Biography
Jacques Arditti, (born in Smyrna, Turkey, in 1911) was the father of the donor Philippe. Jacques' father was a well-to-do Jewish banker, but the family left Turkey after World War I at the advent of Ataturk and sought asylum in Bayonne, France. Jacque's sister, Rebecca, "Betty", was also born in Turkey, in 1915 or 1916. The Arditti family later moved to Joinville-le-Pont, a suburb of Paris where Edouard was born in 1922. The family probably moved to Paris at one point and may have joined other Turkish Jews in the 11th arrondissement though they also socialized with many non-Jews. Jacques Arditti started his own business in the 1930's, selling various types of bags, boxes, and packaging for all sorts of products. He probably became a French citizen when he passed his baccalaureate exam, around 1930. It is not clear if he was still living with his parents when on December 12, 1942, German soldiers, assisted by French policemen, came to the Arditti apartment and arrested Edouard and his father. They were sent to the Ecole Militaire for one night, and then sent to the Camp of Compiègne-Royallieu, east of Paris, where the living conditions were extremely severe. Jacques' father became ill and was sent home to die. Edouard was deported on Convoy #1 on March 27, 1942.
Jacques' sister Betty (Rebecca) married Jacques Franck, a decorator and artist, in the 1930's. They had a son, Jean-Pierre Franck. Betty and her husband took refuge in Nice and Jacques decided to join them. Jacques' mother may also have lived with them as she survived the war. Jacques belonged to a resistance network on the Riviera, although he never mentioned this to his son. After his mother's death, Philippe found a letter written by Roger Bordet, Deputy Mayor of the 9th arrondissement of Paris and President of the Purge Commission, commending Jacques for his bravery and the risks he took. He had served as a liaison and traveled regularly between the north and south. According to the letter, his work maintained cohesion between the various resistance groups.
After the war, Jacques met Jacqueline Guiard in a nightclub. She came from a traditional Catholic family from Auvergne, but lived in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. Jacqueline's family was antisemitic and disapproved of the marriage. Jacques converted to Catholicism and they wed in both a civil and religious ceremony in Coyes-la-Forêt, north of Paris, in 1949. (Jacques Arditti's mother died before 1949.) Their son Philippe was born in June, 1950. He was baptized and brought up as a Catholic. Jacques wanted to protect Philippe and not dwell on the past. As a result Philippe was never told the names of his paternal grandparents, and he never knew he had an uncle who was deported until he was a young teenager.
