8. Menachem Frenkel
When World War II broke out, the Frenkel family attempted to emigrate to England, but they were unable to escape. The family moved to southern France where the Nazis took Menachem Frankel’s father in July 1942 and sent him to Auschwitz. In September of that year, the rest of the family was arrested and taken to Venissieux.
That same year, three aid organizations, the OSE (Children’s Aid Society), the Jewish Underground in Lyons, and Amitie Chretienne, began to remove Jewish children from the camps and find safe places for them to hide.
Menachem and his sister were brought to the Chateau de Peyrins and placed under the care of Madame Germaine Chesneau. Their names were changed, and they spent the next eighteen months hiding in the chateau with 108 other Jewish children.
While he doesn’t remember much of his stay in Chateau de Peyrins, he does remember that they only celebrated Christian holidays and he worked in the garden on the property. Madame Chesneau became fearful of discovery one night when one of her workers had not returned, so she found other places in nearby villages for the children to hide.
Menachem and his sister were split up: he was sent to Rosans, a nearby village, and his sister was brought to a monastery. Menachem lived with a family in Rosans called the Hughes. They hid him in the attic, but they gave him plenty of food and allowed him to read and study. He stayed with the Hughes until the end of the war, and he was reunited with his family. They relocated to Israel in September 1945.