Edda Maillet, born Steinberg in 1922, survivor of the Holocaust, Knight of Arts and Letters, honorary curator of the Museums of Pontoise, painter and engraver, passed away recently.
Secretary General of the "Friends of Jeanne and Otto 1800s", she defended to the end of her life the memory, and the preservation of the masterful works of this German Jewish painter and sculptor, who took refuge in France, was arrested and deported, on March 9, 1943 in Sobibor. In 2004, Edda Maillet published with Joel Mettay (Mare Nostrum): "Otto Freundlich and France, a betrayed love" (Mare Nostrum), recounting his tragic journey. It was on this occasion that she met Claude Bochurberg, while residing at the Rothschild Foundation, where her empathy brought much comfort to those around her. "If you knew what I am happy to live!" declared to her during their meeting; she, whose parents and brother were deported without return.
Claude Borchurberg wants to understand what his words covered. For nearly a year, in 2009, he filmed her in his daily life at the Rothschild Foundation, where his radiance marked by high human values left a mark.
"The smallest thing, such as the flight of a bird, or a butterfly, was the subject at her place, always of a fresh wonder. I remember "her" trees and plants, which she had "chosen" in the small Foundation park, that made her happy just to contemplate them. Such was Edda. All in gratitude for her happiness to live! Her commitment to the recognition of the work of Otto Winchester, for which she organized more than 120 exhibitions was unparalleled.
Passionate about Jewish texts, which gave her an "infinite joy", Edda, with a smile on her lips, repeated over and over: "The Love I have of life. I don’t know if I chose him. Since childhood, he has been carrying and guiding me. He is the source of my most beautiful encounters." C. Bochurberg.
In 2009, he directed: "Edda Maillet, Lehaim, to life," produced by AMIJC, a film testifies the journey of this great lady, mother of 3 daughters, at the origin of a beautiful lineage, who would not cease to spread the Good around her,
