Georgette CHEMLA, 1940 – 1944

INTRODUCTION

First of all, we would like to thank Mr. Richard Avizrat, who lives in Israel, for his valuable help and for the time he devoted to us as we tried to piece together the biographies of his family members (his grandmother, Zakia, and his uncles and aunts, Robert, Huguette, Gilbert and Georgette) who all perished in Auschwitz on August 5, 1944.
Next, we decided to continue this introduction with his interview and our feelings about this very moving conversation.
We felt, following Mr Avizrat’s call, when we learned that his mother had passed away, that he rarely talked about his family and had never asked. Mr. Avizrat had learned about what had happened in school.
Since he lives in Israel, he started his research, at the age of 50, at Yad Vashem (the Israeli Holocaust memorial). He traveled twice to Paris to see a cousin and once to Lyon to do further research. He searched for documents and found some photos at his parents’ home.
The staff at Lyon City Hall and Lyon Police helped him with his research. He thinks of the lives of his deported family as a jigsaw puzzle, and as each day passes there are fewer pieces left to find.

Since 2006 he has never stopped looking for more information about his family, and has read numerous books to help broaden his research.
Finally, taking into account the Covid restrictions, and with the help of the archived documents sent by Mr Serge Jacubert and Ms. Claire Podetti of the Convoy 77 association, whom we would also like to thank, we have done our best to pay tribute to this unfortunate family from Lyon, who had previously lived in Algeria. They left behind just one descendant: Louise Aouizrat, née Chemla, who has continued her research in order to have the status of her parents and siblings recognized. Her father, Moïse, was machine-gunned to death, and the others were deported. It is in part thanks to her tenacity that we now have a lasting tribute to the Chemla family.

 

A HISTORICAL JIGSAW PUZZLE

             

                       

• Surname: CHEMLA
• First name(s): Georgette
• Date of birth: 22/08/1940
• Age in years: 4
• Place of birth: Lyon
• Country or department: France
• Assembly point: Lyon
• Last address: 12, rue de la Bombarde
• Town: Lyon
• Postcode: 69005
• Convoy No.: 77
• Deportation date: 31/07/1944
• Other information: Zakia Chemla and her children, Huguette, Robert, Georgette and Gilbert, were arrested in Lyon on July 8, 1944. Interned at l’Hôpital de l’Antiquaille in Lyon in 1944. Deported with her brothers and sisters and their mother Zakia (born 25/08/1898 in Constantine, Algeria). They were interned and transferred on July 24 to the Drancy camp, where they arrived on July 29. On July 31, 1944, all five were deported to Auschwitz on Convoy 77. Only Louise Chemla, the eldest daughter of Moses and Zakia, survived the war.
• Chemla (Georgette), born on August 22, 1940 in Lyon, France, died on August 5, 1944 in Auschwitz, Poland
• Deported to: Auschwitz
• Deported from: Drancy
• Total number of deportees on the Convoy: 1306
• Number of people gassed on arrival: 726 (55,6 %)
• Survivors in 1945: 204 (15,6 %)

 

We decided to create a biographical profile of Georgette because we were unable to find any photos of her and she was born during the Second World War at the time of the German occupation, even though the city of Lyon was in the Free Zone.
We decided to create a biographical profile of Georgette because we were unable to find any photos of her and she was born during the Second World War at the time of the German occupation, even though the city of Lyon was in the Free Zone.
However, with the help of the Convoy 77 association’s records and Mr. Richard Avizrat, Louise’s son, we were given access to a number of documents such as her personal civil status record and a letter from her aunt, Yasmina Mabitz, requesting that research be carried out to find the survivors and to recognize them as political deportees.

 

             

 

                   

                 

 

                 

 

Our only regret that we were not able to put a face to this child.

 

CONCLUSION

We decided to end the biographies of the Chemla family members, who were deported on Convoy 77, with a brief conclusion including some iconographic images produced by one of the students in our class and a video by Mr. Richard Avizrat, one of the family’s descendants.
This shameful and monstrous period of history has also prompted us to remain vigilant in the face of rising intolerance and discrimination.
Writing the Chemla family biographies has been a wake-up call for us, because it serves as a reminder that we all have families and that we could all have come from different backgrounds.
This should help to change attitudes and to encourage sharing, because as the singer Maxime le Forestier said: “[…] You don’t choose your family […] Being born somewhere, for the person being born – it’s always a matter of luck.
This research has made us aware of the duty to remember and our conversation with Mr. Avizrat has shown us that despite the hatred and violence, trees will always continue to blossom.
We wanted to pay tribute to the deported Chemla family with a more paradisiacal image than that portrayed the introduction and to show that thanks to Louise, the family lineage will continue.
Lastly, there is also a video, produced by Mr. Avizrat, to keep the memory of the family alive.