Cohn’s last letter was discovered in a journal from "Chalet Bernardina," a WWII-era Jewish children’s home in the Swiss city of Chardonne that ran according to Jewish and Scout values. As part of the Israeli national campaign “Gathering the Fragments,” Yad Vashem recently obtained two such journals written by Susanne Marburger, a staff member in the children’s home. Shreds of paper were stuck inside the journals, which had not been opened for many years, and they had to be treated in Yad Vashem’s conservation laboratory. “Thanks to the relatively good condition of the notebooks, conservation work was minimal — fixing torn paper, pasting cutouts that got detached, and straightening folds,” said a laboratory worker. “However, Susanne used paper cutouts as interesting illustrations for the children, so the main challenge was preserving them so that they wouldn't keep getting torn.”
A native of Lübeck, Germany, Léo Cohn moved to Paris in 1933, where he became active in the leadership of the French Jewish Scouting Movement (EIF). He led the spiritual leadership of the movement and taught Jewish values, love of the Jewish religion, and Hebrew, and founded the Scout Choir that sang both religious tunes and songs about Eretz Israel.
Although his wife Rachel and their three children had fled to Switzerland, Cohn stayed in France and continued his work as a spiritual leader. He was caught on 16 May while trying to smuggle a group of young people out of the country and interned in Drancy. On 31 July 1944, he was sent on the last deportation from Drancy to Auschwitz, where he was murdered. The Chalet Bernardina journal from November 1944 was dedicated to Léo Cohn, and the “farewell letter from our dear leader Léo Cohn, who left for an unknown destination” was read to the children out loud.
The same year that Cohn had first arrived in france, Susanne Marburger's parents had fled their home in Berlin with their four children: Jacques, Susanne, Yosef and Yvonne. The family wandered in the Netherlands and France until they settled in Toulouse, where Jacques joined the French underground. In May 1944, Susanne, her parents and her younger siblings were smuggled into Switzerland. Susanne worked as a nanny for a few local families, but her father was afraid that his daughter would have trouble maintaining a Jewish lifestyle and so suggested she join the staff of Chalet Bernardina.
Susanne was very excited at the prospect of working at the chldren's home – where some 30 Jewish children, mostly refugees from France and Germany, lived. She drew on her experience as a cadet and a leader from the French Jewish Scouting Movement in Toulouse.
“I took care of the children and organized activities for different age groups, from three to fifteen. Every Sunday we held special events, including songs, games and field trips. We went sailing in a boat and swimming in the lake, at the feet of Mont Pèlerin… An impressive sight, and even prettier in wintertime when it’s covered with snow… In the summer, we swam in the lake and had a picnic. It was wonderful. Every chance we got, we went out to swim with the children. It was a great experience for the kids, and I knew how to get along with them. In wintertime, we had indoor and outdoor activities. Life was good.”
Susanne Marburger
After the war, Susanne returned to France. She immigrated to Israel in 1968 and passed away in 2010. Her journals were recently donated to Yad Vashem by Susanne's son Rémy Taïeb, together with a photo album from the children’s home. Some pages from the diary appear on Yad Vashem's French website.) Speaking with Orit Noiman, Head of the Collection and Registration Section in the Archives Division, Taïeb said:
“The anniversary of my mother’s death falls this week. I’m very emotional. I’ve seen what happens when a house is cleaned out. I was afraid that would happen with Mom’s journals, too. For that reason, I decided that they ought to be kept at Yad Vashem, for this generation and for posterity.”
As of January 2019, 12,600 people have donated some 284,400 items, including 166,800 documents108,000 photographs, 5,000 artifacts, 753 works of art and 191 original films to the “Gathering the Fragments” campaign. Representatives of Yad Vashem visit Holocaust survivors or their family members in their homes, in addition to holding collection days in centers closest to their place of residence, in order to gather Holocaust-era personal items. To schedule a meeting in Israel: +972-2-644-3888 or collect@yadvashem.org.il
Yad Vashem runs the “Gathering the Fragments” campaign with the support of Israel’s Ministry of Jerusalem and Heritage.
Representatives of Yad Vashem visit Holocaust survivors or their family members in their homes, in addition to holding collection days in centers closest to their place of residence in order to gather Holocaust-era personal items. To schedule a meeting in Israel: +972-2-644-3888 or collect@yadvashem.org.il.
This article originally appeared in the "Yad Vashem Jerusalem Magazine," volume 88.
