Jacques Helbronner (1873-1943) was a French jurist, civil servant and Jewish official. He served as the president of the

Israelite Central Consistory of France The Israelite Central Consistory of France () is an institution set up by Napoleon I by the Imperial Decree of 17 March 1808 to administer Jewish worship and congregations in France. He also directed the establishment of regional Israelite Consisto ...

from 1940 to 1943. He was deported to the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

, where he was murdered in a gas chamber by the Nazis.

Early life

Jacques Helbronner was born on 21 September 1873 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France. His father, Horace Helbronner, was a lawyer. His mother, Hermance Saint-Paul, was a housewife. Helbronner graduated from

Sciences Po Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

. He received a Doctorate in Law. He did his

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

from 1894 to 1895.

Career

Helbronner was a lawyer at the Court of Appeal of Paris from 1895 to 1898. He subsequently worked as a civil servant for the

Conseil d'État In France, the (; Council of State) is a governmental body that acts both as legal adviser to the executive branch and as the supreme court for administrative justice, which is one of the two branches of the French judiciary system. Establ ...

. He became a Commander of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

in 1925. Helbronner served as the president of the

from 1940 to 1943. He was a supporter of Marshal

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Bénoni Omer Joseph Pétain (; 24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), better known as Marshal Pétain (, ), was a French marshal who commanded the French Army in World War I and later became the head of the Collaboration with Nazi Ger ...

, who told him he had been pressured by the German invaders into passing antisemitic laws. Similarly,

Xavier Vallat Xavier Vallat (December 23, 1891 – January 6, 1972) was a French politician and antisemite who was Commissioner-General for Jewish Questions in the wartime collaborationist Vichy government, and was sentenced after World War II to ten years ...

told Helbronner he would change those laws and spare 95 percent of French Jews. Historian Jacques Adler has argued Helbronner was misled by the Vichy government. Meanwhile, in 1941, Helbronner accepted a leadership position in the

Union générale des israélites de France The General Union of French Israelites (, UGIF) was a body created by the antisemitic French politician Xavier Vallat under the Vichy regime after the Fall of France in World War II. UGIF was created by decree on 29 November 1941 followin ...

(UGIF, General Organization of Jews in France), even though he was initially opposed to its establishment.

Death

Helbronner was deported to the

in 1943, where he was murdered in a gas chamber by the Nazis.

References

1873 births 1943 deaths Lawyers from Paris 19th-century French Jews Sciences Po alumni Commanders of the Legion of Honour French people who died in Auschwitz concentration camp French Jews who died in the Holocaust {{France-bio-stub

Early life

Career

Death

See also

References