Gaston Kahn papers

Gaston Kahn was born on April 15, 1889, in Wingersheim, France, to Aron and Melanie Klein Kahn. He married Jeanne Meyer, born January 12, 1901, also in Alsace. Jeanne’s family made their fortune from silver mines in Mexico. Gaston received a scholarship for rabbinical studies in Paris, but instead studied literature at the Sorbonne. He served in the French Army from 1917 to 1919, which included World War I (1914-1918). The couple lived in Paris. They had a daughter, Danny-Claude, on October 25, 1925, and a son, Marcel-Francis, on November 1, 1929. The children were given private religious instruction from a young age. In 1936, Gaston was Director of the Comité d'Assistance Aux Réfugiés (CAR) [Committee of Assistance to Refugees], an affiliate of the American Joint Distribution Committee (AJDC) in Paris. The organization was founded in 1934 to provide aid to Jewish refugees escaping German oppression. It provided legal advice to help Jewish refugees stay in France and attempted to find permanent homes. In June 1939, Gaston assisted refugees from the MS St. Louis, during the voyage on which the ship, which carried over 900 Jewish refugees, was turned away from Cuba and the United States and forced to return to Europe. On May 10, 1940, Germany invaded France. Gaston’s father-in-law, Leo Meyer, arranged for the family to flee to Limoges before the Germans reached Paris. The northern and western regions of France were placed under the control of a German military administration, while the southern region was governed by the French Vichy regime, which collaborated with the Germans. On November 29, 1941, the Union Generale Des Israelites De France (UGIF) was formed by the Vichy regime, in response to German demands to consolidate all Jewish organizations. Gaston was selected to be involved and reluctantly agreed. The family moved to Marseille, where Gaston served as director of UGIF’s fifth department. Gaston also engaged in resistance activity, including the forgery of identity papers, from 1942 to 1943. In November 1942, Germany occupied Vichy France. In 1943, Jeanne sent Marcel-Francis to Gap to get false identity papers for Gaston. Gaston and Jeanne obtained false identity cards under the names Pierre and Jeanette Kervol. In March 1943, the family moved to Gap, which was in the Italian occupied region. Gaston’s resistance activity now focused on hiding children or getting them to Switzerland. In August 1943, Gaston became Director of UGIF South. Earlier that month, the previous director was arrested by the Germans, held in Drancy internment camp, and then deported to Auschwitz concentration camp. Gaston was forced to make difficult decisions and to collaborate with the Germans. On October 20, the Gestapo took several mothers and children from a UGIF center and deported them. Gaston was warned of this in advance, but the Gestapo had threatened to round up every Jew in Marseille if he did anything to prevent the deportation. Later that month, Gaston and his family were issued an unauthorized Salvadoran citizenship certificate by George Mandel-Mantello, First Secretary of the Salvadoran Consulate in Switzerland, possibly with the hope of saving the family if they were arrested. The family separated in October, as Gap was no longer safe following the German occupation of Italy and Italian held areas in France in September 1943. Gaston moved to Marseille, while Jeanne and the children moved to Chauffayer en Champsaur, where many members of the resistance resided. In December, the local Gestapo chief, SS Bauer, became aware of Gaston’s resistance activities and planned to arrest him. Gaston was warned of the threat and escaped, joining his family in Chauffayer en Champsaur. In 1944, Gaston participated in fighting with the resistance. Marcel-Francis served as a scout for the resistance in combat along the Napoleon Road in August 1944. That same month, the region was liberated by American troops. The war in Europe ended when Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945. After the war, the family returned to Paris. Gaston continued his aid work with the American Joint Distribution Committee and served on the European Executive Council. On November 20, 1946, he was awarded the Medal of Resistance. In 1962, he received the Legion d’Honneur. Gaston died in 1969. Marcel-Francis became a doctor, professor of medicine, and political activist. He married Regina Cukier, a Holocaust survivor from Warsaw, who passed away in 1974.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Dr. Marcel-Francis Kahn

Dr. Marcel-Francis Kahn donated this material to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2012.