The influence of individuals through the life of a Holocaust survivor

SEELEY LAKE - "What is freedom? Freedom is not to live in fear. Good has always prevailed over evil – this has always been the history...I think education is a liberation of any problems that you will have in your future. Be influential in what is right and what is correct. Be righteous, be someone who can influence. And if you think as an individual you cannot influence, then think again."

These words from Leon Malmed, a hidden child in France and Holocaust survivor, closed the animated documentary entitled "The Promise, the story of Leon Malmed." Malmed shared his story with a full house at The Roxy Oct. 22 in Missoula and with junior high and high school students and community members Oct. 24 at Seeley-Swan High School. Through the horror and tragedy that he endured, Malmed highlighted the individuals and moments in time that saved he and his sister Rachel's lives. Now he speaks out to educate others so the horrific events of the Holocaust will never be forgotten.

Malmed was born Oct. 4, 1937. In 1940 Germany invaded France.

After the invasion all French soldiers seen in uniform were rounded up and sent to Germany. They worked for the German army for five years.

Malmed's father, who was a soldier in the French Army, found civilian clothes and escaped the roundup. He returned home to his wife and two children who lived in Compiègne, 25 miles north of Paris.

Adolf Hitler despised the Armistice that was signed after World War I. Malmed said Hitler took revenge on the town of Compiègne because it was the site of the railroad car where the Armistice was signed. 3,000 buildings were destroyed at that time.

"The discrimination against the Jewish people began almost immediately after the occupation by the enemy," said Malmed. "Jewish people could not go to a cinema, restaurant, public park and could not have a telephone or radio."

Malmed's parents were arrested by the Germans in July 19, 1942. Their downstairs neighbors Henri and Suzanne Ribouleau willingly took Malmed and his sister Rachel.

"Mister Ribouleau pronounced these few words that would save our lives, 'Do not worry, Mr. and Mrs. Malmed, Rachel and Leon. We will take care of them until you return. Your children will be safe with us.' Not knowing that our parents were gone forever," said Malmed.

Malmed shared stories of the two and a half year famine and the sacrifices the Ribouleaus made to harbor them. During the war Malmed said if someone didn't like someone else all they had to do was send a letter to the S.S. headquarters with the name of a person and call them a resistant.

"That is what war brings. We need to negotiate and not have wars. War is horrible," said Malmed.

Malmed and Rachel escaped several roundups, the closest he credits to a coffee spill and Mama Suzanne's quick thinking.

On Feb. 19, 1944, a French driver had a list of people to arrest. The Malmed siblings were the first on the list, however, a coffee spill had made their address unreadable. The driver arrested everyone else and had to return to the Nazi headquarters to get the address.

Suzanne saw Malmed's five-year-old cousin being arrested at the school. She rode her bike home and warned the children to run into the field. They had two minutes to escape.

"I'm here today because of these two minutes. If you think two minutes aren't important in life, think again. They could be very important," said Malmed. "Suzanne risked her life to save two."

Malmed's cousin was taken to Auschwitz and they never heard from him again along with 269 other children.

Following the near arrest of Malmed and his sister, Henri went to visit a German man that he knew only in civilian clothing. He had met the man fishing several times. He asked Henri for his name and said if he ever needed help to come and see him.

Henri went to the S.S. office and spoke the name of the man he had met before. When he entered his office, the officer asked everyone else to leave.

"Mister Ribouleau, I know who you are. I know you are actually hiding two Jewish children...," said Malmed recalling what the German man said. "Papa thought he was going to faint. He was talking to the commander of the SS in Compiègne. And [the SS commander] said, 'For as long as I am here, you do not need to worry.' And that was it. From that time on, they never came to arrest us."

Tuesday, Nov. 1, 1944 at 4:40 a.m. Compiègne was liberated.

"We wanted to kiss every soldier for delivering us from those Nazis, mad men, murderers," said Malmed who was seven and a half years old at the time. "It was extremely emotional. It is very difficult for me to think about it and not shed a tear."

Seventy-two million soldiers and civilians perished as a result of the Holocaust. The genocide of six million Jewish people perpetrated by Nazi Germany and its collaborators. Malmed called Auschwitz "a symbol of evil and crimes against humanity."

Before the war there were around 600 Jewish people in Compiègne, a population of 20,000. At the end of the war, Malmed and his sister were the only two Jewish survivors that remained in the town. His family lost 21 members including his parents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Malmed said 67,000 resistors in France were tortured and killed. He lived less than half a mile away from the German Detention/Concentration camp of Royallieu. There were 54,000 prisoners of underground fighters, English and American soldiers and hostages during the war. Only 2,000 survived the war.

"It was remembered that when it starts with the minorities, it doesn't stop with the minorities.

The Germans were very educated in science, engineering, music and the arts. Malmed believes that even though many Germans did not want Hilter in power, the Holocaust came about because no one said anything.

"How did it happen? Because the population let it happen," said Malmed. "Because there were not enough protests, because there was not enough rebellion and when they did realize it, it was too late."

Malmed has only experienced anti-Semitism once since liberation. It was from a co-worker in France after just finishing his engineering degree. Malmed recalled him telling him, "Ah, another one. They didn't kill all of them. When is he going to understand that he needs to die?"

Malmed told the students that he has no hatred for Germans today.

"Those descendants of those criminals have nothing to do with their parents or grandparents," said Malmed. "As a businessman, I've done business for Germans and I find them just the same as people all over the world are the same. What we want is peace, an education, happiness, we want to see our children married, we want to live in a peaceful world. But somehow, if you look at how countries get into wars, they were always because of one or two people."

Malmed remained silent for 60 years because he didn't think people would be interested in his story. Now he testifies with the hope that everyone will prevent repeating mistakes of the past.

"Racism and hate are still present today. We cannot be silenced," said Malmed. "Our educators and courageous leaders must remind us of the tragic events of World War II and its sequels. They must remind us of the catastrophes due to racism, anti-semitism, religious hatred and wars that have brought havoc and misery to so many innocent and their families for centuries."

Malmed encourages everyone to read history for the solutions and understanding so the mistakes of the past are never repeated.

"Whenever we see evil, we must stop the evil. Wars sometimes are necessary when it is too late in the process and no one has taken the time to negotiate peace," said Malmed. "Whenever we see the possibility of war, we've got to speak. We've got to protest. We've got to stop it."

Malmed's book "We Survived...At Last I Speak" is available at the Seeley-Swan High School library. His presented was sponsored by Mountain Lakes Presbyterian Church with funds raised at their Fourth of July bake sale and the Congregation Har Shalom of Missoula.