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Group from Auschwitz Museum at a seminar at Maison d'Izieu in France
During a seminar held between September 15-20, 2024, a group of staff and guides from the Auschwitz Museum delved into the history of Izieu, a small village in the mountains of southeastern France—a site of life, hope, and tragedy during World War II.
On 6 April 1944, at 8:30 am, during breakfast, 44 Jewish children aged between 4 to 17 years, along with 7 of their caretakers, were taken from Maison d'Izieu by a unit led by Klaus Barbie, the head of the Gestapo in Lyon. After spending a night in the Montluc prison in Lyon, they were interned in the Drancy transit camp, from where they were deported into the Third Reich in six transports between April and June 1944. Five of these transports were destined for the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz. Only one caretaker, Lea Feldblum, returned to France.
The history of Maison d'Izieu is intertwined with the lives of Sabine and Miron Zlatin, Jews of Polish and Russian origin who chose France as their new home. During the war, Sabine rescued children from internment camps and sheltered them in Maison d'Izieu. Miron looked after them in the home, supported by several adults who cared for the children and taught them according to the regular French school curriculum.
Over 11 months, the home welcomed more than 100 Jewish children of various nationalities, for periods ranging from a few days to several months. As mentioned by the director of the Maison d'Izieu Memorial, Alexandre Nugues-Bourchat, whom the Polish Museum staff met: "In this place, Sabine and Miron Zlatin embodied the values of the French Republic—Liberty, Equality, Fraternity—which were violated by the Vichy regime."
The program included a meeting with Roger Wolman, a former child of Maison d'Izieu, a Frenchman of Jewish-Polish descent born in Paris in 1938. His parents, Moszek and Ruchla, had emigrated from Poland to France before the war due to antisemitism and physical attacks on Jews. In 1941, due to the persecution of Jews in German-occupied France, the family dispersed.
His father was arrested while attempting to cross the demarcation line to the so-called free zone and was deported to Auschwitz. After being arrested and placed under house arrest, his mother managed to escape to Nice, where she found her sons. However, the family was arrested there following a denunciation. Only five-year-old Roger and his brother Henri, seven years older, managed to escape.
With the help of a rescue network, the boys were placed in Maison d'Izieu, where they met their cousin, Henri Kaufman. From there, their uncle took them to Lyon. This helped the trio avoid the tragedy of April 6, 1944. Roger and Henri found refuge on a farm near Clermont-Ferrand. Their mother was murdered in Auschwitz, but their father survived the camp and returned to France after the war.
The seminar program in France included sessions and visits focusing on key aspects of France's history during World War II—both German-occupied and Vichy France—from political situations to resistance and collaboration, as well as contemporary French memory work regarding past events.
The group spent three days at Maison d'Izieu, then traveled to Nantua and Lyon for meetings with staff from resistance and deportation museums. Part of the program also included a visit to the Montluc prison memorial site.
“Participating in such a thorough seminar was an extraordinary experience. For an educator, to know a place personally is of immense value. When guiding, one can utilize the knowledge gained, and the emotions and images associated with the learned history usually emerge, making the narrative more authentic. The historical transmission was very engaging, and participating in the seminar certainly enhanced my skills, for which I am truly grateful,” said Agnieszka Osiecka, Head of Visitor Services at the Museum.
Conservator Andrzej Jastrzębiowski noted that participating in the seminar not only allowed him to deepen his knowledge about deportations from occupied France to Auschwitz but also to learn about the details of the resistance movement. “The Maison D’Izieu itself is a very special place, nurturing the memory not only of the tragic fate of its wards and caretakers but primarily of their lives in that specific location,” he said.
Guide Magda Czapla emphasized that Maison d'Izieu is significantly different from the Auschwitz Museum: “It combines sadness and joy, and also allows a closer understanding of the youngest and most innocent victims of Nazi persecution.”
“Visiting strengthened my desire to tell their stories. Touring Izieu, Nantua, and Lyon, I learned many new things. I think this knowledge will make my interactions with visitors more interesting and enriching for both sides. I also feel that I now better understand the wartime history of France and its memory,” she added.
Marine Vannier from the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust, who coordinated the seminar, said, “Beyond a better understanding of France’s complex situation during the war, the meeting with Maison d'Izieu is a story of life and hope, that in dark times we can help those in need. The misfortune of the children, innocent victims of the war, touches us all in a universal way. This tragic history, where 44 children were murdered by the regime of Nazi Germany, is also beautiful because about 60 children avoided a similar fate thanks to the sacrifice of a few adults.”
The seminar was part of an ongoing cooperation between the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Maison d’Izieu in France. In October 2023, teachers and educators from France participated in a seminar at the Auschwitz Museum.
“This intense and enriching study seminar strengthens the partnership between two very different, but complementary, memorial sites of the Shoah. The meeting of both teams was an opportunity for a heartfelt encounter and to share experiences,” said Cyrielle Forses, project coordinator from Maison d’Izieu.
The Foundation for the Memorial Site of Maison d’Izieu was established in 1988 shortly after the trial of Klaus Barbie. Today, Maison d'Izieu is a place of memory, education, and life, offering a space for reflection on crimes against humanity and combating all forms of discrimination. Since 2011, Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, director of the Auschwitz Museum, has been a member of the board of Maison d'Izieu.
