Cläre Barwitzky, also known as Claire Barwitzky (19 June 1913 – 10 March 1989), was a German Catholic nun[1][2] who cared for 30 Jewish children refugees during World War II in a remote camp in the Alps near Chamonix and Mont Blanc.[3] She received the posthumous title Righteous Among the Nations from Yad Vashem in 1991.[1]
Cläre Barwitzky | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | June 19, 1913 Neisse, Upper Silesia, Germany |
| Died | March 10, 1989 (aged 75) |
| Other names | Claire Barwitzky (changed to Claire during the war to hide German identity) |
| Known for | Sheltering 30 Jewish children during World War II |
| Awards | Righteous Among the Nations (1969) |
Early life and education
editCläre Barwitzky was born in Neisse, Upper Silesia,[1] the daughter of a railroad worker who worked at Deutsche Reichsbahn.[4][5] The Barwitzky family lived a hand-to-mouth existence.[2] After she graduated from high school in 1932, she went to work at Companions of the Holy Francis (Compagnons de Saint-François) in Lyon, France where she was the secretary for Father Remillieux.[2][4][a][b]
She returned to Germany by 1933 when she studied in Freiburg im Breisgau to be a spiritual assistant (Seelsorgehelferin)[2] and or pastoral assistant. Her curriculum aligned with Saint Francis of Assisi's ideology. She graduated in 1935,[1][6] and became a nun.[2]
France
editIn 1937, Barwitzky moved to the mountain commune of Vaujany in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, where there was no priest at the local Catholic Church. Reporting to the Diocese of Grenoble, she provided pastoral care, including delivering mass and preparing children for Confirmation.[1]
Barwitzky prepared to meet the needs of refugees during Nazi Germany's occupation of France during World War II, including orphaned children.[1] Since she was German and might be considered a spy,[1] she tried to hide her heritage.[7] She helped find Gentile families who would foster Jewish children.[7] The job became dangerous when the local residents and Resistance fighters were concerned that Barwitzky's background would draw attention and jeopardize their rescue efforts.[2]
In 1941, she went to Loire of Saint-Étienne to work for a Catholic society that cares for families and children in need. She spoke French fluently, and her German heritage was not shared with anyone there.[4] Wanting to protect Jewish children from arrest,[7] the French Resistance (La Résistance) brought children to the Alps, where they were hidden in summer vacation homes.[1] Barwitzky worked in a remote mountain camp for 30 Jewish children in Chamonix.[7] She cared for the children, taught music, and honored their Jewish faith,[1][7] praying Shema Yisrael with the children each morning.[7] She worked with two Jewish women.[2] Fella and Hanna Szmidt taught the children.[7]
Of the time, she said,
We have now begun an unforgettable year of kindness and devotion to one another, trust, love, joy and sisterly cooperation. I cannot find any other time in my life that can compare to this.
— Cläre Barwitzky[6]
The threat of getting caught, without proper identification, was a constant and escalating threat as the war proceeded.[2] She also went to Lyons to rescue two infants while the city was being bombed. The area was liberated during the summer of 1944.[2] At the end of the German occupation, the children returned to Saint-Étienne. Barwitzky was reported for taking care of Jewish children and was attacked.[1]
After the war
editBarwitzky had participated again in the Companions of the Holy Francis events when she lived in Thuringia.[1] Barwitzky returned to Germany after the war, where she provided pastoral care to German Catholics in Leipzig, Saalfeld, and Meiningen, chronologically.[1] Due to poor health, Barwitzky retired in 1969. Robert Kümmert, director of Würzburg Caritas, encouraged her to write her memoirs.[1] She died in Meiningen in 1989.[6] In 1991, she posthumously received the title Righteous Among the Nations by the Yad Holocaust Memorial Vashem.[1]
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Cläre Barwitzky" (PDF). Katholische Kirche Saalfeld. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Bartwitzky, Claire". Yad Vashem. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
- ^ "Clergy Who Aided Jews in France". Rescue in the Holocaust. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
- ^ a b c "Sprawiedliwi Ślązacy: Claire Barwitzky". Wachtyrz.eu. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
- ^ "Rochus: Die Gerechten unter den Völkern [Rochus: The Righteous Among the Nations]". www.rochus-realschule.de. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
- ^ a b c "Cläre Barwitzky". konrads blatt (in German). Retrieved 23 April 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g Paldiel, Mordecai (2006). Churches and the Holocaust: Unholy Teaching, Good Samaritans, and Reconciliation. KTAV Publishing House, Inc. p. 103. ISBN 978-0-88125-908-7.