Renée Silver was born in 1931 in the region of Alsace-Lorraine known as the Saarland.
This territory had gone back and forth throughout history being occupied by France and Germany. Renée spoke both German and French fluently, and her father fought for the Kaiser during the First World War.
In 1935, Hitler visited Saarland because of a plebiscite vote to determine if it would stay independent or become part of Germany or France.
Renée’s maid took her to the Nazi parade where an SS officer put Renée on his shoulders so she could see Hitler passing by in an open car as part of the motorcade. Ninety percent of the population voted to be part of Germany in 1935.
The family moved further into France to Alsace Saar Gamein (mainly Christian), where Renée went to school. After Kristallnacht in 1938, two cousins and her grandmother came to live with them as well.
Renée and her sister were separated from her parents and placed in hiding in a small village called Le Chambon. They were given false papers and new Catholic identities.
In 1939, the Second World War broke out and many of their neighbors saw them as potential German spies since her father and grandmother were considered German.
The family was arrested and put in jail for seven days. Then they were deported to Gurs, a camp built in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War. Renée was nine years old and her younger sister was seven.
The conditions at the camp were horrendous—full of mud, bed bugs, fleas, rats, lice, and little food.
Her father, who suffered paralysis on his left side due to a war injury, was hospitalized. In June of 1940, Northern France was under German occupation; they were released and returned home. Many laws against Jews were enforced making life extremely difficult.
On Renée’s last day of school in June of 1942, Renée was supposed to be presented with a scholarship to an esteemed secondary school. The principal announced in front of the entire school that she could not give the award to Renée because she is Jewish and the award was then given to another student.
Then the roundup of Jews began, and the family decided to leave for the Vichy controlled part of France in Toulouse and then Leon. Renée and her sister were separated from her parents and placed in hiding in a small village called Le Chambon. They were given false papers and new Catholic identities.
The citizens of the village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon under the direction of Pastor Andre Trocme risked their lives to rescue and hide Jews, especially children. In addition to providing shelter, the citizens of the town obtained forged identification and ration cards for Jews to use. It was estimated that the people of the area of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon had saved between 3,000 and 5,000 Jews from certain death.
Renée and her family were smuggled into Switzerland, a trip of 187 miles. They remained there till after the war and were able to emigrate to the United States in 1947. Today, Renée is 95-years-old.
