MILA RACINE
A French Heroine
You have heard the name “Mila Racine.” You have heard that she helped save Jewish children in France during the time of the German occupation. Who was she really? Who was this elegant, young Jewish woman who met a tragic death just days before the end of the Second World War?
Here, on these pages, I seek to share with you some of the things I learned about Mila. Over many years, I have endeavored to “walk in her footsteps” – that is, to be in the places where she lived and worked; to interview family members and others who knew her; to speak with men and women whom she smuggled across the border, from France into Switzerland; and to meticulously research and document the lifesaving work she accomplished.
Of course, Mila was not alone in carrying out the work she did. She and a young Jewish man named Tony Gryn organized and led the smuggling team, which consisted of several young men and women. The team was helped, in ways both large and small, by Catholics and Protestants living in the region.
Photo: Mila Racine with niece Lili, location unknown but likely Toulouse, circa 1941. Courtesy of the Racine family.
In 2013, I published a book entitled The Fate of Others: Rescuing Jewish Children on the French-Swiss Border, which presents a very detailed account of the subjects addressed here. Subsequently, in 2016, L’Harmattan published a French translation of the book, entitled Le sort des autres: Le sauvetage des enfants juifs à la frontière franco-suisse. In those volumes, I present not only the names of the rescuers but also the names of the rescued, each name linked to a specific date and place.
You might ask, why include such detail? I believe that verified, documented facts bear witness to the work of the rescuers. Entering such facts into the written record of the Shoah in France honors the memory of those who risked their lives to save others.
Mila received no proper burial. There is no gravesite on which stones might be placed to honor her memory. In lieu of placing stones on a gravesite, I specify the names of 274 children and adults whom Mila helped smuggle across the border, from France into Switzerland. I place them into the written record, to honor her courage, her deeds, her memory.