Julie AMOUYAL

OUR INVESTIGATION

We began by looking at all the records provided by the Convoy 77 non-profit organization, sorting them according to importance and the information they contained, and then recording this information on index cards. Some of the records were difficult to read, and there were a few inconsistencies: we found that Julie’s name was sometimes spelled Julia, that there were several different dates for deportation and repatriation, and a number of different home addresses. We then drafted the biography, based on the most reliable information available and carried out additional research in order to complete it. We tried to find out if Julie had any children, if she had any siblings, if there were any remaining traces of her, and when exactly she died, but we were unable to find reliable, exact answers to most of these questions.

The Amouyal family tree, drawn by Juline S.

 

GROWING UP IN ALGERIA

Julie Amouyal, whose maiden name was Julie Ankaoua, was born on May 8, 1911 in Oran in Algeria. She lived with her parents, Salomon Ankaoua, a storekeeper, and Clara El Kabbach, and her three sisters, Perle, Camille and Marie. Julie went on to work in the prefecture in Oran and lived in a low-cost apartment on Gambetta. She married Judas Amouyal [1] on August 12, 1933 in Oran.

Birth record, dated February 7, 1911, from the Oran city demographic department archives. Source: File on Julia Amouyal, © Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen, ref. 21 P 697 602 1707

The Crémieux decree, which was passed during the Prussian war in 1870, automatically granted French citizenship to Algerian Jews. Julie and her husband thus became French citizens. They moved from Oran in Algeria to France. They lived at 4, rue Simon le Franc, in the 4th district of Paris, then at 17, rue de Bretagne in the 3rd district, and lastly at 17, rue Montmartre in the 1st district.

Google maps screenshot of the city of Paris showing Jules and Julie Amouyal’s three home addresses.

DEPORTATION

From 1940 onwards, after the Germans occupied France and the Vichy regime came to power, anti-Semitism increased significantly. Jews had their French citizenship withdrawn and were forbidden to work in various professions. Julie and her husband joined the French Resistance, and from then on used the surname Sabatier.

Application for the status of political deportee, page 2, Veterans and Victims of War archives, Oran, Algeria, March 1, 1954.  Source: File on Julia Amouyal, © Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen, ref. 21 P 697 602 1707

The French police arrested Julie on July 14, 1944 and interned her in Drancy camp. Built in 1930 as a low-cost housing estate, Drancy was in the northeastern suburbs of Paris. The Germans used it as a transit camp for French Jews. Julie and her husband, in common with all the other Jewish prisoners, were held in appalling conditions. They had to sleep on the floor and the only food they had was very small portions of bread and soup[2].

On July 31, 1944, Julie Amouyal was deported to the largest of the Nazi killing centers, Auschwitz-Birkenau, aboard Convoy77. This was the last transport from Drancy to Auschwitz, in Poland. When she arrived, she was selected to go into the concentration camp to work, and had the number 16.66IA tattooed on her left forearm.

Application for the status of political deportee, page 3, Veterans and Victims of War archives, Oran, March 1, 1954.  Source: File on Julia Amouyal, © Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen, ref. 21 P 697 602 1707

Julie had to carry out forced labor. Living conditions were even harsher in Auschwitz than they had been in Drancy. She was separated from her husband, in an area of the camp specifically for female prisoners. The conditions for women in Auschwitz were truly appalling. They had to endure overcrowding, malnutrition, very hard work, disease, physical violence and humiliation. Many of them were used for experiments and forced to have abortions. Some women were also sexually abused by Nazi guards and officers[3]. In February 1945, as the Russians were advancing towards Auschwitz, Julie was transferred to the Kratzau labor and concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. The Russians eventually liberated the camp on May 8, 1945, and Julie was repatriated to Paris on June 3, 1945. She was one of only 251 Convoy 77 deportees who survived.

 

Julia’s statement confirming that she was a victim of deportation, French Ministry of Prisoners of War, Deportation and Refugees archives, September 6, 1945, April 8, 1952. Source: File on Julia Amouyal, © Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen, ref. 21 P 697 602 1707

AFTER THE WAR

When Julie finally returned to Paris, she tried to put her life back together, with the help of the French government, which set up facilities to receive and care for survivors. The government also launched compensation schemes for Holocaust victims: they could apply for the “political deportee” status, which then entitled them to a pension. People could also apply for compensation for loss of family members who had been killed as part of the Nazi regime’s extermination policy[4]. Julie therefore put together a series of requests for recognition and compensation.

Response to the application for the status of political deportee, Veterans and Victims of War archives, Oran, Algeria, March 31 (sic) 1954. Source: File on Julia Amouyal, © Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen, ref. 21 P 697 602 1707

Julie applied to the State for political deportee status and was eventually granted 13,200 francs in compensation.

Confirmation of compensation payment for political deportees, Ministry of Veterans and Victims of War archives, August 13, 1954.  Source: File on Julia Amouyal, © Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen, ref. 21 P 697 602 1707 

Since she had not heard from her husband since he was deported, she sent a number of letters to government bodies requesting a search for him. He was subsequently declared missing.

Acknowledgement that Judas Amoyal was missing after having been deported, pages 1 and 2, Ministry of Veterans and Victims of War archives, May 31, 1949. Source: File on Julia Amouyal, © Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen, ref. 21 P 697 602 1707

 Julie also requested that she and her husband be granted the title of “deported Resistance fighter” rather than “political deportee”. This would have meant that they were acknowledged to have been voluntary resistance fighters, rather than civilian victims, but her application was turned down.

Response to Julie’s request for “deported Resistance fighter” rather than “political deportee” status, Civil Status Research Department archives, July 15, 1955.  Source: File on Julia Amouyal, © Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen, ref. 21 P 697 602 1707

She did, however, manage to secure a death certificate for her husband, bearing the words “Died for France”, on March 7, 1950.

Judas Amouyal’s death certificate, town hall of the 2nd district of Paris, March 7, 1950. Source: File on Julia Amouyal, © Victims of Contemporary Conflicts Archives Division of the Ministry of Defense Historical Service, in Caen, ref. 21 P 697 602 1707

After that, Julie got on with her life as best as she could and died, as far as we can tell from our research, on April 20, 1991 at the age of 79 [5].

Her name is inscribed on slab 2, column 1, row 2 of the Wall of Names at the Shoah Memorial in Paris.

Notes & references

[1] The biography of Judas Amouyal is also on the Convoy 77 website.

[2] Drancy camp: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/fr/article/drancy

Si je reviens un jour: les lettres retrouvées de Louise Pikovsky (If I ever come back: rediscovered letters by Louise Pikovsky), France 24, in French:

https://webdoc.france24.com/si-je-reviens-un-jour-louise-pikovsky/chapitre-4/index.html

[3] Shoah Memorial, Paris:

https://ressources.memorialdelashoah.org/notice.php?q=identifiant_origine%3A%28FRMEMSH040870780212%29

[4] | Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah: https://www.fondationshoah.org/

[5] Geneanet – Your family history: https://www.geneanet.org/

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Auschwitz: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/auschwitz

Wikimedia contributors: History of the Jews in Algeria

Drancy: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/drancy

Foundation for the memory of the Shoah: https://www.fondationshoah.org/

Si je reviens un jour: les lettres retrouvées de Louise Pikovsky (If I ever come back: rediscovered letters by Louise Pikovsky), France 24, June 21, 2018, in French:

https://webdoc.france24.com/si-je-reviens-un-jour-louise-pikovsky/chapitre-4/index.html

Geneanet – Your family history:  https://www.geneanet.org/

Juifs et musulmans de la France coloniale à nos jours. (Jews and Muslims from colonial France to the present day) French Museum of History and Immigration: https://www.histoire-immigration.fr/juifs-et-musulmans-de-la-france-coloniale-a-nos-jours

Les Juifs, des Algériens (pas) comme les autres (The Jews, Algerians (un) like the others). lhistoire.fr, in French: https://www.lhistoire.fr/les-juifs-des-alg%C3%A9riens-pas-comme-les-autres

Shoah Mémorial, Paris:

https://ressources.memorialdelashoah.org/notice.php?q=identifiant_origine%3A%28FRMEMSH040870780212%29

Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau, Auschwitz-Birkenau:  https://www.auschwitz.org/en/