Toulouse: A series of tributes to Cardinal Jules Saliège, Righteous Among the Nations
The Jewish and Catholic communities of Toulouse are organizing a series of celebrations, from November 18 to 24, in tribute to Archbishop Jules Saliège and his heroic action during the Second World War. The religious had then set up a support network for the Jews of his diocese.
The commemorations begin with a Judeo-Christian Shabbat, this Friday evening, at the Espace du Judaisme in Toulouse.
On Sunday, several events will be held on the occasion of a memorial day. At 10:30 a.m., a tribute mass will be organized at the Saint-Étienne cathedral in Toulouse, followed at 1:45 p.m. by times of memory at the Palaprat synagogue, then at 3 p.m. in the Saliège square. The mayor and the prefect will speak during the tribute at the synagogue. The day will end with a Judeo-Christian concert at 5 p.m. at the cathedral.
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Haïm Korsia, Chief Rabbi of France, and the emissary of Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Holy See of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, will attend Sunday Mass at Saint-Étienne Cathedral.
Finally, next Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 7.30 p.m., there will be a study day organized by the Shoah Memorial and the Catholic Institute of Toulouse, in the latter’s premises.
Eighty years ago, on August 23, 1942, as the roundups and deportations of Jews multiplied in Vichy France and in the zone occupied by the Nazis, Monsignor Jules Saliège (1870-1956), Archbishop of Toulouse recognized as Righteous Among nations in 1969, published a letter in which he expressed his indignation at the treatment suffered by the Jews. The prefect of Haute-Garonne had then just ordered the deportation of the Jews from the Noé and Récébédou camps to the death camps.
“Jews are men, Jewesses are women. Everything is not allowed against them, against these men, against these women, against these fathers and mothers of families. They are part of the human race. They are our Brothers like so many others. A Christian cannot forget it, ”he wrote in particular.
“France, beloved homeland France which carries in the conscience of all your children the tradition of respect for the human person. Chivalrous and generous France, I have no doubt, you are not responsible for these horrors. »
This letter, then relayed by the parish priests of the diocese of Toulouse and whose distribution the French government tried to block, was widely taken up and broadcast by the Vatican and on the airwaves of the BBC.
On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the letter, Catholic and Jewish scouts from Toulouse, aged 10 to 17, and Mgr de Kerimel, Archbishop of Toulouse, broadcast a video this summer relaying the words of this Righteous Among the Nations. .
The chief rabbi of France and Mgr de Moulins Beaufort, president of the Conference of Bishops of France, had called in August to read the letter of Mgr Saliège in all the synagogues and parishes of France.
Jules Saliège denounced Nazi Germany and its anti-Semitism in 1933, the year Adolf Hitler came to power. From March 1941, he acted to materially help the detainees (mostly foreigners) of the Noé and Récébédou camps. Without ever having joined the Resistance itself, he was recognized as a Companion of the Liberation by General de Gaulle.
With Bishop Bruno de Solages, he won the protection of many Jews and exiles, many of whom are quoted by the AJPN.org site, placed them in safe places around Toulouse.
He also worked with his auxiliary bishop, Louis de Courrèges, and with the engineer and resistance fighter Georges Garel, to save children. Courrèges and Garel have done a lot for the Children’s Relief Work in Haute-Garonne, saving between 1,500 and 2,000 children according to figures from the Shoah Memorial.
“For this anniversary, we wanted to emphasize the little-known role of the Catholic Institute of Toulouse in the Resistance,” said Explain to the magazine life Maurice Lugassy, regional coordinator of the Shoah Memorial. “In 1942, Jules Saliège was in too fragile health to organize direct actions, so he supported the initiatives of his friend Bruno de Soulages, the rector of the Catholic Institute. Soulages forged student cards to protect young Jews from deportation and made his institute a place of refuge until his deportation in 1944.
Arrested by the Gestapo on June 9, 1944, Jules Saliège owes his salvation only to his state of health and his age, as well as to the vigorous protest of the nun who is with him.
Died in Toulouse on November 4, 1956, he was buried in the city’s Saint-Étienne cathedral. Several places in the Toulouse region, including schools, now bear his name.