Cécile Cerf
Encyclopedia
Cécile Cerf was a member of the French Resistance
during World War II.
During World War II, Cerf played an active role in the Main-d'œuvre immigrée
groups under the aegis of the FTP-MOI resistance movement. In the post-war period, she co-founded the Commission centrale de l’enfance devoted to taking care of orphans from the Holocaust.
, the city was renamed Wilno on passing to Polish
hands, and became Vilnius after the Second World War. Vilna was a major Jewish cultural centre: traditionalism and modernism, mysticism
and marxism
, Zionism
and anti-Zionism
co-existed. It was in this effervescent intellectual and artistic climate that Cécile Cerf performed her tumultuous studies. Elder daughter of Moshe Shalit
, Cécile Cerf spoke several languages, and at the age of 14, without fear of the violent repression, she joined the student revolutionary action against the Polish military dictatorship.
In 1932,Cécile Cerf pursued her schooling in Paris. After a brief time at the Lycée Victor-Duruy, her political convictions drove her to abandon her studies in order to live an authenic working-class life. She married Marcel Cerf in 1934, became French, and opposed the rioters of 6 February 1934.
During the Second World War, Cécile Cerf's husband became a prisoner of war
in Germany. Cécile Cerf was on her own bringing up a young child, born at the start of the war. Nonetheless in 1942 she joined the resistance against the Nazi occupation. In December 1942, she joined the ranks of the Francs-tireurs et partisans (FTPF), a grouping which subsumed the French Forces of the Interior
, in the Paris region. From 1942 until the liberation,Cécile Cerf served the resistance continuously and doggedly, with growing and multiple responsibilities in French territory. At first she acted as a liaison agent. She participated in saving Jewish children, in finding lodging for the armed fighters of the FTPF, and in the supply of combat groups. She stood out particularly for her participation in the arms and supplies transports which allowed the realization of several operations, notably that of 17 January 1944 when a train carrying enemy troops was derailed near Bellay.
From August 1943 until May 1944,Cécile Cerf was recruited as part of the FTP-MOI management among the French resistance in the zone Nord. She was put in charge of developing women's resistance activity, including within immigrant communities (Polish, Italian, Spanish). During this period, she recruited many women who serves as liaison agents.
In late 1943, she set up an underground printing press at Châtenay-Malabry
in the home of another woman resistance member. This press, of which she took leadership, ran until May 1944, editing and printing copies of many tracts and underground newspapers of the resistance Front national.
From May 1944,Cécile Cerf became the head of FTP-MOI in the zone Nord for the establishment of patriotic militias. She was specifically with the Paris region and the departments of l’Yonne and the Côte d’Or.
Cécile Cerf performed her missions on a bicycle, specifically transporting the templates for underground tracts to the departments which she visited. During the same period, she performed missions in the Saône et Loire, organising the resistance among women by aiding the Maquis
.
After the war, Cécile Cerf co-founded the Commission Centrale de l’Enfance along with six other resistance members from the Union des juifs pour la Résistance et l'Entraide (UJRE) associated with the MNCR. Children's houses and fosters for teenagers were set up to receive the orphan
s who had escaped the genocide. Pedagogues, educators, leaders and inspectors were trained to deal with accepting the children. Cécile Cerf was the first administrator of the newspaper Droit et Liberté. Named editorial secretary of the progressive Yiddish daily Naie Presse (New Press), her goal was clear: the preservation of a language and culture, and the defense of republican freedoms. As manager of the Renouveau bookshop, she regularly held meeting of writers from all backgrounds to animate her encounters with the readership.
In 1959, Cécile Cerf organised a soirée to honour the Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem at the Sorbonne
, and a large-scale conference at UNESCO
at the exhibition in honour of the Aleichem's centenary.
Cécile Cerf translated many novels by both classical and modern Yiddish authors totally unknown to the French public for the Presse Nouvelle Hebdomadaire (PNH). She also translated poetic texts from popular melodies.
Cécile Cerf strove for dialogue between cultures, for an independent Algeria
, against the wars in Indochina
and Vietnam
, and for the defense of the oppressed, wherever they were.
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
during World War II.
During World War II, Cerf played an active role in the Main-d'œuvre immigrée
Main-d'œuvre immigrée
The Main-d'œuvre immigrée was a French trade unionist organisation, composed of immigrant workers of the Confédération générale du travail unitaire in the 1920s. The MOI was affiliated to the Profintern...
groups under the aegis of the FTP-MOI resistance movement. In the post-war period, she co-founded the Commission centrale de l’enfance devoted to taking care of orphans from the Holocaust.
Biography
Cécile Cerf was born in the city of Vilna. At that time in RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, the city was renamed Wilno on passing to Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
hands, and became Vilnius after the Second World War. Vilna was a major Jewish cultural centre: traditionalism and modernism, mysticism
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
and marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
, Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
and anti-Zionism
Anti-Zionism
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionistic views or opposition to the state of Israel. The term is used to describe various religious, moral and political points of view in opposition to these, but their diversity of motivation and expression is sufficiently different that "anti-Zionism" cannot be...
co-existed. It was in this effervescent intellectual and artistic climate that Cécile Cerf performed her tumultuous studies. Elder daughter of Moshe Shalit
Moshe Shalit
Moshe Shalit, also Moses, Moyshe, Moishé, Moïsé Salitas [b. December 22, 1885, Vilna, Russia , d. July 19, 1941, Wilno, Poland ], was a researcher, journalist, essayist, ethnographer, and humanist of the inter-war period.Shalit devoted himself to the promotion of Yiddish language and of literature...
, Cécile Cerf spoke several languages, and at the age of 14, without fear of the violent repression, she joined the student revolutionary action against the Polish military dictatorship.
In 1932,Cécile Cerf pursued her schooling in Paris. After a brief time at the Lycée Victor-Duruy, her political convictions drove her to abandon her studies in order to live an authenic working-class life. She married Marcel Cerf in 1934, became French, and opposed the rioters of 6 February 1934.
During the Second World War, Cécile Cerf's husband became a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
in Germany. Cécile Cerf was on her own bringing up a young child, born at the start of the war. Nonetheless in 1942 she joined the resistance against the Nazi occupation. In December 1942, she joined the ranks of the Francs-tireurs et partisans (FTPF), a grouping which subsumed the French Forces of the Interior
French Forces of the Interior
The French Forces of the Interior refers to French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation of these groups to FFI occurred as France's status changed from that of an occupied nation...
, in the Paris region. From 1942 until the liberation,Cécile Cerf served the resistance continuously and doggedly, with growing and multiple responsibilities in French territory. At first she acted as a liaison agent. She participated in saving Jewish children, in finding lodging for the armed fighters of the FTPF, and in the supply of combat groups. She stood out particularly for her participation in the arms and supplies transports which allowed the realization of several operations, notably that of 17 January 1944 when a train carrying enemy troops was derailed near Bellay.
From August 1943 until May 1944,Cécile Cerf was recruited as part of the FTP-MOI management among the French resistance in the zone Nord. She was put in charge of developing women's resistance activity, including within immigrant communities (Polish, Italian, Spanish). During this period, she recruited many women who serves as liaison agents.
In late 1943, she set up an underground printing press at Châtenay-Malabry
Châtenay-Malabry
Châtenay-Malabry is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 10.8 km from the center of Paris.The commune includes the valley la vallée aux loups with green forests and pretty houses including the estate of French writer Chateaubriand. It also includes the Butte...
in the home of another woman resistance member. This press, of which she took leadership, ran until May 1944, editing and printing copies of many tracts and underground newspapers of the resistance Front national.
From May 1944,Cécile Cerf became the head of FTP-MOI in the zone Nord for the establishment of patriotic militias. She was specifically with the Paris region and the departments of l’Yonne and the Côte d’Or.
Cécile Cerf performed her missions on a bicycle, specifically transporting the templates for underground tracts to the departments which she visited. During the same period, she performed missions in the Saône et Loire, organising the resistance among women by aiding the Maquis
Maquis (World War II)
The Maquis were the predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance. Initially they were composed of men who had escaped into the mountains to avoid conscription into Vichy France's Service du travail obligatoire to provide forced labour for Germany...
.
After the war, Cécile Cerf co-founded the Commission Centrale de l’Enfance along with six other resistance members from the Union des juifs pour la Résistance et l'Entraide (UJRE) associated with the MNCR. Children's houses and fosters for teenagers were set up to receive the orphan
Orphan
An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
s who had escaped the genocide. Pedagogues, educators, leaders and inspectors were trained to deal with accepting the children. Cécile Cerf was the first administrator of the newspaper Droit et Liberté. Named editorial secretary of the progressive Yiddish daily Naie Presse (New Press), her goal was clear: the preservation of a language and culture, and the defense of republican freedoms. As manager of the Renouveau bookshop, she regularly held meeting of writers from all backgrounds to animate her encounters with the readership.
In 1959, Cécile Cerf organised a soirée to honour the Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
, and a large-scale conference at UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
at the exhibition in honour of the Aleichem's centenary.
Cécile Cerf translated many novels by both classical and modern Yiddish authors totally unknown to the French public for the Presse Nouvelle Hebdomadaire (PNH). She also translated poetic texts from popular melodies.
Cécile Cerf strove for dialogue between cultures, for an independent Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, against the wars in Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, and for the defense of the oppressed, wherever they were.
Publications by Cécile Cerf
- Regards sur la littérature yidich (Note the original French spelling "Yidich" is now used less in France than the English spelling "Yiddish".), Ed. Académie d’Histoire, 1974
- Chants yiddish de Russie, Translation to French by Cécile Cerf. Ed. Le Chant du Monde