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Certificate for a French Médaille Militaire awarded to German Jewish resistance fighter

Object | Accession Number: 2011.160.5

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    Overview

    Brief Narrative
    Certificate for the French Military Medal awarded posthumously to 18 year old Henri Engel, a German Jew living in France, who died while fighting with the French resistance during World War II. The medal was awarded in 1960, to honor Henri’s death while fighting for France. His sister Margot accepted it on his behalf in 1961. In September, 1939, Henri and his mother, Lucie, were in Lyon, France, when Germany invaded Poland, prompting France and Great Britain to declare war against Germany. They were from Berlin, but were not allowed to leave and reunite with Henri’s sister, Margot, and their father, Erich. In May 1940, Germany invaded France, and occupied the northern and western regions, allowing the collaborationist Vichy government to control the south east. The situation for foreign born Jews in Vichy France became progressively worse, and many faced internment and deportation. In November 1942, Germany invaded Vichy France. Henri joined the underground resistance movement and Lucie went into hiding. Henri's sister and father remained together in Berlin until Margot obtained an exit visa for Shanghai, China, and left. In March 1943, the Berlin Gestapo deported Erich to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, in German-occupied Poland, where he was killed. On August 7, 1944, Henri was arrested for acts of resistance and taken to Montluc Prison. On August 18, he was executed. Seventy-five members of Henri’s extended family were killed during the Holocaust. Lucie and Margot survived the war and later immigrated to the United States.
    Date
    commemoration:  approximately 1942-1944 August 18
    issue:  1960 May
    Geography
    issue: France
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Margot Engel
    Markings
    front, center, preprinted, black ink : RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE / MÉDAILLE MILITAIRE / VALEUR DISCIPLINE / AU NOM DU PRÉSIDENT DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE / GRAND MAÎTRE DE L’ORDRE NATIONAL DE LA LÉGION D’HONNEUR / LE GRAND CHANCELIER DE LA LÉGION D’HONNEUR [FRENCH REPUBLIC / MILITARY MEDAL / DISCIPLINE VALOR / ON BEHALF OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC / GRAND MASTER OF THE NATIONAL ORDER OF THE HONOR LEGION / THE GREAT CHANCELLOR OF THE LEGION OF HONOR]
    front, middle center, preprinted and typed, black ink : certifie que Monsieur ENGEL Henri / Combattant Volontaire de la Résistance / né le 20 Juin 1926 ,à Berlin département Allemagne / MORT POUR LA FRANCE / a été décoré de la MÉDAILLE MILITAIRE à titre posthume par décret du 18 Mai 1960 / Fait à Paris, Ie 31 Mai 1960 / Scellé et enregistré sous le N° 14.573 PO 60 / Le Chef du 1er Bureau, illegible signature / Général (?) [certifies that Mr. ENGEL Henri / Voluntary Fighter of the Resistance / born on 20 June 1926, in Berlin, Germany / DEATH FOR FRANCE / was decorated with the MILITARY MEDAL posthumously by decree of 18 May 1960 / Made in Paris, the 31 May 1960 / Sealed and registered under No. 14.573 PO 60 / The Head of the 1st Bureau, illegible signature / General (?)]
    front, bottom right corner, printed, black ink : Imprimerie Nationale / HENRI BIAIS [National Printing]
    Contributor
    Subject: Henri Engel
    Publisher: Imprimerie Nationale
    Issuer: République Française
    Printer: Henri Biais
    Biography
    Henri Engel was born on June 20, 1926, in Berlin, Germany, to a Jewish couple, Erich and Lucie Simonin Engel. Erich was born on January 29, 1891, in Culmsee, Germany (Chełmża, Poland), to Jakob and Rosa Cohn Engel. He was a businessman. On March 3, 1915, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Erich married Lucie, who was French. Henri’s older sister, Margot, was born on January 9, 1916. Henri was a painter. On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. Anti-Jewish decrees were passed that restricted every aspect of Jewish life. In the mid-1930’s, conditions worsened for Jews in Germany as more punitive anti-Jewish laws were enacted. On November 9 and 10, 1938, during the Kristallnacht pogrom, Jewish people and their businesses and homes were attacked and vandalized. Following his Bar Mitzvah in summer 1939, Henri and his mother, Lucie, travelled to Lyon, France, so that he could attend boarding school there.

    On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Two days later, France and England responded by declaring war against Germany. Henri and Lucie were unable to leave France and had no way to rejoin Erich and Margot in Berlin. In May 1940, Germany invaded France, and in June German forces occupied Paris. On June 22, France signed an armistice with Germany, which allowed it to annex the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine and occupy northern and western France. Southern and eastern regions, including Lyon where Henri and Lucie were living, were referred to as the French free zone and were administered by the French collaborationist government headquartered in Vichy. In the fall, the Vichy government passed anti-Semitic legislation patterned on German laws. In March 1941, the General Commissariat for Jewish Affairs was formed to manage the new laws, enforce the confiscation of Jewish property and possessions, and supervise the internment of foreign born Jews in detention camps. Henri joined the underground French resistance movement and Lucie went into hiding. In Berlin, Margot was able to secure an exit visa for Shanghai, China, and left Berlin on the last train out. On March 3, 1943, the Berlin Gestapo put Henri’s father, Erich, on transport 35 and deported him to German-occupied Poland. On March 6, Erich’s transport train arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

    On August 7, 1944, Henri was arrested for acts of resistance and imprisoned at Montluc Prison, which was under the control of Gestapo chief SS Obersturmfuhrer Klaus Barbie, the Butcher of Lyon. Prisoners lived in overcrowded conditions and were regularly tortured and interrogated. On August 18, Henri was executed. On September 3, 1944, Lyon was liberated from German control. On May 7, 1945, Germany surrendered. Henri’s mother, Lucie, survived in hiding and later immigrated to the United States. Margot married, and later she and her husband immigrated to the US. In 1960, the French Government awarded Henri three posthumous medals of resistance, which his sister, Margot, accepted on his behalf in 1961 in a ceremony in New York City. She later settled in Boca Raton, Florida. Seventy-five members of Henri’s extended family were killed in the Holocaust.

    Physical Details

    Language
    French Latin
    Classification
    Information Forms
    Category
    Certificates
    Object Type
    Certificates (aat)
    Physical Description
    Certificate printed on rectangular, heavyweight, offwhite paper with a black and white laurel leaf border around the perimeter; a spray of feathers in the bottom left corner, a circular black bomb in the bottom center, and 2 crossed anchors in the bottom right corner. The letters RF are centered at the top of the border, just above a black and white drawing of the Médaille Militaire. Embossed in the lower left corner is the Great Seal of France: a seated woman in a crown and robe, Liberty, holds a torch within a ring of French text. The certificate has preprinted text with added personal details typewritten in black. It describes the medal (2011.160.2) awarded posthumously for discipline and valor as a member of the resistance who died fighting for France during WWII. There are small stains just above the bottom border.
    Dimensions
    overall: Height: 13.250 inches (33.655 cm) | Width: 16.500 inches (41.91 cm)
    Materials
    overall : paper, ink
    Inscription
    front, bottom left, embossed seal : GRANDE CHANCELLERIE DE LA LÉGION D’HONNEUR / REPUBLIQUE FRANCAIS [GRAND CHANCELLERY OF THE LEGION OF HONOR / FRENCH REPUBLIC]

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    No restrictions on access
    Conditions on Use
    No restrictions on use

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    The certificate was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2011 by Margot Engel, the sister of Henri Engel.
    Funding Note
    The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
    Record last modified:
    2022-07-28 18:30:47
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn549434

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