News from The Children of Sam organisation

Malka Braun is speaking on Le Parisien TV at the time when there was a Marche Blanche*  in memory of Mireille Knoll, the victim of an anti-Semitic murder on 2 March 2018.

On November 10, 2017 at 7pm the Sam Braun Centre for Awareness and Culture was opened at the Condorcet Junior High School in Bresles (Oise). Present were several dignitaries as well as members of the Braun family.

In his Journal d’un interné (Diary of an internee), Georges Horan-Koiransky brings alive his imprisonment at Drancy. Arrested on 11 July 1942, he was freed on 13 March 1943. For the 8 months of his detention he felt compelled to take notes and to make drawings to describe what he was going through.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day (dedicated to commemorating genocide and the prevention of crimes against humanity) is coming on 27 January. To mark this occasion Ester Bejarano is giving a concert on Wednesday 24 January (7.30pm) at the Tulla Realschule High School in Kehl (26 Vogesenalle), near Strasbourg. 

Ester Bejarano is one of the last survivors of the Auschwitz Orchestra. She travels around Germany to ensure we never forget, and also to fight for Human Rights around the world.
 

The association “Les Enfants des Sam” (The Children of Sam) has sought recognition as an association of ‘general interest’ from the General Directorate of Public Finances. Meaning the association can provide tax receipts for people who make donations and/or who join and subscribe to the association, under the conditions laid out in the Code général des impôts (CGI) (The General Tax Code)

The website « Mémoires des déportations » (Remembering the Deportations) has been up since March 2017. This remarkable endeavour was put together by the UDA - Union des Déportés d’Auschwitz (The Association of Former Inmates of Auschwitz), carried by the enormous energy of Raphaël Esrail, President of the UDA. It gives an account of the genocidal measures employed by German Nazis all over Europe. The website project was supported by the Foundation for the Shoah Memorial. 

Conference run by Jean-Pierre Lauby, the president of the Enfants de Sam (Children of Sam) association. Held at the Jules Isaac Cultural Centre, in Clermont-Ferrand, 19 October 2017.

Over a few decades, ‘The duty to remember’ has become the standard term, an appeal to citizens to preserve and pass on the stories of those who lost their lives in the armed conflicts of the 20th century. Those who were victims of genocide perpetrated in Europe by Nazi criminals. The duty to remember is also promoted so that crimes against humanity, and all attacks on human dignity which have scarred our communities, are never forgotten.

In a few words and a few images this short video tells us about the mission of the association. ‘The Children of Sam’ association was inspired by Sam Braun’s educational work with students in dozens of institutions for more than twenty years.

Robert Laffond Publishers has just published a book by Raphaël Esrail. It tells his personal story, from joining the Resistance to his return to France after having been imprisoned in Auschwitz. His is the testimony of an exceptional man who is the current president of the L’Union des Déportés d’Auschwitz (Auschwitz inmates association), and also the vice president of la Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah (The Shoah Memorial Foundation). His is also the romantic story of his love for Liliane, who he met at Drancy, and later married on their liberation from Auschwitz. The title of the book, ‘Dreaming of an embrace’, tells us about the hope that gave him the will to live, and the strength of their love which overcame the horror and suffering of the camp.
 

The website ‘Les Enfants de Sam’ (The Children of Sam) was inaugurated on 14 March 2017 in a classroom at Lavoisier High School (in the 5th arrondissement in Paris). This place was chosen for its symbolism because it is where Sam gave one of his last talks, in April 2011. 

After Sam’s death the inauguration was attended by students, teachers and his daughter, Malka, who came to this same place to present the philosophical legacy of Auschwitz survivors and to also consider the question of maintaining Sam’s legacy at the centre of this, his family. 

At the inauguration there were around fifty people (students, teachers, members of the Braun family, people from the office of the Cercle Mémoire et Vigilance, and partner organisations). The principal of the school welcomed the assembled guests and talked a little about Sam Braun. Jean-Pierre Lauby, the President of the ‘Children of Sam’ Association followed to detail the objectives of the website and its structure. This included several examples of the first content to be put online, especially the video interviews that have been done so far. Then the actor, Alexandre Brasseur, gave a moving speech, “Testament philosophique des déportés d’Auschwitz”. The evening culminated in a much-appreciated presentation by the writer, Marek Halter, on the question of remembrance and what can hinder its transmission.