As France approaches the 80th anniversary of the Nazi surrender during World War II, individuals who lived through those tumultuous times reflect on the era’s fear, hardship, and persecution wrought by the German occupation and the deportations to death camps. The memories of those days remain vivid for survivors who wish to pass their experiences to future generations.
In May 1940, France was engulfed by Nazi forces. Among the millions affected was a young Geneviève Perrier, then just 15, who fled her village in northeastern France to evade the advancing Germans. By June, the country had capitulated.
Three years later, Esther Senot, also 15, found herself arrested by French police and deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Ginette Kolinka was 19 when she faced the same fate, sent to the notorious death camp in 1944.
These women, now nearing 100, continue to recount their stories as a crucial lesson and remembrance of the war. Geneviève Perrier, now 99, recalls the terror of fleeing with her mother under the Nazi occupation. “We were scared,” she recounted, detailing their journey on a simple bicycle with only a small travel bag, following throngs of fleeing civilians and soldiers. During their flight, they dodged bombs, and a near-miss taught her the capriciousness of survival.
Eventually seeking shelter in southwestern France under the Vichy regime, Perrier and her mother returned to their home, only to exist under brutal Nazi control. Perrier had a strong conviction to join the French Forces of the Interior (FFI), but her mother feared for her life, reminding her of the grim fate of others once captured by the Nazis. Despite her mother’s fears, Perrier held onto her spirit of defiance, using church hymns to audibly express resistance against the occupation forces.
The liberation by Allied forces on D-Day, June 6, 1944, initially seemed unbelievable to Perrier due to their isolation from news. Later witnessing General Leclerc’s troops liberate her village confirmed for her the war’s turning tide. She described residents dragging a German soldier to a grave he had to dig himself—a stark vengeance enacted by the once-oppressed.
Esther Senot, another survivor, remembers her ordeal after being deported from Paris to Auschwitz. At the camp, a grim selection process determined her fate among 1,000 others. The sad fate of her family, with only 17 members surviving from the Holocaust, casts a long shadow, remaining a painful testament to her and others’ endurance. Upon her return, she encountered indifference that compounded her trauma, noting feelings of disbelief and cynicism from those untouched by deportation.
Ginette Kolinka, deported when she was just 19, has dedicated recent decades to educating others about the camps’ atrocities. After returning to Paris weak and frail, she did not speak about the war for many years; the shocking reality made most stories too hard to comprehend at the time. Comparing her own sense of luck alongside such loss, Kolinka found many family members alive when she returned. Today, she actively speaks on the dangers hatred poses. Her message emphasizes unity and understanding between all human beings, regardless of race, religion, or background. Six million Jews, among others, were killed during the Holocaust because of such hatred.
These women’s stories are imperative reminders to combat hatred and to ensure the tragedies of the past never repeat themselves. They each convey profound legacies of survival, resilience, and the tireless pursuit of peace and remembrance.