Report on the ceremony awarding the Righteous medal to Pastor Pierre Gagnier and his wife Hélène
January 18, 2012
Speech by Michèle Blumenthal (Mayor of the 12th arrondissement of Paris)
Director of Public Relations and Communication at the Embassy of Israel,
Delegate of the French Committee for Yad Vashem,
President of the Enfants et Amis Abadi,
Elected representatives,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure and an honour to welcome you this evening to the town hall of the 12th arrondissement. We are gathered here this evening to present the Righteous Among the Nations medal, posthumously, to the heirs of Pierre and Hélène Gagnier.
We are torn between conflicting emotions: shame at the collaboration and admiration for the heroism of the Righteous. Yes, seventy years ago, in Paris, came the Vel d’Hiv round-up. Seventy years! It is both near and far.
From the Wannsee Conference in January 1942, the deportation of the Jews of Europe was meticulously organised. The term “final solution” was uttered. Then, in the face of the coalition of indifference and hatred, six million men and women were condemned to be hunted down, to disappear, to be excluded from the human community. Six million men, women and children died because cowardice and collaboration were the instruments of this genocide. How can we understand that France, the land of human rights, could let it happen, accept it, say nothing? How can we understand those who simply looked away from the buses carrying their victims? Here, in Paris, the city of human rights, were Jews who had fled from ghetto to ghetto and who believed they had found the right to live in peace. In peace! France, before any other country in Europe, had told them: “You are French.”
The worst happened, but fortunately the Righteous kept France from losing its identity. In a world sunk in indifference, the Righteous stood firm, dignified and clear-sighted despite danger and death; they chose humanity. For, as Pastor Trocmé said, “We do not know what a Jew is; we only know human beings.”
What is so moving in their testimony is that they considered their actions normal, obvious. Guided by their refusal to tolerate the intolerable, they helped save three quarters of the Jews of France, whereas three quarters of the Jews of Europe died. By saving a Jew, they saved humanity.
Pastor Gagnier and his wife were among them.
Pastor Gagnier served during the Phoney War in Alsace. He was taken prisoner in Westphalia. Released in 1941, he was appointed pastor of the Reformed Church in Nice. During the years of occupation, Pierre Gagnier, with his wife’s agreement, did not hesitate to hide Jews in the presbytery and in the church. The presbytery became an annexe for making false papers. He made identity cards and ration cards, found hiding places, provided food and money and organised escapes.
In June 1940, Moussa Abadi arrived in Nice. Odette joined him and worked as a doctor in a clinic of the O.S.E. (Œuvre de Secours aux Enfants). Moussa met a chaplain to the Italian troops based in Eastern Europe. This meeting was decisive in making them aware of the danger to come: the occupation of Nice by the Germans. Moussa and Odette decided to organise the rescue of Jewish children. Several children of the Marcel network were hidden thanks to families approached by Pastor Gagnier. His knowledge of German allowed him to go to the Gestapo to obtain information. He was not afraid to go to the Kommandantur to voice his outrage.
Today this unsung hero and his wife are to receive the title of Righteous Among the Nations. Both of them succeeded, without weapons, without firing a shot, armed only with their courage and determination, in waging the essential fight: preserving life. They gave meaning to the motto of the Republic, “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”.
In our arrondissement, not far from the town hall, Odette and Moussa Abadi lived in rue de Reuilly. Since 2008, a square in the 12th arrondissement has borne their name. And the town hall of the 12th is honoured that this evening’s ceremony could take place in this arrondissement.
Michèle Blumenthal
Mayor of the 12th arrondissement of Paris