The Amelot Committee was an organization bringing together various Jewish groups, established on June 15, 1940, to coordinate relief efforts in Paris for Jews who had immigrated.
As early as June 15, 1940, the day after German troops entered Paris, several leaders of non-communist Jewish organizations resumed operations of the clinics, soup kitchens, and aid offices (which they had administered before the war) to serve the Jewish immigrant population. To this end, they established a coordinating committee—the Amelot Committee—at 36 Rue Amelot in Paris’s 11th arrondissement, at the headquarters of the “Colonie scolaire,” which had been in operation since 1925.
These organizations expanded their community assistance and mutual aid activities. They quickly informed Jews immigrating of the danger they faced and often participated in Resistance activities alongside organizations from the Jewish section of the M.O.I.
The “Mother and Child” clinic, also located at 36 Rue Amelot, served as a cover for clandestine activities that, especially at the beginning of the Occupation, involved helping people cross the demarcation line and providing false papers.
The Amelot Committee also provided assistance to internees at the camps in Pithiviers, Beaune-la-Rolande, and Drancy. Henri Bulawko, a young left-wing Zionist and maker of false papers, was in contact with Roger Trugnan, a member of the Jewish Communist Youth, who gave him numerous leaflets warning of a major roundup (later known as the Vel’ d’Hiv roundup) a few days before July 16, 1942.
The Amelot Committee is working tirelessly to hide as many Jews as possible. After each roundup, it comes to the aid of children whose parents have been arrested.
By the end of 1942, the Committee had suffered heavy losses. Many of its members were shot or deported. Henri Bulawko was arrested in 1942, deported, and repatriated to France after surviving the “death march.” Léo Glaeser, a founding member of the Amelot Committee, was arrested by the Gestapo in Lyon and shot in June 1944 by the French militia led by Paul Touvier. David Rapoport, the Committee’s secretary-general, was arrested on June 1, 1943, for distributing fake ID cards and was deported to Auschwitz, from which he never returned.
Nevertheless, the Committee continues to function thanks to the officials who remain at large.
References:
— Various Authors, 2006, Jewish Resistance Organization. France. 1940–1945. Mémoire Series. Ed Autrement.
— Renée Poznanski, 2006, *Historical Dictionary of the Resistance*, Robert Laffont.
