— French Jewish leader Jean Pierre-Bloch has been appointed a Grand Officer in the Legion of Honor, one of the highest ranks in France’s prestigious order. President Valery Giscard D’Estaing personally pinned the medal on Pierre-Bloch at a ceremony at the Elysee Palace.
Pierre-Bloch, 75, is the president of the International League Against Anti-Semitism and Racism and president of the French federation of B’nai B’rith lodges. A former minister in Gen. Charles de Gaulle’s wartime government, he played an active role in the anti-Nazi resistance movement during the occupation of France and at one time headed a branch of the Free French operations.
He has played a leading role in Jewish demands for more energetic government measures in the fight against anti-Semitism and was one of the main organizers of the mass demonstrations which followed the Rue Copernic synagogue bombing last October.
It is generally believed that Pierre-Bloch’s promotion to one of the highest ranks in the Legion of Honor is partially due to the government’s attempt to improve its relations with the traditional Jewish establishment and to defuse the tension in their relations.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
