Roger WEILL, 1924 – 1945

Photograph from the Shoah Memorial in Paris.

Reference: MXII_2558.jpg; Source: Shoah Memorial in Paris, André Weill collection

This biography was written by Sigrid Gaumel, Associate Professor of Geography

The spelling of Roger’s surname differs according to the source documents. Hence, on Roger’s birth and death certificates, his name is spelled Weil. Similarly, on the birth and death certificates of Roger’s father, Benny, known as Henri, the name is also spelled Weil. On the other hand, the name Weill is used in the list of people deported on Convoy 77, on the Shoah Memorial and Arolsen Archives websites, in René Gutman’s book[1], and on the tombstones of Roger’s parents, Henri and Hélène, at the Rosenwiller cemetery. In this biography, we shall use the name Weill.

Childhood and adolescence in Valff and then in Barr, in the Bas-Rhin department of France (1924-1939)

Roger Weill was born on June 26, 1924 at the Maison de Santé des Diaconesses health center[2] in Strasbourg, in the Bas-Rhin (Lower-Rhine) department of France[3]. His parents were Benny, known as Henri (Heinrich) Weill, born October 2, 1897 in Walf (currently Valff)[4], a horse dealer, and Hélène (Helena) Weill née Rees, born June 1,1903 in Sultz unterm Wald (now Soultz-sous-Forêts)[5], who did not work outside the home. Both were born during the annexation and attachment of the Alsace-Moselle region to the German Reich, which dated from the Treaty of Frankfurt, signed on May 10, 1871. In 1924, the year of Roger’s birth, Alsace-Moselle was French; it had been restored to France by the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919. After 1919, people’s first and last names, as well as place names, were “Frenchified”.

Roger Weill’s parents were married on September 3, 1923 in Soultz-sous-Forêts[6], a village located around 10 miles to the north of Haguenau, in the north of the Bas-Rhin department. They lived at 235, rue Meyer[7], in the little village of Valff, around 19 miles south west of Strasbourg, on the Alsace plains. Henri Weill built a house and a large barn there (opposite the gendarmerie, the local police station). He was a horse trader[8]. He had an older brother, Reinhard Weill, born on March 9, 1895 in Valff[9]. By the mid 19th century, the Jewish population of Valff had reached a peak of almost 140 people. From this date onwards, the numbers declined: there were 90 in 1885, 65 in 1900 and 50 in 1905[10]. It is not known whether or not Roger’s father, Henri Weill, fought in the First World War[11].

Roger’s maternal grandparents were Léopold Rees, a storekeeper, who was born on March 1, 1872 in Sulz unterm Wald (Soultz-sous-Forêts)[12] and Caroline Rees, née Lévy, born on March 29 1867 at Drachenbronn[14]. In 1903 they were living in Soultz-sous-Forêts[15]. His paternal grandparents were Meyer Weill, born in about 1857 and died on December 15, 1913 in Valff[16] His tomb is in the cemetery in Rosenwiller, Bas-Rhin[17], and Cécile Weill, née Lévy. They were all of the Jewish faith[18].

Hélène Rees, Roger’s mother, had an older sister, Frida Rees, who born March 22, 1895 in Drachenbronn[19] who was married on January 25, 1921 in the 11^th district of Paris[20] to Maurice Lévy, born December 19, 1890 in Fontainebleau in the Seine-et-Marne department[21]; an older brother, Paul Rees, born on May 9, 1902 in Sulz unterm Wald (Soultz-sous-Forêts) [22], who married Irène Michel on October 13, 1927 at Lohr in the Moselle department[23] and a younger sister, Irma Rees, born April 20 1905 in Sulz unterm Wald (Soultz-sous-Forêts)[24].

Roger had a younger brother, André Charles Weill, officially born on December 25, 1925 in Valff[25]. André was actually born on December 26, 1925 just after midnight, but the midwife declared his birth as December 25 so that he would be a “Christkindel”, a Christmas child[26]. Roger’s mother, Hélène, “was very beautiful, with black hair” as was her husband Henri, “yet her two sons were redheads”[27]. By a judgment ratifying a decree, transcribed on April 14, 1926, Hélène Weill was granted the right to use the surname Reins[28].

Roger et André Weill went to the primary school in Valff. “They did not attend the Catholic religious instruction, taught each morning between 8 and 9 o’clock. Roger was an intelligent boy. One day, the frustrated schoolmaster, Louis Gugumus,[29] decided to punish each pupil with two blows on the hand. Courageously, Roger stood up to protest, reminding the teacher that it was forbidden to hit innocent pupils. He was not reprimanded, but was forced to copy, several hundred times, a moralistic sentence concocted by Gugumus”[30].

In 1935, there were only two Jewish families and two single Jews living in Valff [31]. Services were no longer held at the synagogue in the center of Valff; the Jewish temple was in a deplorable state. The final service was held there on November 3, 1935[32].

The synagogue in Valff was decommissioned on March 22, 1936 during a special ceremony[33]. All of the Jews in Valff and the surrounding area were present, along with some Christians. The parish priest, father Faller, the local mayor, Charles Riegler, and the schoolteacher, Louis Gugumus, represented the community. André Voegel remembers the ceremony: “Since there were too many people present, a large crowd had to follow the event from outside. The ceremony was presided over by Rabbi Bloch from Barr, who in his sermon expressed his sorrow at the abandonment of the Maison de Dieu de Valff , (the House of God in Valff) which had witnessed births, marriages and deaths, and shared the joys and sorrows of the Jewish people of Valff for a hundred years. The huge Torah scrolls left Valff for the synagogue in Barr. At the end of the ceremony, a prayer was said for the salvation of France”[34] The synagogue building, located at 182, rue Principale, was then sold to a farmer and used as an agricultural barn[35].

At the end of 1935 or in 1936, the Weill family left Valff and moved to the small market town of Barr, located about 4 miles southwest of Valff in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains[36]. Roger Weill, who was 12 years old in 1936, lived with his parents at 28 rue du Général Vandenberg in Barr[37]. In 1937, the religious ceremony of Bar Mitzvah marked Roger’s religious coming of age (at the age of 13)[38]. Roger, surrounded by his family, wore a big smile on his face at the ceremony[39].

At the time of the 1936 census, the municipality of Barr had a population of 4,389. On the eve of the war in 1939, there were 41 Jewish families in Barr: 111 people, made up of 47 men and 64 women, including 14 children under the age of 16 and 15 people over 70. 17 people were natives of Barr, while 13 were from Zellwiller, 8 from Valff, 6 from Itterswiller, 3 from Stotzheim, 2 from Epfig, 4 from Obernai, 3 from Niedernai, 6 from Strasbourg, and 49 from the rest of Alsace[31]. In 1939, just before the Second World War, approximately 25,000 Jews were living in Alsace[41].

The beginning of the war and the escape to the free zone (1939-1940)

On September 1, 1939, the German army invaded Poland. On September 3, 1939, France and England declared war on Germany. All the villages in Alsace (and Moselle) near the German border, ahead of the Maginot Line, as well as the city of Strasbourg, had to be evacuated. The population, including about 20,000 Jews in Alsace, was evacuated to the host departments in the southwest of France, which had been determined in advance under the evacuation plan.

The offensive launched by the German army on May 10, 1940 on the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg put an end to the phony war. The armistice, signed on June 22, 1940 with Germany and on June 24, 1940 with Italy, came into effect on June 25, 1940. France was divided into two zones: the German-occupied zone in the north and the so-called “free” zone in the south, managed by the Vichy government. Alsace-Moselle was de facto annexed and attached to the German Reich and, according to Nazi doctrine, had to be made Judenrein, which means cleared of any Jewish presence[42].

The time allowed for the Jews of Alsace and Moselle to prepare for their eviction varied, depending on the locality, from one to twenty-four hours. They were only allowed to take with them one bag weighing about 45 to 65 pounds (20 to 30 kg) and a small sum of money[43]. In three days, from July 14 to 16, 1940, 3-4,000 Jews from Alsace were loaded into German trucks and released on the other side of the demarcation line, in the southern zone, known as the free zone[44]. Private and commercial property belonging to the evicted people was confiscated. The goods and real estate that had been seized were then sold off by a specially created agency, the Office de liquidation des biens juifs (Office for the liquidation of Jewish property), which auctioned them off[45].

The Weill family probably left Barr in 1940 (rather than in 1942, as stated in the testimony of André Weill, Roger’s brother)46]. They moved to Gap, in the Hautes-Alpes department, which was in the free zone.

André Weill states: “In a car lent to us by a friend, my parents, my brother and I travelled down to Gap, where my father knew a certain police officer. When we arrived there, our first priority was to find accommodation. Accompanied by the gendarme, we went door to door, but had no luck. When we came to a church, our companion asked my parents to wait a moment and went inside. Although he was hearing confession, a priest came out, leaving his parishioners behind, to meet us. “We are looking for a place to stay,” my father explained. “That’s fine, I happen to have a small apartment; it’s not luxurious, but it might do the job” said the priest.

My mother, somewhat uncomfortable, thought it best to point out: “You know, there is a problem: we are Jews. “But, Madam… I have no problem with that, we all have the same God!” exclaimed the priest. With that, he took us to a small apartment that was adjacent to a room in which a mother and her handicapped son lived, with whom we had excellent neighborly relations. Even as regards the rent, the priest was accommodating. “You just pay me when you can,” he added, even though the rent was already quite low. I will always be grateful to this unprejudiced priest.”[47]

Roger’s aunt, Frida Lévy née Rees, and her husband, Maurice Lévy, a lace merchant[48] lived in Calais, in the Pas-de-Calais department before the war. They had two children, Marcel Lévy[49] and Fanny Josette Levy, born on September 8, 1923 at 78 rue des Quatre coins in Calais[50]. During the war, the Lévy family lived in Rivesaltes, about 8 miles north of Perpignan in the Pyrénées-Orientales department. Maurice Lévy was appointed by Jean Villeroux as the departmental head of military intelligence to the Allies in order to lead the secret army set up in Rivesaltes[51].

Laurent Ribero, a member of the Resistance who was in charge of organizing the secret army in the Salvezines area of the department of Aude, testified: “One day a Resistance fighter named Lévy, who was liaising with Jean Villeroux in Rivesaltes, brought me a message from Mrs. Villeroux asking me to go and get her husband back from Cases de Pène (in the Pyrénées-Orientales department) where he had taken refuge after the Gestapo descended on his home”[52]. Laurent Ribero probably refers to Maurice Lévy.

Maurice and Frida Lévy were arrested by the Gestapo at Rivesaltes on May 23, 1943. Interned first at the Gurs camp, then at Drancy, they were deported to Auschwitz on Convoy 60 on October 7, 1943[53]. They died on October 12, 1943 in Auschwitz[54].

Roger joined a resistance network and was then arrested in Lyon, tortured and interned

It is difficult to retrace Roger Weill’s life with any accuracy. According to the Yad Vashem record completed by his brother, André Weill[55], Roger lived in Alès (in the Gard department of the Languedoc-Roussillon region), in Les Arcs-sur-Argens (in the Var department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region), and in Saint-Alyre-d’Arlanc (in the Puy-de-Dôme department of the Auvergne region).

In 1942, Roger Weill joined the Brutus network of the Resistance. He was appointed second lieutenant of the Brutus network at the age of 18[56] (in 1942), and carried out covert operations.

The Brutus network stemmed from the Lucas network, which was founded in Marseille, in the free zone, in September 1940 by Pierre Fourcaud, alias Lucas, an officer commissioned by General De Gaulle to set up an intelligence network for the Free French. In 1941, Pierre Fourcaud made contact with socialists in Marseille, including Felix Gouin, André Boyer, Gaston Defferre and Eugène Thomas, a delegate of the Socialist Action Committee. The network expanded to the Toulouse region. Pierre Fourcaud was arrested in August 1941; his brother Boris Fourcaud, alias Froment, succeeded him as leader of the network, which was renamed Froment. The network was involved in both intelligence and jailbreaking. In 1942, the intelligence activity was expanded into the occupied zone.

In June 1942, the organizers, Boris Fourcaud, André Boyer and Gaston Defferre, discussed the idea of forming an organization that would bring together representatives of political parties, resistance movements and trade unions, and would be responsible for uniting the role and actions of the Resistance. The project submitted to London was rejected, but it paved the way for the future CNR (Conseil National de la Résistance, or National Resistance Council).

In February 1943, André Boyer, alias Brémond or Brutus, took over the leadership of the network, which was renamed Brutus. The Brutus network, whose headquarters were set up in Lyon, now extended to the entire country, including the northern zone. The network had more than 1000 approved agents. At the end of 1943, the network was decimated by the arrest and deportation of its key leaders, including André Boyer[57].

Roger Weill’s last known address was 82[58] or 84[59] quai Perrache, in the 2^nd district of Lyon. Roger, after having been turned in[60], was arrested by the Gestapo in Lyon on July 6, 1944[61]. He was incarcerated and tortured in the German prison of Fort Montluc in the 3rd district of Lyon. According to André Weill, “as Roger was using a false identity, the Germans undressed him to see if he was circumcised. If the Germans had known that he was a Resistance fighter, they would have shot him on the spot”[62]. Roger was therefore arrested because he was a Jew, rather than as a member of the Resistance.

Roger was deported to Auschwitz, then transferred to Mauthausen and to Gusen

Roger Weill was probably transported by train from Lyon to the Drancy transit camp. He was deported on July 31, 1944 on Convoy 77 from Drancy to the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp[63]. He appears to have stayed in Auschwitz for about 6 months.

Starting on January 17, 1945, as the Soviet army approached, the Nazis evacuated the Auschwitz camp. 58,000 prisoners[64], including Roger Weill, were flung out onto the roads. This was the beginning of the “death marches”. The prisoners walked for about 3 days and 2 nights in the snow and cold, most of them barefoot in wooden galoshes and wearing only thin rags[65]. They were then transferred by freight cars, in some cases open, to camps inside German territory. Roger arrived at the Mauthausen camp in Upper Austria on January 25, 1945 and was registered under the number 121,436[66]. On one of the camp records for Roger Weill (stamped January 25, 1945), it is written “Autoschlosser” (car body worker). This means that Roger was forced to do hard labor at production sites, possibly for the Austrian car manufacturer Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG.

Roger Weill was transferred to the Gusen camp, near Mauthausen, on February 16, 1945. He died on February 17, 1945, at the age of 20, in the Gusen camp[67].

What became of Roger’s relatives after 1945

After the war, the Weill family returned to Barr, in the Bas-Rhin department. André Weill, who married Suzanne Henriette Grosz[68] from Stotzheim, also in the Bas-Rhin department[69], testified : “We never heard anything more of Roger” after he was deported from Drancy[70].

Roger’s father, Henri Weill, died on March 26, 1947 at 1, place de l’Hôpital at Barr[71] at the age of 49. Roger’s mother, Hélène Weill née Rees, died on July 8, 1948 at her home on rue du Général Vandenberg in Barr[72] at the age of 45. Their graves are in the Jewish cemetery of Rosenwiller, also in the Bas-Rhin department[73].

On April 19, 1948, Louis Braun of the Conseil Juridique (Legal Affairs Office), at 3, rue de Bruges in Strasbourg, asked the Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs and Victims of War, in the name of Roger Weill’s mother, to issue a missing person’s certificate[74]. He attached to his request a letter from the Service Européen des Recherches des juifs déportés et dispersés (European Research Service for Deported and Dispersed Jews), dated January 27, 1948, confirming that Roger Weill had been deported from Drancy on July 31, 1944, to Auschwitz-Birkenau, and that his name did not appear on the lists of liberated deportees[75].

Roger Weill’s brother, André Weill, who lived on rue du Général Vandenberg in Barr, made a request on November 28, 1950, to the Ministry of Veterans and Victims of War, in order to have Roger Weill’s civil status changed to “non-returned”, since he had never come home after the war[76].

On February 6, 1951, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs and Victims of War ruled that Roger Weill had disappeared in the following circumstances: “Interned at Drancy. Deported to Auschwitz (Poland) on the convoy that left Drancy on July 31, 1944. Transferred to Mauthausen where he arrived on January 25, 1945, then to Gusen on February 16, 1945. No news since”[77]

In a judgment dated May 22, 1951, the Civil Court of Colmar declared that Roger Weill had died on February 17, 1945[78]. Roger Weill’s death certificate mentions “Died during deportation” without specifying the place of death[79]. The decree of the Ministry of Defense dated January 18, 2002, which also includes the words “Died during deportation”, states that Roger Weill died “on February 17, 1945 (with no further details)”[80].

André Weill became director of the Remington factory (an electric razor factory with 340 employees) in Huttenheim, near Benfeld, in the Bas-Rhin department[81], and then left for Canada and the United States. He then moved back to France, to Nancy, in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department where, before he retired, he ran a hardware store[82]. André Weill died on January 22, 2014 in Nancy[83]. His body rests in the Jewish cemetery at 2 avenue de Boufflers, Nancy Préville[84].

 

Memorial sites and commemorative projects

Roger Weill’s name appears on the Wall of Names at the Shoah Memorial in Paris[85], as do those of Maurice Lévy and Frida Lévy. The names of Maurice Lévy and Frida Lévy also appear on a commemorative plaque in the South Calais cemetery and on a monument in Coulogne, also in the Pas-de-Calais department[86].

The memorials in the Jewish cemeteries of Cronenbourg, Strasbourg, and Rosenwiller do not, however, mention the name Roger Weill. In the municipality of Barr, there is no commemorative plaque or monument to the dead paying tribute to the 25 Jewish deportees from Barr who perished in the Nazi camps[87].

In memory of Roger Weill, a small paving stone known as a Stolperstein, designed by the German artist Gunter Demnig, could be installed in front of his former home at 28, rue du Général Vandenberg in Barr.

Note: Some photos of Roger Weill and his family (his parents Henri Weill and Hélène Weill née Reins, his brother André Weill) can be found on the website about the history of the village of Valff[88] and also in the Buchdahl family tree[89].

Biography completed on January 30, 2021and amended on June 30, 2021.

References

[1] René Gutman, Le Memorbuch, Mémorial de la Déportation et de la Résistance des Juifs du Bas-Rhin, Strasbourg, La Nuée bleue, 2006.

[2] Les Diaconesses de Strasbourg is a protestant religious community still active in Strasbourg.

[3] Complete copy of Roger Weill’s birth certificate, Strasbourg City Hall.

[4] Henri Weill’s birth certificate, Bas-Rhin departmental archives, Bas-Rhin departmental archives, online, 4 E 504/17.

[5]  Hélène Rees’ birth certificate, Bas-Rhin departmental archives, online, 4 E 474/36.

[6] Note on the full copy of Hélène Rees’ birth certificate, Soultz-sous-Forêts Town Hall.

[7] According to the complete copy of Roger Weill’s birth certificate, Strasbourg City Hall, and according to Rémy Voegel, Le destin tragique de la famille WEILL, première partie. Available online at: http://www.histoiredevalff.fr/habitants/personnages/380-le-destin-tragique-de-la-famille-weill-premiere-partie

[8] Rémy Voegel, Le destin tragique de la famille WEILL, première partie. Available online at: http://www.histoiredevalff.fr/habitants/personnages/380-le-destin-tragique-de-la-famille-weill-premiere-partie

[9]  Reinhard Weill’s birth certificate, Bas-Rhin departmental archives, online, 4 E 504/17.

[10] Rémy Voegel, L’assassinat du chantre juif de Valff. Available online at: http://histoiredevalff.fr/habitants/religion/420-l-assassinat-du-chantre-juif-de-valff

[11] There are no military records for Benny (also known as Henri) Weill (or Weil) on the Bas-Rhin departmental archives website.

[12]  Hélène Rees’ birth certificate, Bas-Rhin departmental archives, online, 4 E 474/36.

[13]  Meyer Weill’s death certificate, Bas-Rhin departmental archives, online, 4 E 504/25.

[14] According to the website of the Jewish community of Alsace and Lorraine: http://judaisme.sdv.fr/.

[15]  According to Hélène Rees’ birth certificate, Bas-Rhin departmental archives, online, 4 E 474/36; and according to Henri Weill’s birth certificate, Bas-Rhin departmental archives, online, 4 E 504/17.

[16] Full copy of André Weill’s death certificate, Nancy City Hall.

[17] The translation from German is “Christ child”.

[18] According to the testimony and memories of André Voegel, in: Rémy Voegel, Les derniers juifs de Valff pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Available online at: http://histoiredevalff.fr/habitants/11-habitants/8-les-derniers-juifs-de-valff-pendant-la-seconde-guerre-mondiale.

[19] Note in the margin of the full copy of Hélène Rees’ birth certificate, Soultz-sous-Forêts Town Hall.

[20] There is a probable spelling error in the testimony: it is Louis Gugumus, rather than Gugusmus.

[21] Testimony and memories of André Voegel, in : Rémy Voegel, Les derniers juifs de Valff pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Available online at:

http://histoiredevalff.fr/habitants/11-habitants/8-les-derniers-juifs-de-valff-pendant-la-seconde-guerre-mondiale.

[22] Testimony and memories of André Voegel, In : Rémy Voegel, Les derniers juifs de Valff pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Available online at: http://histoiredevalff.fr/habitants/11-habitants/8-les-derniers-juifs-de-valff-pendant-la-seconde-guerre-mondiale.

[23] La Tribune juive, independent body of the Jewish community of Eastern France, November 1, 1935, n° 44, p. 777. Available on the Gallica website, the Digital Library of BnF and its partners: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6325854b/f9.item

[24] Rémy Voegel, L’assassinat du chantre juif de Valff. Available online at: http://histoiredevalff.fr/habitants/religion/420-l-assassinat-du-chantre-juif-de-valff

[25] Testimony and memories of André Voegel, In : Rémy Voegel, Les derniers juifs de Valff pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Available online at: http://histoiredevalff.fr/habitants/11-habitants/8-les-derniers-juifs-de-valff-pendant-la-seconde-guerre-mondiale.

[26] According to the website of the Jewish community of Alsace and Lorraine: http://judaisme.sdv.fr/synagog/basrhin/r-z/valff.htm.

[27] La Tribune juive, independent body of the Jewish community of Eastern France, November 1, 1935, 1935, n° 44, p. 777. Available on the Gallica website, the Digital Library of BnF and its partners: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6325854b/f9.item

[28] Jean-Camille Bloch, Commune de Barr 1940/1945, Mémorial des victimes juives du nazisme. Available online at:  http://judaisme.sdv.fr/synagog/basrhin/a-f/barr/victim.htm

[29] Photograph of Roger Weill’s Bar Mitzvah ceremony available on the website of the CDDEJ (Documentation Center on the Deportation of Jewish Children of Lyon): https://www.deportesdelyon.fr/les-archives-par-famille-n-z/roger-weill

[30] Photograph of Roger, surrounded by his relatives. André is in the 1st row, on the left. From: Rémy Voegel, Le destin tragique de la famille WEILL, deuxième partie. Available online at: http://www.histoiredevalff.fr/habitants/personnages/381-le-destin-tragique-de-la-famille-weill-deuxieme-partie

[31] Jean-Camille Bloch, La communauté juive de Barr, (The Jewish community of Barr), excerpt from Jean-Camille Bloch’s speech at the Assemblée générale du Souvenir Français. Available online at: http://judaisme.sdv.fr/synagog/basrhin/a-f/barr.htm

[32] Jean Daltroff, “Paroles de combattants et de prisonniers de guerre 1939-1945” (“Words of combatants and prisoners of war 1939-1945”) , from the work directed by Freddy Raphaël, Juifs d’Alsace au XX^e siècle, ni ghettoïsation, ni assimilation, Strasbourg, La Nuée Bleue, 2014.

[33] In July 1940, the two heads of the civil administration, Gauleiter Robert Wagner in Alsace and Gauleiter Joseph Bürckel in Moselle, decided to rid Alsace of all “undesirable elements” unworthy of populating German lands: Jews, gypsies, criminals, incurables, Frenchmen and Welshmen were to be expelled to the non-occupied zone. According to Freddy Raphaël, Les Juifs d’Alsace et de Lorraine de 1870 à nos jours, Paris, Albin Michel, 2018.

[34] Freddy Raphaël, Les Juifs d’Alsace et de Lorraine de 1870 à nos jours, Paris, Albin Michel, 2018.

[35] Léon Strauss, Réfugiés, expulsés, évadés d’Alsace et de Moselle 1940-1945, Colmar, Jérôme Do Bentzinger Editeur, 2010.

[36] Freddy Raphaël, Les Juifs d’Alsace et de Lorraine de 1870 à nos jours, Paris, Albin Michel, 2018.

[37] Testimony of André Weill, in : Rémy Voegel, Les derniers juifs de Valff pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Available online at: http://histoiredevalff.fr/habitants/11-habitants/8-les-derniers-juifs-de-valff-pendant-la-seconde-guerre-mondiale.

[38] Testimony of André Weill, in : Rémy Voegel, Les derniers juifs de Valff pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Available online at: http://histoiredevalff.fr/habitants/11-habitants/8-les-derniers-juifs-de-valff-pendant-la-seconde-guerre-mondiale.

[39] Testimonial sheet of André Weill, n°3610261, Yad Vashem website.

[40] From the website of the CDDEJ (Documentation Center on the Deportation of Jewish Children of Lyon): https://www.deportesdelyon.fr/les-archives-par-famille-n-z/roger-weill

[41] Jean-Marc Binot, Bernard Boyer, Nom de code : BRUTUS, Histoire d’un réseau de la France libre, Paris, Editions Fayard, 2007.

[42] According to the original list of the deportation convoy available on the website of the Shoah Memorial in Paris.

[43] According to the request for the civil status of a “non-returnee” completed by André Weill, November 28, 1950, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen. (document obtained through the Convoy 77 association).

[44] Testimony of André Weill, in : Rémy Voegel, Le destin tragique de la famille WEILL, deuxième partie, Available online at: http://www.histoiredevalff.fr/habitants/personnages/381-le-destin-tragique-de-la-famille-weill-deuxieme-partie

[45] According to the request for the civil status of a “non-returnee” completed by André Weill, November 28, 1950, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (document obtained through the Convoy 77 association).

[46] Testimony of André Weill, In : Rémy Voegel, Le destin tragique de la famille WEILL, deuxième partie. Available online at: http://www.histoiredevalff.fr/habitants/personnages/381-le-destin-tragique-de-la-famille-weill-deuxieme-partie

[47] According to the original list of the deportation convoy available on the website of the Shoah Memorial in Paris.

[48] Tal Bruttmann, Auschwitz, Paris, Ed. La Découverte, 2015.

[49] Stanislas Zamecnik, C’était çà, Dachau : 1933-1945, translated from Czech by Sylvie Graffard, Paris, International Foundation of Dachau, le cherche midi, coll. Documents, 2003.

[50] Personal file of the prisoner Roger Weill, Mauthausen concentration camp, 01012603 oS, ITS Digital Archives, Arolsen Archives.

[51] Transcription of the death decree of Roger Weill, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen. (document obtained through the Convoy 77 association).

[52] According to the full copy of André Weill’s death certificate, Nancy City Hall. The name of André Weill’s wife was Suzanne Henriette Grosz, and not Henriette Graff, as mentioned by error in: Rémy Voegel, Les derniers juifs de Valff pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

[53] Rémy Voegel, Les derniers juifs de Valff pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Available online at: http://histoiredevalff.fr/habitants/11-habitants/8-les-derniers-juifs-de-valff-pendant-la-seconde-guerre-mondiale.

[54] Testimony of André Weill, in: Rémy Voegel, Le destin tragique de la famille WEILL, deuxième partie. Available online at: http://www.histoiredevalff.fr/habitants/personnages/381-le-destin-tragique-de-la-famille-weill-deuxieme-partie

[55] Full copy of the death certificate of Weill Benny known as Henri, Barr Town Hall.

[56] Full copy of the death certificate of Hélène Weill née Rees, Barr Town Hall.

[57] According to the following website: http://judaisme-dev.sdv.fr/cimetieres/rosenwiller. Photographs of the graves of Henri Weill and Hélène Rees are available on this website.

[58] Letter dated April 19, 1948 from Louis Braun (Conseil Juridique, 3 rue de Bruges à Strasbourg), to the Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs and Victims of War, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (document obtained through the Convoy 77 association).

[59] Letter dated January 27, 1948 from the European Tracing Service for Deported and Dispersed Jews to Louis Braun, 3 rue de Bruges à Strasbourg, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (document obtained through the Convoy 77 association).

[60] Application submitted for the civil status of a “non-returnee” completed by André Weill, November 28, 1950, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (document obtained through the Convoy 77 association).

[61] Missing person certificate of Roger Weill dated February 6, 1951, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (document obtained through the Convoy 77 association).

[62] Transcription of the judgment declaring the death of Roger Weill, full copy of the original act made on January 19, 2021, Barr Town Hall.

[63] Transcription of the judgment declaring the death of Roger Weill, full copy of the original act made on January 19, 2021, Barr Town Hall.

[64] https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000000223225/

[65] Decoville-Faller Monique, Juillard Etienne. Chronique alsacienne. In : Revue Géographique de l’Est, tome 1, n°4, Octobre-décembre 1961. pp. 383-392.

[66] Testimony of André Weill, in Rémy Voegel, Les derniers juifs de Valff pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Available online at: http://histoiredevalff.fr/habitants/11-habitants/8-les-derniers-juifs-de-valff-pendant-la-seconde-guerre-mondiale.

[67] Full copy of the death certificate of Henri Weill, Nancy City Hall.

[68] According the death certificate of Henri Weill published in L’Est Républicain newspaper on 24/01/2014.

[69] Inscription on the Wall of Names, Shoah Memorial website.

[70] Jean-Camille Bloch, Commune de Barr 1940/1945, Mémorial des victimes juives du nazisme. Available online at:  http://judaisme.sdv.fr/synagog/basrhin/a-f/barr/victim.htm

[71] Rémy Voegel, Le destin tragique de la famille WEILL, première partie. Available online at: http://www.histoiredevalff.fr/habitants/personnages/380-le-destin-tragique-de-la-famille-weill-premiere-partie

 Rémy Voegel, Le destin tragique de la famille WEILL, deuxième partie, Available online at: http://www.histoiredevalff.fr/habitants/personnages/381-le-destin-tragique-de-la-famille-weill-deuxieme-partie

[72] Full copy of the death certificate of Henri Weill, Nancy City Hall.

[73] From the following website: http://judaisme-dev.sdv.fr/cimetieres/rosenwiller. Some photographs of the graves of Henri Weill and Hélène Rees are available on this website.

[74] Letter dated January 27, 1948 from the European Tracing Service for Deported and Dispersed Jews to Louis Braun, 3 rue de Bruges à Strasbourg, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (document obtained through the Convoy 77 association).

[75] Letter dated January 27, 1948 from the European Tracing Service for Deported and Dispersed Jews to Louis Braun, 3 rue de Bruges à Strasbourg, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (document obtained through the Convoy 77 association).

[76] Application for Roger Weill to be granted the civil status of a “non-returnee” completed by André Weill, November 28, 1950, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (document obtained through the Convoy 77 association).

[77] Missing person certificate for Roger Weill dated February 6, 1951, Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen (document obtained through the Convoy 77 association)

[78] Transcription of the judgment declaring the death of Roger Weill, full copy of the original act made on January 19, 2021, Barr Town Hall.

[79] Transcription of the judgment declaring the death of Roger Weill, full copy of the original act made on January 19, 2021, Barr Town Hall.

[80] https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000000223225/

[81] Decoville-Faller Monique, Juillard Etienne. Chronique alsacienne. In : Revue Géographique de l’Est, tome 1, n°4, Octobre-décembre 1961. pp. 383-392.

[82] Testimony of André Weill in Rémy Voegel, Les derniers juifs de Valff pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Disponible sur le site web suivant : http://histoiredevalff.fr/habitants/11-habitants/8-les-derniers-juifs-de-valff-pendant-la-seconde-guerre-mondiale.

[83] Full copy of the death certificate of Henri Weill, Nancy City Hall.

[84] According to the death notice for Henri Weill published in L’Est Républicain on 24/01/2014.

[85] Inscription on the Wall of Names. The website of the Shoah Memorial in Paris.

[86] From the following website: https://www.memorialgenweb.org/

[87] Jean-Camille Bloch, Commune de Barr 1940/1945, Mémorial des victimes juives du nazisme. Available on the website:  http://judaisme.sdv.fr/synagog/basrhin/a-f/barr/victim.htm

[88] Rémy Voegel, Le destin tragique de la famille WEILL, première partie. Available on the website: http://www.histoiredevalff.fr/habitants/personnages/380-le-destin-tragique-de-la-famille-weill-premiere-partie

 Rémy Voegel, Le destin tragique de la famille WEILL, deuxième partie. Available on the website: http://www.histoiredevalff.fr/habitants/personnages/381-le-destin-tragique-de-la-famille-weill-deuxieme-partie

[89] The My Heritage website.