Group portrait of young people gathered in an apartment in Brussels. Among them is Jeanne Daman (center) who played a major role in resistance and rescue two years later.

Photograph | Digitized | Photograph Number: 38706

Overview

Caption: Group portrait of young people gathered in an apartment in Brussels. Among them is Jeanne Daman (center) who played a major role in resistance and rescue two years later.

Also pictured are Paul, Georgette and Henri Gazan.
Date: 1940 January 03
Locale: Brussels, [Brabant] Belgium
Variant Locale: Brussel
Bruxelles
Photo Credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Jeanne Daman Scaglione

Photo Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Provenance: Jeanne Daman Scaglione

Source Record ID: Collections: 2007.14

Keyword: BELGIANS DAMAN, JEANNE GROUP PORTRAITS RESCUERS/RESCUE RESISTERS/RESISTANCE RIGHTEOUS AMONG THE NATIONS YOUTH (13-20 YEARS)
Photo Designation: RESCUERS & RESCUED -- Belgium

Biography: Jeanne Daman (later Scaglione) was a young Roman Catholic Belgian school teacher when the war began. After Jewish children were no longer permitted to attend regular public schools, Fela Perelman approached her and asked whether she would be willing to join the staff of Nos Petits, a Jewish kindergarten in Brussels. Jeanne was only 21 at he time. Not only did she respond positively, but she eventually became the headmistress of the school. When the deportation of Belgian Jews began in 1942, she helped find hiding places for 2,000 children. She also helped rescue many Jewish men by obtaining false papers for them. At the end of the war she became actively involved with the Belgian resistance transporting arms on her bike and providing intelligence for them. Immediately after the war she helped care for orphans, reunite families and raise funds for the United Jewish Appeal. She married University of California, Berekely professor Aldo Scaglione. She was honored for her work both by the king of Belgium and by Yad Vashem, who in 1971 recognized her as a Righteous Among the Nations.