Tag #123259 - Interview #97383 (Aron Anjel)

The last name of the doorman in the 16-flat apartment that belonged to my sister at Rue Tellier No.1, where I lived in Paris, was Labesse, we called her Madame Labesse. The flat at the entrance to the apartment was allotted to the doorman. When my older sister got married, they rented the flat on the fourth floor that we lived in. They had been living in this flat for four years before I came to Paris. This lady who was called a “Concierge’’ had known our family for seven years, but did not know our roots. At the time the doormen of Paris had the right to give identification cards, residential papers, documents to enter and leave the apartment etc. That is why, the Germans gave Madame Labesse a 50-question document and asked her to determine the Jewish families in the apartment. Whe she brought me food every evening according to our agreement, she would chat with me. When she showed these documents, first I was suspicious. But rightaway when she insulted the Germans saying: “Regardez Mr. Anjel ce que les boches m’ont fourré sous la main” (Look Mr. Anjel, what the bastard Germans jammed into my hands) I breathed easy, the next sentence: “Comme si moi je permetrai jamais a un Youpin d’habiter sous mon toit” (As if I would allow a Jew to live under my roof...)  put me at ease, because I understood that she had no information about the roots of myself or my older sister.