Tag: Charles de Gaulle

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The Rabbits of KZ Ravensbrück

My most recent AARP magazine (October/November 2018) featured an article on Martha Hall Kelly, the author of Lilac Girls. Ms. Kelly’s mother passed away in early 2000 so, at the urging of her husband, Ms. Kelly took a therapeutic trip to the Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden in Bethlehem, Connecticut to see its famous lilac gardens.

While taking the house tour, Ms. Kelly noticed a group of women in a photograph sitting on Caroline Ferriday’s desk. One of the guides watched Ms. Kelly’s fascination with the photo and told her, “Those are the rabbits. Prisoners at Ravensbrück, the largest all-female concentration camp in Hitler’s Third Reich.”

Ravensbrück survivor, Jadwiga Dzido (1918−1985) revealing the scars to her leg caused by Nazi medical experiments. Photo by anonymous (c. 1946). PD-No Copyright Notice. Wikimedia Commons.
Ravensbrück survivor, Jadwiga Dzido (1918−1985) revealing the scars to her leg caused by Nazi medical experiments. Photo by anonymous (c. 1946). PD-No Copyright Notice. Wikimedia Commons.

Ms. Kelly admitted she never had any interest in history. That is, until she saw a photograph of the Rabbits and learned of their horrifying stories.

Did You Know?

Did you know the Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden located in Bethlehem was bequeathed by Caroline Ferriday to Connecticut Landmarks on 27 April 1990, the day Ms. Ferriday passed away? Learn more about the Bellamy-Ferriday House & Garden here.

The house was built in 1754 (with a second building phase in 1767) by Rev. Joseph Bellamy (1719−1790). The family held it until 1868 when several other owners took possession. Finally, in 1912, Henry and Eliza Ferriday purchased the house and its 100-acres. The Ferriday family would spend their summers there (unfortunately, Mr. Ferriday died two years after the purchase) and upon Eliza’s death, their only child, Caroline, inherited the property. She continued to upgrade the house and live there during the summers throughout her life (winters were spent in New York City). The estate is famous not only for the 18th-century house but for the beautiful gardens which Miss Ferriday’s mother began and Caroline expanded. The gardens are known for Caroline’s favorite flower: lilacs.

Bellamy-Ferriday House & Gardens. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Connecticut Landmarks.
Bellamy-Ferriday House & Gardens. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). Connecticut Landmarks.

KZ Ravensbrück

Ravensbrück concentration camp was created in the autumn of 1938 with its first prisoners delivered on 18 May 1939. The camp was built specifically for women and located next to the small town of Fürstenberg, fifty miles north of Berlin. It was also near the hideaway where Heinrich Himmler stashed his mistress.  The initial group of prisoners were primarily Polish but soon, women who were Jewish, gypsies, German, and political or resistance members were incarcerated. Female foreign agents (under the Night and Fog program-read the blog here) were sent to Ravensbrück, often to be executed. Eventually, babies and children became part of the camp’s population. During its existence, more than 130,000 people went through Ravensbrück with approximately 90,000 dying from execution, starvation, illness, or being worked to death. Read More The Rabbits of KZ Ravensbrück

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Church Sanctuary

The old priest at Saint-Quentin was not an important man in the reckoning of the world. His church was small and unimpressive; only a fairly detailed map showed the village of Saint-Quentin, which was south of Tours, in the Indre-et-Loire. His cassock had seen much better days; he had been a fat man, but now the skin hung loosely under his chin. He was a parish priest of no renown, caring quietly and compassionately for his people. His curing of souls was a leisurely affair; he did not display particular zeal. He lived in a wine district and enjoyed a good bottle over which he would ruminate, without anguish, upon the sins and follies of humanity.

Map of the French department known as Indre-et-Loire. Note the dot indicating the location of the village, Saint-Quentin-sur-Indrois. Map illustration by anonymous (date unknown).
Map of the French department known as Indre-et-Loire. Note the dot indicating the location of the village, Saint-Quentin-sur-Indrois. Map illustration by anonymous (date unknown).

Did You Know?

This is a story told by Philippe de Vomécourt (1902−1964) in his book, An Army of Amateurs. It is just one of thousands of stories about nameless men, women, and children who risked their lives to save downed Allied airmen, Jews, and others from the grasp of the Nazis. Although this story took place in France, stories like it were repeated in all of the occupied countries and even those that were considered “neutral.” These brave people knew the ultimate penalty if they were caught but went ahead because it was the right thing to do. Monsieur de Vomécourt was one of the first leaders of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) F Section. He along with his two brothers, Pierre and Jean, established a réseau (network) in three separate territories of France, including Paris. We first met the Vomécourt brothers in our blog about La Chatte (click here to read the blog).

Pierre de Vomécourt. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).
Pierre de Vomécourt. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).
Philippe de Vomécourt. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).
Philippe de Vomécourt. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).

But the accident of war placed the village of Saint-Quentin just on the northern side of the demarcation line (later, the line was to be redrawn, placing Saint-Quentin in the free zone). The German patrols crunched through the streets. And the old cure, who could have lived out his days pottering about his parish, innocent of involvement in the war, saw a duty that he must perform. He must help people to cross the demarcation line, especially those whose lives were in peril. He must help the Jews; he must help escaping prisoners-of-war and airmen who had been shot down, all who were seeking to evade the Germans. Read More Church Sanctuary