Have you ever stopped to imagine the lives of those who walked these very streets before us? Let’s step back in time right here in front of the À Joseph Migneret plaque. This plaque, discreetly placed on the side of a building in the Marais district, is a memorial to a brave man who risked his life to save children during the darkest hours of World War II.
Joseph Migneret was the director of a local school, École Élémentaire des Hospitalières-Saint Gervais. This school, a boys’ school at the time, was located in a neighborhood with a large Jewish population. When Nazi forces began rounding up Jews in Paris, Migneret knew he had to act. He bravely defied the orders of the Nazi regime by providing false papers and hiding Jewish children in his home. When the Vel d’Hiv Roundup took place in July 1942, 165 children from his school were sadly deported.
At the time, there were just four students left in the school. Teachers and children had disappeared, leaving only heartache and a gaping emptiness. Many of the parents and children were sent to Auschwitz, where they were murdered. Migneret was a pillar of strength for his remaining students, keeping hope alive for the future. A testament to his courage, a plaque commemorates the lives lost, “165 Jewish children from this school were deported to Germany during the Second World War and were exterminated in the Nazi camps. Do not forget!”
Joseph Migneret was recognized for his courage in helping to save Jewish children, and his name is inscribed on the Wall of the Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem. This plaque is a powerful reminder of the bravery and resilience of those who stood up against injustice and risked everything to save others.