Rose Warfman (née Gluck; 4 October 1916 – 17 September 2016) was a French survivor of

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

and member of the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

Biography

Early life

Gluck was born on 4 March 1916 in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, the daughter of Pinhas Gluck-Friedman (1886–1964) and Henia Shipper (1887–1968). Her father was a direct descendant of

Hasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...

Masters, going back to the Magid

Dov Ber of Mezeritch Dov Ber ben Avraham of Mezeritch (; died December 4, 1772 Old Style, O.S.), also known as the ''Maggid of Velyki Mezhyrichi, Mezeritch'' or ''Mezeritcher Maggid'', was a disciple of Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (the Baal Shem Tov), the founder of Has ...

(1704–1772), the disciple and successor of the

Baal Shem Tov Israel ben Eliezer (According to a forged document from the "Kherson Geniza", accepted only by Chabad, he was born in October 1698. Some Hasidic traditions place his birth as early as 1690, while Simon Dubnow and other modern scholars argue f ...

(1698–1760). She had two sisters,

Antoinette Feuerwerker Antoinette Feuerwerker (24 November 1912 – 10 February 2003) was a French jurist and an active fighter in the French Resistance during the Second World War. Early years Antoinette (Antonia, Toni, Toibe Rochel) Gluck was born in Antwerp (Borg ...

(1912-2003) and Hendel (Hedwig) Naftalis (1913-?), and a brother

Salomon Gluck Abraham Salomon Glück (5 November 1914 – 20 May 1944) was a French physician and a member of the French Resistance. Biography His ancestors His father was a direct descendant of Hasidic Masters, going back to the Magid Dov Ber of Meze ...

(born 1914-died during WWII).

Strasbourg and Paris

Her parents had moved from

Tarnów Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east– ...

in Galicia,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, to Belgium, then to Switzerland, during World War I. The family moved further to Germany, and finally to France in 1921, settling in

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. There she went to the famous Lycée des Pontonniers, now called Lycée International des Pontonniers. After moving to Paris, with her family, she studied in 1941 and 1942 to become a nurse, in the modern Ecole de puériculture, 26, boulevard Brune, in Paris 14. She worked before World War II at the COJASOR, a Jewish social service organization, together with Lucie Dreyfus (née Hadamard; 1869–1945), the widow of

Alfred Dreyfus Alfred Dreyfus (9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French Army officer best known for his central role in the Dreyfus affair. In 1894, Dreyfus fell victim to a judicial conspiracy that eventually sparked a major political crisis in the Fre ...

French Resistance

During World War II, she joined her sister, Antoinette Feuerwerker, and her husband, Rabbi

David Feuerwerker David Feuerwerker (October 2, 1912 – June 20, 1980) was a French Jewish rabbi and professor of Jewish history who was effective in the resistance to German occupation the Second World War. He was completely unsuspected until six months before ...

, in

Brive-la-Gaillarde Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of ), commonly known as simply Brive, is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the aggl ...

. They worked together with

Edmond Michelet Edmond Michelet (; 8 October 1899 – 9 October 1970) was a French politician. He is the father of the writer Claude Michelet. On 17 June 1940, he distributed tracts calling to continue the war in all Brive-la-Gaillarde's mailboxes. It is cons ...

, the future Senior Minister of

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

, in the major Movement of the French Resistance,

Combat Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...

. In Michelet's Memoirs, she is mentioned as one of the active agents for Combat. Her name in the Résistance was Marie Rose Girardin. She was arrested in the

Synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

of Brive in March 1944, taken to

Drancy internment camp Drancy internment camp () was an assembly and detention camp for confining Jews who were later deported to the extermination camps during the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, German occupation of France duri ...

, and from there, on convoy 72, on 29 April 1944, to Auschwitz concentration camp. Her sister Antoinette Feuerwerker succeeded in getting her a nurse's uniform when she was at Drancy internment camp. She wore that uniform on her arrival in Auschwitz. Dr

Josef Mengele Josef Mengele (; 16 March 19117 February 1979) was a Nazi German (SS) officer and physician during World War II at the Russian front and then at Auschwitz during the Holocaust, often dubbed the "Angel of Death" (). He performed Nazi hum ...

, the infamous Nazi doctor, singled her out for survival. Later, he operated on her, without anesthesia. She survived three selections in Auschwitz concentration camp (Auschwitz-Birkenau), and later was transferred to the

Gross-Rosen concentration camp Gross-Rosen was a network of Nazi concentration camps built and operated by Nazi Germany during World War II. The main camp was located in the German village of Gross-Rosen, now the modern-day Rogoźnica in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland, di ...

, before being liberated by the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

in February 1945. The number tattooed on her arm at Auschwitz was 80598. Underneath there is a triangle, meaning she is a Jew.

Auschwitz

Convoy 72 took her to Auschwitz on 29 April 1944.

Serge Klarsfeld Serge Klarsfeld (born 17 September 1935) is a Romanian-born French activist and Nazi hunter known for documenting the Holocaust in order to establish the record and to enable the prosecution of war criminals. Since the 1960s, he has made notable ...

described the convoy: ''This convoy takes 1004 Jews, and includes 398 men and 606 women. Among them were 174 children below 18. The poet Itzak Katznelson (

Itzhak Katzenelson Itzhak Katzenelson (; also transcribed as ''Icchak-Lejb Kacenelson'', ''Jizchak Katzenelson''; ''Yitzhok Katznelson'') (1 July 1886 – 1 May 1944) was a Polish Jewish teacher, poet and dramatist. He was born in 1886 in Karelichy near Minsk, ...

) is among the deportees of this convoy, as well as many

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

, arrested as he was in

Vittel Vittel (; archaic ) is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Mineral water is bottled and sold here by Nestlé Waters France, under the '' Vittel'' brand. A series of negotiations involving Nestlé, local agr ...

, after having been transferred from Poland. There are families: the children Dodelzak, Ita 12, Georges 3 and Arkadius 3 months; the Rottenberg, Naphtalie 7, Nathan 5, Esther 4, Frantz 2,...'' '' On arrival at Auschwitz, 48 men were selectioned with the numbers 186596 to 186643 and 52 women, whose numbers are around 80600. In 1945, there were 37 survivors, including 25 women.'' Her brother, Dr.

was deported on the next convoy, convoy 73, leaving Drancy internment camp on 15 May 1944. At

Birkenau 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 ...

, she was assigned to a group of 50 women who were forced by a

kapo A kapo was a type of prisoner functionary () at a Nazi concentration or extermination camp. They were, whether voluntary or coerced, collaborators who worked under the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) to carry out administrative tasks or supervise th ...

to knit undershirts for German newborns. She worked hard, and was well thought-of, but when they were asked to knit socks for men, she resisted by making big knots inside the garments so as to render them unusable. In her block in Auschwitz was another detainee that she saw daily, the future politician

Simone Veil Simone Veil (; ; 13 July 1927 – 30 June 2017) was a French magistrate, Holocaust survivor, and politician who served as health minister in several governments and was President of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1982, the first woman t ...

Gross-Rosen

The Gross-Rosen concentration camp was situated near Breslau (called today

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

in Poland) railway station. There Warfman was made to work in a munitions factory from six in the evening to six in the morning, with one half-hour break, and regular beatings.

Later life

After the war, she returned to Paris. She became the first employee of the new Israeli Airlines,

El Al EL AL Israel Airlines Ltd. (), trading as EL AL (, "Upwards", "To the Skies", or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ) is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugural flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv in September 1948, the airline has grown to serve ...

, when it opened in Paris, with a director, Mr. Massis. She welcomed and guided many Israeli leaders during their stays in Paris, including

Golda Meir Golda Meir (; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was the prime minister of Israel, serving from 1969 to 1974. She was Israel's first and only female head of government. Born into a Jewish family in Kyiv, Kiev, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) ...

, and

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...

. In 1947 she forged identity cards for

Mossad LeAliyah Bet The Mossad LeAliyah Bet (, ) was a branch of the paramilitary organization Haganah in British Mandatory Palestine, and later the State of Israel, that operated to facilitate Jewish immigration to British Palestine. During the Mandate period, it ...

to issue to Jewish refugees to embark aboard ''1947''. Together with Abbé Alexandre Glasberg, recognized posthumously as a

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

by the

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, for saving Jews during the war.

Honors

On 10 February 1959, she was awarded the title of Knight 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 ...

by the

French Government The Government of France (, ), officially the Government of the French Republic (, ), exercises Executive (government), executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister of France, prime minister, who is the head of government, ...

for her work in the

. She also was awarded the

Médaille Militaire The ''Médaille militaire'' (, "Military Medal") is a military decoration of the French Republic for other ranks for meritorious service and acts of bravery in action against an enemy force. It is the third highest award of the French Republic, ...

1939–1945, the

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

1939–1945, and the

Croix du combattant volontaire de la Résistance The Cross of the Resistance Volunteer Combatant () is a French decoration that recognizes, as its name implies, those who fought in one of the resistance groups, or who were deported or interned for acts of resistance, or who were killed or injur ...

. On 10 April 2009, the French Government made her an Officer of the

Legion of Honor 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. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

Personal life

She was married to Nachman Warfman, a Doctor in Law (

University of Grenoble The (, ''Grenoble Alps University'', abbr. UGA) is a Grands établissements, ''grand établissement'' in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 researchers. Es ...

) and a certified public accountant (CPA). She had three children: Bernard, Salomon David, and Anne. She moved to

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, to be close to her children, her grandchildren and her great grandchildren. She died in Manchester on 17 September 2016, 17 days short of her 100th birthday.ROSE GLUCK WARFMAN, OLH., CVR. Obituary
/ref>

References

External links

Salomon Glück

France honours wartime resistance fighter, 92. Simon Rocker, The Jewish Chronicle (London), 14 April 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warfman, Rose 1916 births 2016 deaths Female resistance members of World War II French people of World War II Officers of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) People from Paris 20th-century Swiss Jews People from Zurich Auschwitz concentration camp survivors Gross-Rosen concentration camp survivors Jews in the French resistance French women in World War II 20th-century French women Jewish female partisans