake in the company, but in March 1944 the CGQJ declared the transfer of the shares to Georges to be null and void^[38]. Philippe Lebrand was appointed as a temporary administrator of the company on April 14, 1944^[39]. In May 1944, Georges’ colleagues in the company still did not know the motive for his arrest or how long he would be detained for^[40].

 

Deportation to Auschwitz

 

In the summer of 1944, the German authorities knew that the war was lost and that they did not have much time left. Aloïs Brunner decided to devote these last few months to sending convoys from Drancy to the death camps. In order to fill the convoys, he arranged for a large number of internees from the Parisian camps to be sent back to Drancy. These category A internees were individually interrogated by the camp director with the intention of deporting those who could not prove with adequate certainty that they belonged in the special categories. Many were reassigned to category B so that they were eligible to be deported in the final convoys. Georges was one of eleven people from Lévitan and Austerlitz who were returned to Drancy between July 6 and 24 and deported in convoy 77. He would be the sole survivor^[41].  On July 17, he was interrogated by Brunner and put into category B. According to him, it is also possible that this change of status was due in part to the Vichy government having intervened to his disadvantage^[42]. It has not been possible to substantiate this.

Georges was deported to Auschwitz in convoy No. 77, which left Bobigny station on July 31, 1944, with 1350 people on board. On August 2, the convoy arrived in Auschwitz^[43].

Georges was one of a small number of people to be admitted to the camp. A new number was assigned to him, this time tattooed on his skin: B3795^[44]. In a statement that he made shortly after the end of the war it is noted that of the 1350 deported from convoy 77, only 291 men and 60 women entered the camp while the others were killed “in the crematorium”. The children from the U.G.I.F, (l’Union Générale des Israélites de France: a grouping of all Jewish assistance initiatives imposed by the Vichy Government and the German occupying forces) died there too. The only children Georges remembers seeing at Auschwitz were those in a convoy from Lithuania in December 1944. He also said that a non-commissioned officer named Kaduk, who was not a doctor, made a quarterly selection of detainees in the camp. These selections were no doubt linked to the medical experiments that the Nazis conducted on thousands of men, women and children. Georges also states that he was in contact with a group of 500 women used for these experiments, including those on artificial insemination^[45].

As rumors of the Germans’ defeat reached the detainees, Georges became part of the resistance network that was organized in case the Germans tried to destroy the camp before they fled^[46]. The Russian advance liberated the camp before this could happen.

 

Repatriation to France

 

On January 27, 1945, the Russians liberated the Auschwitz camp^[47]. Georges had survived. His repatriation took a little over two months. He passed through Odessa, his birthplace, where he took a boat to Marseille, and finally returned to France on April 5, 1945^[48]. There, he was transferred to the Brébant sorting center and was issued repatriation card N°O.I88.857^[49].

He then weighed 60kg (110 pounds) and in addition to a “fairly healthy bucco-pharynx” and a “prosthesis to be redone”, probably of a dental nature, no other physical problem is indicated on his medical record^[50]. He expressed his wish to return to his home in square Jean Paul Laurens in Paris, where Yolande still lived^[51].

As was the case for many other camp survivors repatriated to France, the Ministry of Prisoners of War, Deportees and Refugees interviewed Georges some time after his return^[52].

 

The official recognition of his deportation

 

In April 1945 he was issued a type A deportation certificate, N°12856, which was confirmed by an administrative decision in June 1948^[53]. He was awarded the status of political deportee after his case was examined in February 1956^[54]. His card is numbered N°110119318^[55]. Yolande also applied for the status of political deportee^[56].

About ten years later, Georges applied for the status of Resistance deportee but was refused because of unmet administrative deadlines and the government’s very strict definitions of acts of resistance^[57].

 

The end of his life

 

After his repatriation, Georges resumed his position as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Continental Import Company, which was renamed La Continentale. He also became a French Foreign Trade Advisor. In his spare time, he was the secretary of the Paris Bridge Club, based at 10, avenue de la Grande Armée^[58].

Between his return to France in 1945 and his death, Georges changed his address several times, but always stayed in the 16th district of Paris. In 1961 he lived at 57, avenue Kléber, in 1966 at 3, avenue Rodin, and in 1983 he was living at 4, boulevard Montmorency^[59]. On March 22, 1983, he died at the Ambroise Paré Hospital in Boulogne-Billancourt at the age of 76^[60].

 

 

Lauriane Bustanji

 

 

Archives

 

Service Historique de la Défense (SHD), Division des Archives des Victimes de Conflits Contemporains (Historical Defense Service, Archives of Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Division)

• AC-21P-623 899, Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre (Department of Veterans Affairs and Victims of War), Dossier Georges Harden.

 

Archives de la Préfecture de Police de Paris (APPP) (Paris Police Prefecture Archives)

• 1W284/65033, Cabinet du Préfet de Police de Paris (Office of the Prefect of Paris Police), Dossier Georges Harden.

 

Archives de Paris (AP) (Paris Archives)

• 16M 278_A, Acte de mariage n°181 Georges Harden et Yolande Boulanger, 9 février 1938. (Marriage certificate N° 181 Georges Harden and Yolande Boulanger, February 9, 1938)
• 16D 267, Acte de décès n°583 Georges Harden, 22 mars 1983 (Death certificate N° 583 Georges Harden, March 22, 1983).

 

Archives Nationales (AN)

• 19800051/354 Ministère de l’Intérieur, Direction générale de Sûreté nationale, fichier de police administrative, Dossier Georges Harden (Ministry of the Interior, Directorate General of National Security, Administrative Police file, Georges Harden’s file)

.

• 19800035/1470/70960, Base Léonore, Dossier Pierre Lucien Boulanger (Léonore database: a French database that lists the records of the members of the National Order of the Legion of Honor, Pierre Lucien Boulanger’s file)
• AJ/38/2728, Dossier 2854 Aryanisation de la Compagnie Continentale d’Importation (Aryanization of the Continental Import Company).
• AJ/52/1354, Registre d’élèves d’architecture à l’École des Beaux-Arts (Register of pupils at the School of Fine Arts in Paris).
• F/9/5585, Ministère des Prisonniers de Guerres, Déportés et Réfugiés, Sous-direction de la documentation et du renseignement, Direction de l’Absent, Témoignage de Georges Harden, [s.d] (Ministry of Prisoners of War, Deportees and Refugees, sub-directorate of documentation and information, Directorate of the Absent, Witness statement of Georges Harden) .^[61]
• F/9/5699, Fichier du Camp de Drancy (Drancy camp records).
• F/9/5783, Cahier de mutation de Drancy, jours pairs du 02.09.43 au [s.d.] (logbook of transfers from Drancy, even-numbered days from 02.09.43 to [..]).
• F/9/5788, Cahier de mutations, cahier d’entrées du 06.07.1944 au 11.08.1944 (logbook of transfers, logbook of arrivals from 06.07.1944 to 11.08.1944.)

 

Mairie de Boulogne-Billancourt (Boulogne-Billancourt town hall)

• État civil (civil status certificate)

 

Mémorial de la Shoah (The Shoah Memorial in Paris)

• MDCCVII, Carnet de fouille du camp de Drancy n°43 (notebook of Drancy camp search No 43)

 

 

Bibliography

 

WIEVIORKA Annette, Les biens des internés des camps de Drancy, Pithiviers et Beaune-la-Rolande, Paris, La Documentation française, 2000.

 

DREYFUS Jean-Marc et Sarah GENSBURGER, Des camps dans Paris. Austerlitz, Lévitan, Bassano. Juillet 1943-août 1944, Paris, Fayard, 2003.

^[1] Service historique de la défense, AC-21P-623 899, Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre Dossier Georges Harden (Historical Defense Service, AC-21P-623 899, Department of Veterans Affairs and Victims of War, Georges Harden’s file); Archives de la Préfecture de Police de Paris 1 W 284-65033, Cabinet du Préfet de Police, Dossier Georges Jerzy Harden (Archives of the Prefecture of Paris Police 1 W 284-65033, Office of the Prefect of Police, Georges Jerzy Harden file).

^[2] SHD, AC-21P-623 899, Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden, Témoignage de Georges Harden, s.d. [c. 1966] (Department of Veterans Affairs and Victims of War, witness statement of Georges Harden); Archives Nationales, AJ/38/2728, Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives, Dossier 2854 Aryanisation de la Compagnie Continentale d’Importation, Rapport de la Section 5C sur la CCI du 22 avril 1943 (National Archives, AJ/38/2728, General Commissariat for Jewish Affairs, Dossier 2854 Aryanisation of the Continental Import Company, Report of Section 5C of the CIC dated April 22, 1943).

^[3] Archives de Paris, 6M 278_A, Acte de mariage n°181 Georges Harden et Yolande Boulanger, 9 février 1938 (Paris Archives, 6M 278_A, Marriage Certificate n°181 Georges Harden and Yolande Boulanger, February 9 1938).

^[4] SHD, AC-21P-623 899, Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden, Acte de naturalisation n°357X39 Georges Jean Harden (Department of Veterans Affairs and Victims of War, Georges Harden’s file, Naturalization act N°357X39 Georges Jean Harden) ; APPP, 1 W 284-65033, Cabinet du Préfet de Police, Dossier Georges Jerzy Harden, Rapport du Préfet de Police à l’Ambassadeur de France, Secrétaire d’État auprès du Chef du Gouvernement, Délégué Général du Gouvernement Français dans les Territoires Occupés du 4 novembre 1943 (Office of the Prefect of Police, Georges Jerzy Harden file, Report of the Prefect of Police to the French Ambassador, Secretary of State to the Head of Government, Delegate General of the the Government of the French in the Occupied Territories, dated November 4, 1943).

^[5] AP, 6M 278_A, Acte de mariage n°181 (Marriage Certificate N°181) ; AN, AJ/38/2728, Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives, Dossier 2854 Aryanisation de la Compagnie Continentale d’Importation, Rapport de la Section 5C sur la CCI du 22 avril 1943 (National Archives, AJ/38/2728, General Commissariat for Jewish Affairs, Dossier 2854 Aryanisation of the Continental Import Company, Report of Section 5C of the CIC dated April 22, 1943). Le père de Georges vit au 14 Via Michel Marcati à Rome, et sa mère est déjà décédée L’original du contrat de mariage est actuellement détenu par l’étude Lévi-Martin et Truffet, 95 avenue de la Marne, 92600 Asnières-sur-Seine (Georges’ father lived at 14 Via Michel Marcati in Rome and his mother had already died. The original marriage contract is currently held at the office of Levi-Martin and Truffet, 95 Avenue de la Marne, 92600 Asnières-sur-Seine).

^[6] AN, 19800035/1470/70960, Base Léonore, Dossier Pierre Lucien Boulanger (Léornore database, Pierre Lucien Boulanger file).

^[7] État-civil de la Mairie de Boulogne-Billancourt, 92104 (Civil status certificate from the town hall of Boulogne-Billancourt, 92014); AN, AJ/52/1354, Registre des élèves d’architecture aux Beaux-Arts (Register of pupils studying architecture at the School of Fine Arts).

^[8] AN, AJ/38/2728, Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives, Dossier 2854 Aryanisation de la Compagnie Continentale d’Importation, Lettre de Mr De Bavinchore, Service du Contrôle des Administrateurs Provisoires, du 2 septembre 1941 (National Archives, AJ/38/2728, General Commissariat for Jewish Affairs, Dossier 2854 Aryanisation of the Continental Import Company, Letter from Mr De Bavinchore, Control Service of Provisional Administrators, 1943.

^[9] AN, AJ/38/2728, Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives, Dossier 2854 Aryanisation de la Compagnie Continentale d’Importation, Extrait du procès-verbal de la séance du Conseil d’Administration de la Compagnie Continentale d’Importation du 10 mars 1941 (General Commissariat for Jewish Affairs, Dossier 2854 Aryanisation of the Continental Import Company, Extract of Minutes of the meeting of the General Administration board of the Continental Import Company dated March 10 1941).

^[10] AN, AJ/38/2728, Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives, Dossier 2854 Aryanisation de la Compagnie Continentale d’Importation, Lettre de Philippe Lebrand au CGQJ du 13 juillet 1944 (General Commissariat for Jewish Affairs, Dossier 2854 Aryanisation of the Continental Import Company, letter from Philippe Lebrand to the CGQJ dated July 13, 1944).

^[11] APPP, 1 W 284-65033, Cabinet du Préfet de Police, Dossier Georges Jerzy Harden (see above), Note n°10.762 D

^[12] SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden, Témoignage de Georges Harden, s.d. [c. 1966] ; AN, AJ/38/2728, Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives, Dossier 2854 Aryanisation de la Compagnie Continentale d’Importation,  Lettre de Philippe Lebrand au CGQJ du 13 juillet 1944 (see above).

^[13] AN, AJ/38/2728, Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives, Dossier 2854 Aryanisation de la Compagnie Continentale d’Importation,  Lettre de Philippe Lebrand au CGQJ du 13 juillet 1944 (see above).

^[14] AN, AJ/38/2728, Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives, Dossier 2854 Aryanisation de la Compagnie Continentale d’Importation, Lettre de Mr De Bavinchore, Service du Contrôle des Administrateurs Provisoires, du 2 septembre 1941 (see above).

^[15] SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden, Témoignage de Georges Harden, s.d. [c. 1966] (see above).

^[16] AN, 19800051/354, Ministère de l’Intérieur, Direction générale de Sûreté nationale, Fichier de police administrative, Dossier Georges Harden, Lettre de la Compagnie Continentale d’Importation au Commandant Militaire en France, État-Major Administratif, Section Économique, du 22 février 1943 (Ministry of the Interior, Director General of National Security, Police administrative file, Georges Harden, letter from the Continental Import Company to the Military Commander of France, Economic Section, dated February 22, 1943).

^[17] SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden, Témoignage de Georges Harden, s.d. [c. 1966] (see above); Attestations de témoins du 9 mars 1948. Ses collègues Albert Collin, Georges Coulongeon et Roger Dioudonnat confirment cela en 1948 (Witness statements dated March 9, 1948. Georges’ colleagues Albert Collin, Georges Coulongeon and Roger Dioudonnat confirmed this in 1948.).

^[18] Their arrest is just one of several examples of the SD’s zeal at the time, in that it was carried out very rapidly, based on mere suspicion and without the French authorities even being aware of it. Over a week later, they still had not yet been informed, as evidenced by the fact that the Police Commissioner and the Ministry of the Interior approved Georges final visa application, between August 23 and September 1. AN, 19800051/354, Ministère de l’Intérieur, Direction générale de Sûreté nationale, Fichier de police administrative, Dossier Georges Harden, Lettre du Préfet de Police au Ministre Secrétaire d’État à l’Intérieur, à la Direction Générale de la Police Nationale et au Préfet Délégué du Secrétariat Général à la Police du 4 août 1943 ((Ministry of the Interior, Director General of National Security, Police administrative file, Georges Harden, letter from the Prefect of Police to the Minister, Secretary of State for the Interieur to the Prefect delegate of the General Secretariat of Police, dated August 4 1943); Attestation du Préfet de Police pour un visa aller-retour pour la Suisse du 23 août 1943  (Statement of Prefect of Police for a return visa for Switzerland, dated August 23, 1943); Attestation du Ministre de l’Intérieur pour un visa aller-retour pour la Suisse du 1er septembre 1944 (Similar statement from the Ministry of the Interior).

^[19] SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden, Demande d’attribution du titre de déporté politique (Department of Veterans Affairs and Victims of War, Georges Harden’s file, application for the status of political deportee).

^[20] APPP, 1 W 284-65033, Cabinet du Préfet de Police, Dossier Georges Jerzy Harden, Note n°10.762 D (see above).

^[21] SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden, Témoignage de Georges Harden, s.d. [c. 1966] (see above).

^[22] APPP, 1 W 284-65033, Cabinet du Préfet de Police, Dossier Georges Jerzy Harden, Note n°10.762 D (see above).

^[23] Fresnes Prison records about the prisoners of the German authorities are unfortunately very limited, since many were either destroyed or taken away by the Germans during the liberation. It is therefore impossible to determine what the Hardens experienced during their imprisonment in Fresnes. SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden, Demande d’attribution du titre de déporté politique (see above).

^[24] SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden, Note manuscrite de Mr Dumesnil du 12 octobre 1943 (see above, handwritten note by Mr Dumesnil dated October 12, 1943).

^[25] SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden, Note interne pour Mr de Soubeyran, secrétaire général de la Délégation Générale du Gouvernement Français dans les Territoires Occupés, du 23 août 1943 (see above, internal memo to Mr de Soubeyran dated August 23, 1943).

^[26] APPP, 1 W 284-65033, Cabinet du Préfet de Police, Dossier Georges Jerzy Harden, Note n°6/117 du Cabinet du Préfet du 26 juillet 1950 (see above, note from the Prefect’s office dated July 26, 1950).

^[27] AN, AJ/38/2728, Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives, Dossier 2854 Aryanisation de la Compagnie Continentale d’Importation, Rapport d’enquête de Georges Grimpet sur la Compagnie Continentale d’Importation du 4 novembre 1943 (see above, report on Georges Grimpet’s inquiry into the Continental Import Company dated November 4, 1943).

^[28] APPP, 1 W 284-65033, Cabinet du Préfet de Police, Dossier Georges Jerzy Harden, Note n°10.762 D (see above).

^[29] Annette WIEVIORKA, Les biens des internés des camps de Drancy, Pithiviers et Beaune-la-Rolande, Paris, La Documentation française, 2000, p. 35.

^[30] Jean-Marc DREYFUS et Sarah GENSBURGER, Des camps dans Paris. Austerlitz, Lévitan, Bassano. Juillet 1943-août 1944, Paris, Fayard, 2003, p.78.

^[31] SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden, Témoignage de Georges Harden, s.d. [c. 1966] ; AN, F/9/5699, Fichier du Camp de Drancy, Fiche de Georges Harden (see above).

^[32] To date, much of the money and property of which the internees were dispossessed under the German administration in Drancy has never been recovered. It is clear that they were not dealt with by the French administrative system, thus probably sent to Germany or taken away by the SS when they fled. Mémorial de la Shoah, MDCCVII, Carnet de fouille du camp de Drancy n°43 (see above, logbook N°43 of findings of a search of Drancy camp); WIEVIORKA, Les biens des internés, p. 36

^[33] AN, F/9/5699, Fichier du Camp de Drancy, Fiche de Georges Harden.

^[34] SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden, Témoignage de Georges Harden, s.d. [c. 1966] (see above).

^[35] This was on the banks of the Seine river, in the 13th district beside the Grands Moulins building, where a Paris University 7 building now stands. SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, dossier Georges Harden (see above, application for the status of political deportee)

^[36] DREYFUS et GENSBURGER, Des camps dans Paris.

^[37] SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden, (see above, application for the title of political deportee).

^[38] AN, AJ/38/2728, Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives, Dossier 2854 Aryanisation de la Compagnie Continentale d’Importation, Déclaration de nullité des ventes d’actions de la Compagnie Continentale d’Importation à Georges Harden ; Lettre de Philippe Lebrand à [s.n.] du 5 août 1944 (see above); Lettre de Me Maurice Loncle au Directeur Général de l’Aryanisation Économique au CGQJ du 11 juillet 1944 (Letter from Me Maurice Loncie to the Director General of Economic Aryanization at the CGQJ, dated July 11, 1944); Lettre de Philippe Lebrand au CGQJ du 13 juillet 1944 (Letter from Philippe Lebrand to the CGQJ dated July 13, 1944).

^[39] AN, AJ/38/2728, Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives, Dossier 2854 Aryanisation de la Compagnie Continentale d’Importation, Lettre de Philippe Lebrand au CGQJ du 13 juillet 1944 (see above).

^[40] AN, AJ/38/2728, Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives, Dossier 2854 Aryanisation de la Compagnie Continentale d’Importation, Lettre de P. Mariotte, Directeur général de la Compagnie Continentale d’Importation, au Commissaire Général aux Questions Juives du 22 mai 1944 (see above, letter from P. Mariotte, chairman of the Continental Import Company, to the General Commissariat for Jewish Affairs, dated May 22, 1944).

^[41] DREYFUS et GENSBURGER, Des camps dans Paris, p. 255.

^[42] SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden, Témoignage de Georges Harden, s.d. [c. 1966] ; AN, F/9/5699, Fichier du Camp de Drancy, Fiche de Georges Harden (see above).

^[43] SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden, Demande d’attribution du titre de déporté politique (see above).

^[44] Ibid. The Bad Arolsen database, which lists the records of Auschwitz registration numbers, contains no file in Georges’ name that matches this number.

^[45] AN, F/9/5585, Ministère des Prisonniers de Guerres, Déportés et Réfugiés, Sous-direction de la documentation et du renseignement, Direction de l’Absent, (see above, witness statement of Georges Harden).

^[46] SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden, Témoignage de Georges Harden, s.d. [c. 1966]. Il nomme le Dr Jacques Greif, vice-président de l’Association des Anciens d’Auschwitz, comme témoin de ces faits (see above. Georges names Dr Jacques Greif, vice-president of the Association of Auschwitz victims).

^[47] SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden, (see above, application for the title of political deportee).

^[48] SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden, Témoignage de Georges Harden, s.d. [c. 1966] ; AN, F/9/5699, Fichier du Camp de Drancy, Fiche de Georges Harden (see above).

^[49] SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden, Lettre de R. Pasqualini à Georges E. Harden du 3 mars 1964 ; Lettre de Mr. Martin, Chef du Bureau des Fichiers et de l’État-civil-Déportés, à [s.n.] du 12 septembre 1955 (see above, letter from R. Pasqualini to Georges E. Harden, dated March 3, 1964 and letter from Mr Martin, Head of the department of Files and civil status certificates of deportees, dated September 12, 1955.  Mr Pasqualini’s letter is addressed to someone else of the same name whose second forename begins with an E, but the information within it refers to Georges Jean Harden).

^[50] SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden, (see above, medical records [c. avril 1945].

^[51] Ibid.

^[52] AN, F/9/5585, Ministère des Prisonniers de Guerres, Déportés et Réfugiés, Sous-direction de la documentation et du renseignement, Direction de l’Absent, Témoignage de Georges Harden (see above).

^[53] SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden (see above).

^[54] Ibid.

^[55] Ibid.

^[56] Ibid, Dossier de Georges Harden, Dossier de Yolande Harden (see above, files of Georges Harden and Yolande Harden).

^[57] SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden, Lettre de Mr Hivernaud à Raymond Valenet du 12 septembre 1967. Mr Valenet est député de Seine-Saint-Denis et Maire de Gagny, et Mr Hivernaud est Chef de Cabinet au Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre (see above, letter from Mr Hivernaud to Raymond Valenet dated September 12, 1967. Mr Valenet was the congressman for Seine-Saint-Denis and the Mayor of Gagny and Mr Hivernaud was the head of the office of the Department of Veterans Affairs and Victims of War).

^[58] APPP, 1 W 284-65033, Cabinet du Préfet de Police, Dossier Georges Jerzy Harden, Dossier de candidature au poste de Conseiller du Commerce Extérieur du 15 mai 1961 (see above, application for the position of Foreign Trade Advisor, dated May 15, 1961).

^[59] SHD, AC-21P-623 899,  Ministère des Anciens Combattants et Victimes de Guerre, Dossier de Georges Harden ; APPP, 1 W 284-65033, Cabinet du Préfet de Police, Dossier Georges Jerzy Harden ; AP, 16D276, Acte de décès n°583 de Georges Jean Harden (see above, death certificate N° 583, Georges Jean Harden)

^[60] AP, 16D276, Acte de décès n°583 de Georges Jean Harden (death certificate N° 583, Georges Jean Harden).

^[61] La série F9 des Archives Nationales est exceptionnellement conservée au Mémorial de la Shoah (the F9 series of the National Archives is the only one to be kept at the Shoah Memorial).