Michel Zaffran
In search of Jacob Zafran
The author recounts his research into the paternal branch of his family. This exploration enabled him to trace back seven generations of ancestors who lived mainly in Algiers, Constantine and Jerusalem. This publication is also an opportunity to highlight the many resources available for this type of research, and to thank the many people who assisted and encouraged him.
Pierre-André Meyer
From Issachar Baer de Dettwiller to Édouard Baer: an Alsatian lineage
In her book La collection disparue (The Disappeared Collection), published in 2020, Pauline Baer de Perignon revealed the identity of an actor in Louis Malle’s film, Au revoir les enfants, whose name did not appear in the credits: it was Philippe Baer, his own father, who played the character of “Mr. Meyer”, an elderly man attacked and humiliated by militiamen who burst into a restaurant in principle forbidden to Jews, where he ate his meal in complete discretion. This was the starting point for research into this Baer family from Alsace, whose descendants also include René Baer, who wrote superb song lyrics for Léo Ferré, and the media-savvy Édouard Baer, who played the scribe Egyptian “Otis” in the film Asterix et Obelix: Mission Cleopatre.
Anne-Marie Fribourg
Edmond Etling, art publisher, and his family
Edmond Etling was a publisher of glassware and objets d’art until his death in 1918. But his name survived long afterwards through the company he had created. So much so that he was given a fictitious life and thought to be deported. Edmond and his twin brother Georges were very active in the sports movement, producing works of art depicting athletes.
Laurent Moyse
Mondorf and Mondorff: a cross-border story
The Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71 led to major migratory movements in north-eastern France. In Mondorf-les-Bains, a border town in the south of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, a small Jewish community was formed, mainly by families of Lorraine origin. On the other side of the border, following the armistice in 1918, the French commune of Mondorff was led by a Jewish mayor.