ANNE MARIE GUILLOT
French Rescuer

Photograph of Chief Rabbi of Bordeaux, c.1940
It began when Anne Marie was asked by her group to bring the Chief Rabbi from Bordeaux to a safe haven in the Free Zone. Through a series of contacts originating with the Archbishop of Bordeaux, she was able to bring him to a family in Arles, where he spent the rest of the war years in safety. Then she made another trip, this time with the Rabbi's wife, bringing her to a family in Lonslesaulnier. The most dangerous trip was the next one when Anne Marie brought all seven children together by train from Bordeaux to Sainte Bazeille. Photograph of Annie and Vera Gast
Before doing so she obtained false identity papers for each child, and carefully rehearsed with each one his or her new name, address, and story. They were fortunate: all went smoothly.

Anne Marie worked for the welfare and safety of these children until the war's end. Some she placed in a boarding school, first making certain that the teachers would be sympathetic to the childrens' dangerous situation. They returned to Anne Marie's home every weekend. She found trustworthy families willing to take the considerable risk to hide the others. Photograph of Anne Marie Guillot c.1942

All of these people survived the war, but the Rabbi's family suffered tragedy nevertheless. At war's end the Rabbi and his wife arranged to reunite in Lyons, one coming from Arles and the other from Lonslesaulnier. When the Rabbi's wife's train was delayed en route to their rendezvous, she became alarmed at the behavior of an armed Resistance group sharing her train compartment. In her panic she suffered a heart attack and died before reaching her destination.


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