Léa was born in 1925, in the province of Trinqueux near Reims, into a very large family, a very patriotic French Jewish family.
Our photo: Henriette and Michel Schwartzmann live in Tinqueux (Marne) with their children: Suzanne, 22 years old, Léa, 18 years old, Simone, 16 years old, Robert, 15 years old, Antoinette, 12 years old, Jeanne, 11 years old, Pierre, 10 years old, Marcel, 7 years old, Maurice, 5 years old, Madeleine, 4 years old, Ginette, 2 years old and Marie-France, 11 months. All were arrested during the great roundup of the Jews of Reims, transferred to Drancy and deported together on 3 February 1944 by convoy no. 67. The two eldest daughters, Suzanne and Léa, are the only ones to have survived. Léa Schwartzmann Rohatyn, rank of the upper second right – © Coll. Shoah Memorial
Léa Rohatyn, Mrs. Rohatyn, as she was called in her community, passed away during the night of Saturday, September 10 to Sunday, September 11, 2022. Léa was born in 1925, in the province of Trinqueux near Reims, into a very large family, a patriotic French Jewish family.
Léa was the daughter of Henriette, born in Reims on 24 November 1898 and Michel Schwartzmann, born on 21 February 1893 in Uman in the Russian Empire. Henriette and Michel Schwartzmann had thirteen children: André, born in 1920, Suzanne, born on 15 July 1921, Léa, born on 20 March 1925, Simone, born on 6 June 1927, Robert, born on 26 February 1929, Antoinette, born on 8 April 1931, Jeanne, born on 18 July 1932, Pierre, born on 29 November 1933, Marcel, born on September 5, 1936, Maurice, born on March 5, 1938, Madeleine, born on May 16, 1939, Ginette, born on August 9, 1941, Marie-France, born on February 22, 1943, ...
The whole family was arrested, except for André, on 27 January 1944, then deported from Drancy to Auschwitz by convoy No. 67 on 3 February 1944. Alone, Suzanne and Léa return from deportation.
André, a resistant, was imprisoned in Spain while trying to join the Free France.
After the war, Suzanne left for Australia and founded a family there.
Léa stays in France, founds a family and works in fur with her husband Mr. Rohatyn.
Very active and vibrant, Léa has testified and campaigned for the memory of the Shoah, especially among students in Jewish schools. She was a tutelary figure of her community, that of the Rachi synagogue in Paris. A Zionist and a practicing Jew, Léa Rohatyn taught everyone a life lesson. Regardless of the age of the person she was speaking to, she knew how to find the right attention and the right words so that they would live in the hearts of those who listened. Despite the torments, despite the suffering, Léa was the bearer of immeasurable strength and an extraordinarily deep intelligence. Her beauty, her modesty, her striking elegance and her infallible dignity accompanied her until her last breath. The testimony of his experience that it was given whole or in bits persists in those who knew it.
She is now buried in the Land of Israel, which was so dear to her.
