Death of Marthe Kuperminc

April 9, 2023

It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of Marthe Kuperminc, née Artsztein, known as “Marthoune”, on April 7, 2023. Marthe was a child hidden by the Marcel network when she was 8. She was our sister and our friend. She told her story in this video:

Tributes

Her name was Marthe Artsztein. In the family photos she has a big bow in her hair, her brother is beside her, as are her parents: an ordinary family, in short. Then the years grew darker; they all had to hide, like all the Jews of Europe, and in 1943, within the grounds of the convent of the Poor Clares in Cimiez, in a chalet – the chalet of “Depersonalisation” – she became Marthe Arthieu, then Marthoune.

It was by this little nickname that I knew her, and I learnt later that “afterwards” no one called her that any more. We became “sisters in Abadi”, joining the “Enfants et Amis Abadi”, and we all worked together for the memory of Odette and Moussa. Today, with Jeannette, we remember Marthoune and let our memories flow…

Marthoune, the reserved one, the modest one, the wounded one, chose to leave life last night after these last years, which were difficult for her. Our sorrow is great, and we feel so close to Victor, to her children Marianne, Sophie and Olivier, to her grandchildren and to all her family.

Zahror. In our hearts, in our thoughts, joined with all those who are already gone, always present for us on every occasion – we will remember you, for “remembrance is a powerful thing”.

Andrée Poch-Karsenti

To Victor, Marianne, Sophie, Olivier.

I wanted to talk to you about Marthoune, the so pretty little eight-year-old girl whom I knew and loved in 1943 at the Jeanne d’Arc boarding school in Grasse.

Marthoune was the joy of living, and she was the youngest of the four of us. Françoise and I, the two big ones, protected her and Denise, the two little ones. We stood by one another. Father Chaunavez had written two plays, Joan of Arc and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Marthoune was one of the seven dwarfs, a part she played with delight.

Odette came to see us every fortnight, and Marthoune would settle in her arms: that was her place. All these memories come back to me today with her death. I want to express my sorrow, which I wish to share with you, my dear Victor, and with your children, grandchildren and family.

A whole part of my own childhood goes with her.

Jeannette Wolgust