Mile. Fernande Henrard, a Catholic school teacher who was arrested Sunday on charges of illegally detaining a Jewish war orphan was released today after the authorities found the child and legally awarded him to his uncle.
The child, Henry Alias, now 14, was adopted by Mile. Henrard in 1943 after his parents were murdered in Antwerp by the Nazis. Shortly afterwards, she had the child baptized and changed his name to Antoinine Benoit. Some time ago, the boys uncle M. Hammermann of Algiers, instituted proceedings for “restitution of the boy’s identity.” At the conclusion of a second legal action last week, the uncle was awarded custody of she child. Slie defied the court and hid the child in a clinic. Henry was today found by the police.
Reporting the stories that define our era. When history unfolds in real-time, the Jewish world turns to JTA. Your support ensures we can document the complexities of war and the resilience of Jewish communities with integrity.
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.