Pierre Ratier, son of the founder of the emblematic factory in Figeac, recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations

Pierre Ratier, son of Paulin Ratier founder of the emblematic Figeac company, hid a Jewish family during the war. Pierre Ratier, son of the founder of the Ratier factory in Figeac, has just been recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel. Deceased in 1967, the Lot resident hid the Lubtchansky family starting in 1943 in a house belonging to his father, Paulin Ratier, located in the village of Corn in the Célé valley. He becomes the fourth Figeacois to receive this exceptional medal, the highest civilian distinction awarded to those who rescued Jews during the Second World War. An official award ceremony is expected to take place in the coming months. In 1943 and 1944, he hid a Jewish family in a house in a small village in the Lot: Pierre Ratier, son of the founder of the emblematic company of Figeac, recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations. Pierre Ratier, son of Paulin Ratier, founder of the emblematic factory in Figeac, hid a Jewish family during the war. Pierre Ratier, son of the founder of the Ratier factory in Figeac, has just been recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel. Deceased in 1967, the Lotois hid the Lubtchansky family from 1943 in a house belonging to his father, Paulin Ratier, and located in the village of Corn in the Célé valley. He becomes the fourth Figeacois to receive this exceptional medal, the highest civilian distinction awarded to those who rescued Jews during the Second World War. An official award ceremony is expected to take place in the coming months. Inseparable from the history of Figeac, the name Ratier is now recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel. The son of the famous founder of the Lotoise factory, Pierre Ratier (1904-1967), has in fact just received posthumously the medal representing the highest civilian distinction awarded to non-Jews who saved Jews at the risk of their lives during the Second World War. The news of this exceptional distinction was communicated during the month of August to the family of the Lotois, notably to his grandsons, Pierre-Nicolas and Emmanuel Ratier, who discovered the actions of their grandfather thanks to the research conducted by Pascal Mallet. In Corn in 1944, from left to right: Jean-Claude Lubtchansky, Nicole Eizner, Sarah Lubtchansky, William and Paulette Berman. All five survived. Passionate about local history, this Figeacois who initiated the recognition process found himself somewhat by chance on the trail of Pierre Ratier's rescue. "It was while reading that I heard about a certain Bernard family hidden in the village of Corn," recounts Pascal Mallet, who was able to reconstruct the thread of their story, which had remained unknown until then. At the end of 1943, Pierre Ratier - who then managed the Ratier factory - welcomed in the Lot Léon Lubtchansky, "a very good classmate from the 1923 promotion" met during his studies at the Bréguet engineering school, who came to take refuge with his wife Sarah, their two sons Jean-Claude and William, and two nieces Nicole Eizner and Paulette Berman. All six were settled by Pierre Ratier in a summer house, La Mouline, owned by his father Paulin Ratier (who died in 1939) in the Célé valley, in the heart of the small village of Corn. "The Lubtchansky family had left the Paris region for the Côte d'Azur and had taken the name Bernard. We know that the family made the journey from Cannes to Figeac by train, accompanied by two engineers from the Ratier factory. I met residents who knew them at that time. The children even attended school in Figeac", specifies Pascal Mallet. On May 8, the granddaughter of Léon Lubtchansky spoke at the ceremony honoring her grandfather, whose name is now engraved on the war memorial in the village of Corn. The journey of this family is unfortunately marked, on May 11, 1944, the day before the terrible Round-up of Figeac, by the arrest of Léon Lubtchansky. Deported, he who would keep the name of Léon Bernard in the camps, is part of convoy 75 which took him, like sixty other Jews, to Auschwitz. He would die at Buchenwald in 1945. Until liberation, the other five members of his family who had taken refuge in Corn were not disturbed. They left the Lot before the end of 1944 to return to live in the Paris region. The two sons, Jean-Claude and William, both had a successful career in cinema. Their descendants, particularly the granddaughters of Léon Lubtchansky, Nathalie and Gabrielle, testified to the help provided by Pierre Ratier in the application for recognition as a Righteous Among the Nations filed nearly two and a half years ago at Yad Vashem. Last May 8, the name of Léon Lubtchansky, who died for France, was engraved on the war memorial in the commune of Corn, his last residence. Pierre Ratier is now the fourth Figeacois to be recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations, after Louise Gardère (director of the girls' school), Noël Gozzi (principal of the Champollion college), and Élie Puech, a tailor by trade who received this medal in 1979 at the age of 92. An official medal award ceremony is expected to be organized in the coming months in the village of Corn. TESTIMONIAL. "My mother had kept everything, but we weren't aware": the hidden letters of a deportee discovered by his son, 82 years after the German round-up of 1944 in the Lot