Garel Network

In July 1942, the arrests of Jewish children began in the occupied zone and continued in August in the so-called “free” zone. The closure of the OSE homes was imminent for the children, who were no longer safe there. At the request of Dr. Joseph Weill, medical director of the OSE, Georges Garel—unknown to the authorities because he had never been involved with Jewish organizations prior to the rescue known as “the night of Vénissieux” (August 1942)—conceived and established, in late August, a clandestine network to rescue children.

This network consists of two “circuits” in the Southern Zone, which is divided into four regions.

• The official “network” of Resistance fighter Andrée Salomon served as the liaison with the Legal Department of the OSE, which later became the Health Department of the General Union of French Jews (UGIF), established at the request of the Nazis.
• The second “route” is clandestine: with the help of social workers, the children leave the OSE homes. They are given new identities. They are then entrusted to the Garel network.

Letters from Archbishop Saliège of Toulouse and Bishop Théas of Montauban opened the doors of religious institutions to Georges Garel.

Andrée Salomon’s “network” maintained ties with the families. In the Garel “network,” non-Jewish social workers—whose professional backgrounds were “impeccable” in the eyes of the Nazis—maintained contact with the children, ensuring their material needs were met, their safety was guaranteed, and they received emotional support.

More than 1,500 children are thus in hiding.

Their true identities cannot be discovered. Lists and codes are stored in different locations.

Starting in April 1943, the OSE organized the departure of more than 1,000 children to Switzerland under the leadership of Georges Loinger, assisted by Jean Duffaugt, mayor of Annemasse, who found reliable smugglers. The children sent to Switzerland were those who refused to live with non-Jewish families or were unable to maintain their false identities. They were taken in by the Union-OSE, based in Geneva.

In 1943, the Marcel network—also known as the Abadi network—was established in the Nice region, modeled after the Garel network.

Many OSE members were murdered or deported for participating in these efforts, which could not have succeeded without the support of American Protestant and Jewish organizations, without the help of the “6th” (Éclaireurs Israélites de France), the MJS (Mouvement des jeunes sionistes), the MNCR (Mouvement National contre le Racisme), the UJRE (Union des Juifs pour la Résistance et l’Entraide), the Amitiés Chrétiennes, the Protestant Association, the Cimade, and numerous “Righteous Among the Nations.”