Français
Polski
Jeanine STEPANSKI
Jeanine in a school photo of the 6th grade B class at the Molière school (1943-1944),
Source: Nicole Chaillet.
Jeanine Stepanski’s childhood
Jeanine Stepanski was born on April 4, 1933 in the 16th district of Paris. She was a French citizen who was living at 41 rue des Belles Feuilles in 1936, and at 60 rue de la Faisanderie in the 16th district in 1944. She lived with her brother Daniel, her mother Rebecca and her father Henri.
Jeanine Stepanski, on the left, with her brother Daniel
Source: The Shoah Memorial in Paris.
She also went to the Molière school, and can be seen in the school photo of the 6th grade B class in the 1943-1944 academic year. She was good friends with one girl in particular in her class, Nicole Chaillet (maiden name: Rossano).
School photo of the 6th grade B class at the Molière school (1943-1944 (1943-1944)
Source: Nicole Chaillet.
Jeanine Stepanski wrote a letter to Nicole on June 9th, 1943. (see references below)
In this letter, Jeanine updates her friend after she left, telling her that the students who had failed the D.E.P.P. (certificate of primary studies) in May, as Nicole had, would be able to retake the exam.
Letter from Jeanine Stepanski to Nicole Chaillet, kindly donated by Ms. Chaillet
Internment in Drancy deportation to Auschwitz
In 1944, the people of Paris were living at the mercy of the German occupiers. As a result, Jews were discriminated against and repressed. It was against this backdrop that on July 14, 1944, the Gestapo, the Nazi political police, went to arrest Jeanine, her mother and brother at their home. They were later sent to Drancy, where they were interned on June 19, 1944. Drancy was an internment camp in what is now the Seine-Saint-Denis department. The camp was a central gathering point for Jews who were to be deported from France. Around 9 out of 10 French Jews were deported via Drancy.
On June 31, 1944, Jeanine Stepanski, her brother and her mother were deported to Auschwitz on Convoy 77, the last large convoy to Auschwitz. 1309 people, including 324 children, were on the train, many of whom met a tragic end. Auschwitz was the Third Reich’s largest concentration camp and killing center. As soon as Jeanine, her mother and brother arrived at Auschwitz, they were murdered in the gas chambers. Their official date of death was later declared to have been July 5, 1944.
Lastly, on April 25, 2003, the by Secretary of State for Veterans decreed that the words “Died during deportation” be added to affixed to the official certificates and records about Jeanine Stepanski. Her name is inscribed on slab 38, column 13, row 2 of the Wall of Names at the Shoah Memorial in Paris. Her nephew, Alexandre Stepanski, also submitted a testimonial card to Yad Vashem on February 14, 2005.
Source : Yad Vashem
The Stepanski family tree, based on testimonial cards from Yad Vashem, drawn by Laurent Gerome and Chanthuyan Chandravarathan, students at the Molière high school
Chanthuyan CHANDRAVARATHAN et Laurent GEROME, élèves de Terminale encadrés par Jennifer Ghislain et Anne-Marie Poutiers, lycée Molière, Paris.
Sources:
-
Photos
– Jeanine Stepanski and her brother Daniel: Shoah Memorial website, sent by Maurice Stepanski
– Photo of class 6e B at the Molière school: Molière high school archives
-
Archived records
– Jeanine Stepanski’s letter to Nicole Chaillet: letter donated by Nicole Chaillet, included in, Mémorial des enfants juifs du lycée Molière morts en déportation à Auschwitz (et de leurs familles), 1942-1944 (Memorial to the Jewish children of the Molière school who died during deportation to Auschwitz (and their families), 1942-1944), by Anne-Marie Poutiers and nine students from classes 3e1, 3e2 et 3e3 at the Molière High school, Salavre, published by Cleyriane, 2023.
–Testimonial cards for Jeanine Stepanski, submitted by Alexandre Stepanski, and for Rebecca and Blanche Stepanski, submitted by Maurice Stepanski, Yad Vashem
-
Websites
– 9th grade students from the Fernand-Leger school in Vierzon, biography of Daniel Stepanski on this site and the Wikipedia article Drancy Internment Camp
– What is the Shoah? and an article in French only about the Jews in France during the Holocaust https://www.memorialdelashoah.org/archives-et-documentation/quest-ce-que-la-shoah/juifs-de-france-shoah.html, both on the Shoah Memorial website
