It appears now that more Jews than anyone expected may have survived the Nazi extermination campaign in this part of France, as those who have been hiding in remote villages finally succeed in reaching nearby larger centers.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency correspondent learned today that in the small village of Voirons, about 20 miles from Grenoble, about 100 to 150 Jews have been hiding for more than a year with the aid of the local population. Among them is Rabbi Salmon Schneerson, of Paris, a member of the noted Chassidio family headed by Rabbi Joseph Schneerson, the “Lubavitche Rebbe,” who now resides in Brooklyn. Rabbi Salmon Scheerson conducted relief and educational activities among orthodox Jews in Paris before the city’s occupation by the Nazis.
Other Jews who found have in Voirons are Moshe Broycman, secretary of the Left Poale-Zion in Paris and Sonia and Assia Gafon, who were on the staff of the ORT in Marseillc. These and many of the other Voirons refugees have relatives in the United States. Bryoman revealed that several members of the Poale-Zion committee in Paris were deported by the Germans.
M. Jacobowitch, head of the United Jewish Defense Committee in Grenable, which functioned underground all during the German occupation, told the JTA correspondent that in the fortnight since the city was liberated the number of needy Jews requesting aid has risen from 450 to 700. The committee’s means, he said, are taxed to capacity.
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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.
