The Mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, unveiled a memorial in late morning in tribute to Odette and Moussa Abadi, the couple who founded the Marcel network, which saved 527 Jewish children from deportation between 1943 and 1945.
Press review
In the footsteps of Jesus in Nice
December 29, 2024
Le Jour du Seigneur and Présence Protestante invite you on a unique journey to the heart of the city of Nice, a few days after the celebration of the Nativity. Guided by the journalist Christelle Ploquin, this travelling programme sheds light on the history, traditions and distinctive identity of the capital of the Côte d’Azur.
From the santon figurines of the hinterland, the hospitality of this city facing the Mediterranean and the heritage of the Penitents to the imprint of Marc Chagall, this exploration reveals the spiritual and cultural richness of “Nissa la Bella”. The programme also includes tributes to the victims of the attack on the Promenade des Anglais on July 14, 2016 and to the Marcel network, which saved many Jews during the Second World War.
Finally, this edition highlights local Christian commitment through solidarity and creative initiatives such as “l’atelier d’Alfred”, “le cyclo sourire” and the preparations for the famous Nice Carnival.
Holocaust Memorial Day: How a Syrian man saved 527 Jewish children from the Nazis
January 26, 2023
Jeannette Wolgust: “I am alive thanks to the resistance fighter Odette Rosenstock”
June 10, 2020
Jeannette Wolgust, 90, was one of the 527 Jewish children saved during the 1939–45 war by the doctor Odette Rosenstock and her Marcel network (above). She bears witness in the documentary “Des médecins dans la Résistance” (Doctors in the Resistance), broadcast on France 2 on Tuesday, June 9 at 11.35 p.m. In-depth interview.
Michel Cymes pays tribute to doctors in the Resistance
June 10, 2020
“Des médecins dans la Résistance”, a documentary by Michel Cymes and Cécile Tartakovsky broadcast on Tuesday, June 9, 2020 on France 2.
“In 1940, nothing predestined the French medical profession to join the Resistance,” says the documentary’s statement of intent. “While Marshal Pétain enjoyed almost unanimous support in the profession, a few dissenting voices were heard, such as that of Louis Pasteur Vallery-Radot, Louis Pasteur’s grandson. This leading Paris hospital consultant was one of the first to voice his disagreement with the regime openly. He was followed by Robert Debré, a paediatrician, Colette Brull-Ulmann, a medical student, and Odette Rosenstock.”
france.tv (available on catch-up until August 9, 2020)
Andrée, aged 3, saved from the Nazis by Jeanne and Jean Rous
August 16, 2019
In Provence and on the Côte d’Azur, the Marcel network saved 527 Jewish children, including Andrée Poch-Karsenti, hidden in Annot by the Rous family.
“I was 14. My brother took me to Nice to see again the flat in rue Niépce where our family had lived. Then he took me to the building opposite. On the second floor, he rang the bell and stepped aside. Jeanne opened the door and cried out: ‘Dédée!’”
Andrée Poch-Karsenti escaped Nazi barbarity thanks to the many anonymous people, some of whom have been recognised as Righteous by Yad Vashem, the international institute for Holocaust remembrance.
Unveiling of a memorial in Nice in memory of the Marcel network
October 26, 2017
As part of the conference “Des mots, des images et des notes en pleine tourmente: cinema, theatre, poetry and music on the Côte d’Azur between 1939 and 1945”, a memorial plaque was unveiled.
Since midday on Thursday, October 26, 2017, a memorial has graced the corner of avenue Thiers and rue Amiral-de-Grasse.
Odette Rosenstock honoured
March 8, 2017
On March 8, International Women’s Day, the CRIF honoured six exceptional women. Among them was Odette Rosenstock.
Christiane Taubira mentions Odette and Moussa Abadi in Libération
July 24, 2016
In an opinion piece following the attack in Nice on July 14, 2016, Christiane Taubira expressed her attachment to Nice and mentioned Odette and Moussa Abadi.
“#Nice, a border city that has travelled so much through cultures and arts, under different regimes and nationalities. That has heard so many languages, without moving. Its unshakeable geography. Nice, azure sky and sea. Its landscapes, familiar since forever. Nice and its history, those who coveted it, its upheavals; its Marcel network, created by Moussa Abadi, born in Syria, and Odette Rosenstock, which saved the lives of more than five hundred Jewish children. Nice and its Resistance fighters, Nice and its demonstrations of July 14, 1941 and 1942. Nice and its uprising of August 28, 1944.”
Odette and Moussa ABADI in LIBERTÉ DU JUDAÏSME
September 1st, 2015
The Marcel network
Telling the story of the Marcel network would almost be like beginning an oriental tale, were it not for the tragic events that led to its birth: on September 17, 1910, Moussa Abadi was born in Damascus into a religious Jewish family. He studied at the Alliance Israélite and then entered the Lazarist college.
After a competitive exam, he won a scholarship from the Syrian government. He wanted to enter the Sorbonne and obtain the qualification of “Teacher of French Abroad”. He went to Paris, where he stayed for eighteen months before his contract obliged him to return to Damascus. He came back in 1933. In Paris he discovered the theatre and Louis Jouvet, the Middle Ages with his master Gustave Cohen, and also politics through the meetings at the Mutualité…
The Marcel network in VATICAN INSIDER
August 27, 2015
La «Rete Marcel» e il salvataggio dei 527 bambini ebrei a Nizza
Giovanni Preziosi, an Italian historian, is currently researching the help given through hospitality in church circles during the Second World War. Called “The way of the convents”, this part of history traces the work of the religious institutions that opened their doors to help anyone in mortal danger.
A book in preparation, testimonies wanted
Beyond this article, Giovanni Preziosi plans to write a book on the subject. To do so, he is collecting testimonies from hidden children. You can take part in this work by answering the questionnaire provided.
Answers to the questionnaire are processed by the association “Les Enfants et Amis Abadi” before being passed on to Giovanni Preziosi.
The Marcel network in Nice-Matin
March 29, 2015
On Sunday, March 29, 2015, Nice-Matin devoted two pages to the history of the Marcel network and the work of its founders, Odette and Moussa Abadi.
The Marcel network in L’Express
March 26, 2015
History: the resistance network that saved 500 Jewish children
In Nice, in 1943, a couple set up a clandestine group, the Marcel network, which saved more than half a thousand young Jews from deportation. Witnesses look back on a little-known story of love and courage.
“The Marcel network, a message of hope”
The American journalist Fred Coleman investigated the Marcel network at length. Published four years ago in the United States, his book has at last been translated and is available in France.
Letter to my 527 children
Before taking her own life, Odette Abadi, the heroine of the Marcel network, wrote a very moving letter to all “her” children.
“Terre de détresse” in the Journal des Médecins Juifs de France (JAMIF)
October 14, 2013
The Journal des Médecins Juifs de France (JAMIF) devotes a whole page to “Terre de détresse”.
Thanks to the editorial team for this article, despite two small errors that we have pointed out: Moussa was indeed Syrian, not Iraqi, and the cover shown is that of the first edition, not the most recent one.
Libération announces Odette’s death
August 6, 1999
The hidden children will miss Odette Abadi. With her husband, she saved 527 Jewish children during the Occupation.
Odette Abadi took her own life on July 29. In 1942, with her husband, who died two years ago, she organised the Marcel network in Nice, saving 527 Jewish children from death. Fifty years later, the survivors of the Marcel network still call each other the “Abadi children”. This is no doubt due to the couple’s exceptional aura.