Selected Documents from the Monastery of the of Notre-Dame de Sion, Paris (Archives of the Fathers and Brothers)

The Congregation of Notre-Dame de Sion, also known as NDS, was founded by two brothers, Théodore and Alphonse Ratisbonne, Jews from Strasbourg who converted to Roman Catholicism in the first half of the 19th century. (The congregation of priests and brothers was founded in 1852, the order of religious sisters was founded in 1843, in Paris.) Its goal was to convert Jews to Christianity through proselytizing and education, sometimes unbeknownst to the children’s families: "to witness in the Church and in the world that God continues to be faithful in his love for the Jewish people and to hasten the fulfillment of the promises concerning the Jews and the Gentiles." (Constitution, article 2).
After the Second Vatican Council, active conversion was no longer NDS’s primary goal. Instead, the congregation tried to open a dialogue with the Jewish community and foster mutual respect between the two religions, especially after the traumatic incidents following World War II when members of Catholic orders and the Vatican itself refused to relinquish children who had been baptized to their families or the Jewish community.
Yad Vashem has recognized seven Sisters and one priest of the congregation as “Righteous among the Nations” for their roles in saving Jews during WW II. Father Devaux, the Superior General of Notre-Dame de Sion, was instrumental in this effort.