The doctor Adélaïde Hautval from Alsace crossed the demarcation line in Vierzon between the unoccupied north and the occupied south of France without permission in May 1942, and was arrested. In Bourges prison, she protested against Jews having to wear the yellow star. She was then taken to an internment camp for Jews, and had to wear an armband printed with “Amie des Juifs” (friend of the Jews).
In January 1943, she was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. As a prisoner medic, she resisted the SS doctors’ orders to take part in medical experiments on inmates on several occasions. She was transferred to Ravensbrück concentration camp in August 1944. There too, she helped the other women as a prisoner doctor. After the camp’s liberation, she took care of the severely ill prisoners.
She testified against former SS doctors in several post-war trials. She was honored in Israel as Righteous Among the Nations in 1965. After her female partner’s death, she committed suicide at the age of 82.
The Haas-Hautval family in Hohwald, around 1909; the youngest daughter Adélaïde is sitting on her oldest sister Émilie Thérèse’s lap (2nd from right). Source: Privatbesitz/Private
The siblings Adélaïde, Emmanuel, and Dorette Hautval (left to right) in the home for children with behavioral issues founded by Adélaïde and Emmanuel Hautval, “Les Hirondelles,” between 1933 and 1937. Source: Privatbesitz/Private
Adélaïde Hautval, 1960s. Source: Mémorial de la Shoah, Paris, MIX1_4_14
