Francine Christophe, a survivor of the Shoah and a woman of letters, passed away on Tuesday, November 4th.
Robert Christophe posing with his daughter, at the age of 6. Nice. France, 1939.
Memorial of the Shoah/coll. Francine Christophe
Francine Christophe was born on August 18, 1933 in Paris. His parents, Robert and Marcelle, come from bourgeois families, Jewish and integrated, deeply rooted in the French nation. The family resides at 106 rue Cardinet in the 17th century.
At the outbreak of war, Robert, a professional historian, is mobilized with the rank of lieutenant and taken prisoner. He is sent to Germany in several flags, including the retaliation camp of Lübeck.
After the Vel d'Hiv roundup on July 16 and 17, 1942, Marcelle tries to join the southern zone with Francine. By crossing the demarcation line, they were stopped at La Rochefoucauld in Charente on July 26, 1942.
Francine and her mother Marcelle Christophe, in Nice, on the Promenade des Anglais, with the presence of French soldiers in uniform, between 1939-1940.
Memorial of the Shoah/coll. Francine Christophe
Francine is 8 and a half years old. Held at the prison of La Rochefoucauld, then at that of Angoulême and at the camp of Poitiers, they are finally interned in the camp of Drancy in August 1942. Wife and daughter of a prisoner of war, they are protected by the Geneva Convention and were transferred on September 1, 1942 to the camp of Pithiviers then from Beaune-la-Rolande. Marcelle works in the infirmary. She invests in helping other internees, the women she helps to give birth and the elderly she cares for. They were transferred again on June 20, 1943 to the Drancy camp. Marcelle and Francine are finally deported from the camp of Drancy on May 2, 1944 to the concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen. They are released in the city of Tröbitz on April 23, 1945, after having wandered in Germany in an evacuation train for fifteen days.
Thanks to the Geneva Convention, Robert knows that his family has been deported to Bergen-Belsen. Once released, he goes to Bergen, before meeting them in Tröbitz. He manages to have them repatriated to Paris, which they reach on June 23, 1945.
Photographs from left to right
Marcelle Nordmann and Robert Christophe on their wedding day at the small oratory of the Victory synagogue. Paris, January 5, 1930
Collection Francine Christophe, photos 1939-1945
Portrait of Francine Christophe. Paris, France, February 1941.
During the commemoration of January 27 at the Shoah Memorial, Francine paid a heartfelt tribute to her mother who had protected her with extraordinary courage in the face of the terrible trials of deportation.
Marcelle Christophe and Robert Christophe published in 1974 "The miracle of our prisons" at the Presses de la Cité.
20 years later, Francine testifies in her turn in a series of works where narrative, reflection and poetry mix. The first one, A Little Girl in Privilege, was published by CERCIL in 1995 before going through successive editions and a theatre adaptation in 2014.
Francine appears notably in the film 'Human' by Yann Artus-Bertrand, released in 2015.
Deeply committed to transmission, Francine has been regularly involved for thirty years, with a singular elegance. She chaired the association of Bergen-Belsen.
Shoah Memorial
Francine Christophe was an officer of the Legion of Honor and a commander of the National Order of Merit.
The Shoah Memorial presents its sincere condolences to his children and family. The Memorial pays tribute to the memory of a great figure in the memory of the Shoah, a passionate woman who has always testified on a childlike basis.
