During the first two years of World War II, I was one of a number of Jewish children sheltered in homes operated by OSE [Organisation de Secours aux Enfants], a decades-old Jewish organization dedicated to the welfare of Jewish children. From June 1940 to June 1941, I lived in Chateau Montintin in the Limousin region of central France. Montintin was one of the largest and longest-operated OSE homes in the region. In October 2004 I returned to Limousin to attend a Colloquium on “Jewish Children in Limousin from 1940 to 1960,” sponsored by the OSE together with a local R5 Association, a group that regularly organizes and publishes research presented at its meetings. The subject of its previous colloquium was “The Genesis and Development of the Resistance in Limousin.”
Approximately 250 people attended the Colloquium. Invited, in addition to various academics, were those of us who had been Jewish children in that area, either in OSE homes, hidden by the Resistance and OSE, or both during the war. The academics had researched the history. We were invited to give first-hand testimony.
In addition to the two days of lectures, there were to be three days of programs and tours in the area of interest to us who were the subjects of the colloquium, so that we were in Limousin for five packed days.