Plaques put up at the Pierre Brossolette primary school in Noisy-le-Sec

May 3, 2011

The AMEJD of Noisy-le-Sec was founded on June 11, 2008 by Jeannette Wolgust, its President.

Despite much research, and with registers having disappeared, Jeannette found only the names of two little girls deported on December 7, 1943 on convoy no. 64: Paulette and Suzanne Itic. At her initiative, Mr Philippe Jacqueline, head of the Pierre Brossolette primary school, agreed to have plaques put up on the school walls, and the teachers of the three final-year primary classes and their pupils took part in an official ceremony on May 3, 2011. A plaque bearing the names of the little Itic girls was placed inside the school and unveiled by Mrs Medina, a member of the AMEJD, accompanied by three children.

Before this, Jeannette Wolgust had come several times to talk about the hidden children and about Odette and Moussa Abadi. Having all watched “Le Réseau Marcel”, the children had many questions, and together with their leaders from the holiday club they took part in designing a large fresco on the inside wall of the school. “This graphic workshop was created with the aim of involving the final-year pupils in the concrete creation of a commemorative space at the Pierre Brossolette school – with, of course, the plaques, but also a portrait of Pierre Brossolette, hero and victim of the Resistance. It was an opportunity to give meaning to the name of the school the children attend.” (Mr Philippe Jacqueline, text from the preparatory booklet.)

The fresco shows the bust of Pierre Brossolette in a medallion on the left. Coming from the right, out of the Auschwitz concentration camp, is a train, from which two armed German soldiers emerge. The train is shown in the hollow of two large hands, and the words “Stars in smoke” appear above a circle of fire, in the middle of which is a plaque with the names of all the Jewish children deported from Noisy-le-Sec. In front of the camp entrance, a group of deportees.

The plaque was unveiled by a group of children and Mrs Yvette Lévy, a former deportee. The ceremony took place in the presence of Mr Rivoire, Mayor of Noisy-le-Sec, and Mr Alain Hubert, Inspector of National Education.

If we refer to Mr Jacqueline’s words on the value of testimony as “…a tremendous driving force for learning. It sparks the pupils’ interest in the period we are studying, making the events they will discover more concrete… Giving meaning to the passing-on of intergenerational memory is also part of this work…”, the aim of this commemoration seems to have been achieved – all the more so as members of the senior citizens’ club joined their voices with those of the final-year pupils to let us hear the “Chant des Marais” and the “Chant des Partisans”.

A snack followed, to the delight of young and old.