27 October 2009
On Tuesday, October 27, 2009, Louise Roger, a Righteous Among the Nations from France, was posthumously honored at Yad Vashem. Her grandchildren, Robert Roger and Marie-Terese Roger, arrived especially for the event from France, and received the medal and certificate of honor on her behalf.
The ceremony was preceded by a memorial service in the Hall of Remembrance. The Righteous’ grandchildren rekindled the eternal flame in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, among them also the parents and grandmother of Ehud Loeb, the small boy who was saved by Louise Roger. The awards were presented in a moving ceremony in the Garden of the Righteous by the Chairman of the Commission for the Designation of the Righteous Among the Nations Justice Jacob Türkel and Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev. The event took place in the presence of Dr Ehud Loeb, his family and friends, French Ambassador to Israel Christophe Bigot, members of Aloumim, the Association of Jewish Children Hidden in France during the Holocaust, and a group of French teachers attending a seminar at Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies.
Dr. Loeb described the time he was hidden in Louise Roger’s farm as a “fragile happiness”. “I do not remember ever receiving a hug or a kiss from her, but I loved her and knew that she loved me. I had become her grandchild”, he said.
Click here for Ehud Loeb's full remarks during the ceremony.
Robert Roger thanked Yad Vashem for the honor bestowed on his grandmother, and told the audience about his grandmother – a simple woman, challenged by the hardship of a lonely life on her little farm, but who never questioned the need to help the young boy when he was brought to her.
Click here for Robert Roger's full remarks during the ceremony.
Click here to read the story of Ehud Loeb's rescue.
