Biography
Lucie Ragin (born Lucie Zalc) was born February 27, 1935 in Antwerp, Belgium. She is the daughter of Mirjana Ulman and David Majer Zalc, both Jewish emigres from eastern Europe. Mirjana came from Latvia, while David Majer emigrated from Poland. Lucie had an older brother, Andre, and a younger sister, Josephina, who was born in 1941 in the Rivesaltes concentration camp. After the German invasion of Belgium in May 1940, the Zalc family fled to southern France. At first they lived in Toulouse, but were soon forced to relocate to the Recebedou internment camp. A short time later, the family was split up and sent to different camps, before being reunited in Rivesaltes in February 1941. David Majer became involved in smuggling prisoners out of the camp. However, when the situation became too dangerous in the summer of 1941, he and Andre were forced to escape, abandoning Lucie and his wife in her final weeks of pregnancy. Josephina was born soon after at an infirmary in the nearby village of Elne. Mirjana was given a pass to visit her baby, who was kept at a nursery in the village. After learning from a trusted friend and rabbi that all Rivesaltes prisoners would eventually be deported to Poland, Marjana decided to use her pass to escape. She took Lucie with her, but had to leave her infant behind. With the help of a French woman, the two reached Marseille and found their way to a refugee center at the Hotel Lavande. Miraculously, her husband was there at the same time. The family lived out the rest of the war in the village of Trets, where they found shelter in the Hotel de France. The owner, Madame Laville, treated them with great kindness, as did some of the local gendarmes, who purposely neglected to stamp Mirjana's passport with the word "Juif." This favor enabled the family to survive. The OSE secured Josephina's release during the war, and she joined the family in Trets. After the liberation the Zalcs returned to Belgium. With the help of relatives in Brooklyn, the family was able to immigrate to the U.S. five years later.
