Rosa LAMBERT (1871-1944)

BIRTH & FAMILY BACKGROUND

Rosa Lambert, whose birth surname was Merzbach, was born on June 2, 1871 in Offenbach, Germany. Her parents were Mathilde Levy (May 16, 1845 – April 2, 1927) and Bernard Merzbach (January 6, 1840 – January 19, 1900). The Merzbach family was made up of seven siblings: Sigismund, Saul Samuel, Rosa, Pauline, Georges Jacob, Aline and Bertha. Despite the fact that Rosa was born in Germany, she became French on March 12, 1872, as a result of her father having been naturalized as a French citizen on January 6, 1840.

Bernard Merzbach was a banker, as were his sons Saul and Georges. Together, the two brothers founded their own firm, “Les Fils de Bernard Merzbach” (Sons of Bernard Merzbach), which was one of the custodians of the Pathé company’s shares. The family was also involved in the purchase of the Blair factory in 1906. Soon afterwards, they joined forces with Edmond Benoit-Lévy to found Les Cinémas Modernes (Modern Cinemas) (Bernard Merzbach was a banker, as were his sons Saul and Georges. Together, the two brothers founded their own firm, “Les Fils de Bernard Merzbach” (Sons of Bernard Merzbach), which was one of the custodians of the Pathé company’s shares. The family was also involved in the purchase of the Blair factory in 1906. Soon afterwards, they joined forces with Edmond Benoit-Lévy to found Les Cinémas Modernes (Modern Cinemas). More here in French can be found here: Albert Capellani directeur artistique de la SCAGL ou l’émergence de l’auteur.

In 1908, Saul and Georges Merzbach, associated with the Pathé brothers, founded a film production company, Société cinématographique des auteurs et gens de lettres (S.C.A.G.L.). More information in French can be found here: Aux origines de la Société cinématographique des auteurs et gens de lettres (S.C.A.G.L. ) : le bluff de Pierre Decourcelle et Eugène Gugenheim.

In Paris, the Merzbach family managed the Banque Commerciale et Industrielle (Commercial and Industrial Bank) which had a capital of 8.5 million francs, but its members were mainly based abroad. In the 1910s, the Sons of Bernard Merzbach firm was also present in Egypt, where it managed the Commercial and Agricultural Bank of Egypt. More in French here: Edmond Bartissol (1841-1916) Du canal de Suez à la bouteille d’apéritif – Chapitre X. Seigneur à Fleury, roi en Roussillon p. 169-190.

 

THE LAMBERT FAMILY

 

On March 28, 1892, Rosa married Mayer Henri Lambert, who was born on March 24, 1865. He was the son of Bernard Lambert (1834 – 1888), bailiff and merchant, and Rosalie Stern (1840 – 1924). Mayer Henri had four siblings: Mathilde Lambert, Cécile Lambert (1867-1938), Alfred Lambert (1870-1938) and Armand Lambert. All but Armand died unmarried before the Second World War.

His paternal grandfather, Rabbi Lion Mayer Lambert (1787-1863), the Grand Rabbi of Metz, was the first principal of the Rabbinical School of Metz, which was founded in 1829 and relocated to Paris in 1859, when it became the Séminaire Israélite de France (Jewish Seminary of France). More in French here: Albert Lambert.

The couple lived at 15 rue Cognac-Jay in the 7th district of Paris. Rosa and Mayer Henri had three children: Bernard Lambert (1893-1894), Marcelle Rachel Lambert (1896 – 1906) and Sigismond Serge Lambert (November 17, 1898 – March 2, 1969). Mayer Henri was an attorney while Rosa did not go out to work but was a homemaker. (Source: geneanet.org)

Mayer Henri, died May 9, 1938 in the 12th district of Paris. Source: Paris digital archives

 

THE START OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Rosa Lambert lived with her husband at 15 rue Cognacq-Jay, in the 7th district of Paris, until the Germans raided the boarding house during the Occupation. This was the building where French radio broadcasting first began, and which Nazi Germany later used as a means of spreading their propaganda.

As of July 1, 1943, Rosa rented apartment 62 in the Villa Chanez, at 1 rue Chanez, in the 16ᵉ district of Paris.

THE ARREST

The Gestapo arrested Rosa Lambert on July 19, 1944 at 46 avenue du Roule in Neuilly-sur- Seine. She was using a false identity, Rose Canson, at the time. Madame Berneef, the manager of the boarding house at that address, witnessed the arrest.

Armand Lambert, an associate professor of mathematics, astronomer at the Paris Observatory, professor at the Sorbonne and head of the Bureau international de l’heure, the International Time Bureau in Paris, was the youngest member of the Lambert family. He was the last surviving sibling of Bernard Lambert’s family. On August 21, 1943, the Paris police arrested him at his home on boulevard Arago, only to hand him over to the Germans twelve days later. General Perrier, a member of the French Academy of Sciences, sent an unsuccessful letter of appeal, signed by all the members of the Academy, to Marshal Pétain and the French delegation to the Wiesbaden armistice commission. Armand Lambert was interned in Drancy camp until September 2, 1943, when he was deported on Convoy No. 59 to Auschwitz, where he died on August 15, 1944. More in French here: https://ccfr.bnf.fr/portailccfr/ark:/16871/006FRFONDS-920482302-bpl

 

ROSA’S TIME IN DRANCY TRANSIT CAMP

 

 

 

The Barrack hut that housed the lavatories in Drancy camp.

 

Rosa Lambert was interned at the Drancy transit camp on July 19, 1944.

She was assigned to three different rooms: room 3.2 (staircase 3; room 2), then room 4.1 (staircase 4; room 1) and finally room 18.2 (staircase 18; room 2).

The image above features a barrack hut that housed the lavatories. As with all of the sanitation, the lavatories were located outside, as the interior construction work had not yet been completed when the buildings were requisitioned.

 

DEPORTATION

 

 

After she arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Rose survived for about two weeks but then died on August 15, 1944.

“DIED FOR FRANCE” — Sigismond Lambert’s post-war efforts

Sigismond Lambert

Sigismond (known as Serge) Lambert, Rosa and Mayer Henri Lambert’s son, was born on November 17, 1898 in the 17th district of Paris. He had one brother, Bernard Lambert (1893 – 1894), and one sister, Marcelle Rachelle Lambert (1896 – 1906). After the war, he was his mother’s and his uncle Armand Lambert’s sole heir.

Sigismond married twice, the first time on July 8, 1929 to Hélène Nicole Ignace, who was Jewish and unemployed at the time. He was a widow when he married his second wife, Denise Henriette Rosenau, on January 24, 1963. They later got divorced. Sigismond never had children.

He first lived at 25 rue Raynouard, in the 16th district of Paris 16ᵉ, and then at 10 rue Eugène Labiche, also in the 16th district.

 Sigismond Lambert’s birth certificate. Source: Paris digital archives

 Sigismond Lambert’s death certificate. Source: Paris digital archives

 

Sigismond was a government engineer and second lieutenant: he was awarded the French Legion of Honor on March 10, 1954.

During the Second World War, he was also a member of the Resistance, going by the pseudonym Louis Sauvage. He was active in the Forces Françaises Libres (French Free Forces) and was one of a group of patriots who printed and circulated the newspaper “France d’Abord”(France First). More in French about Sigismond Lambert’s time in the Resistance

He died of an illness on March 2, 1969, at the age of 70, in the 14th district of Paris.

More records relating to Sigismond Lambert can be found here

The administrative process

As the only surviving child, Sigismond dealt with not only all the formalities relating to his mother, but also those relating to his uncle Armand Lambert, of whom he was the sole heir.

On May 9, 1946, Sigismond sent his first letter to the Head of the Civil Status Office at 85 avenue Foch in the 16th district of Paris, asking that he be allowed to claim his inheritance following his mother’s during deportation. In order for her to be granted the status of “deportee politique”, or “political deportee” (meaning that she was deported for political reasons), he had to send various information about his mother, including her marriage certificate, which proved that she had French citizenship, firstly through her father and then through her marriage to Mayer Henri Lambert, who was himself French. He also had to provide Rosa’s death certificate, which was issued on April 15, 1946.

On November 13, 1961, he received a letter from the 1st Civil Status Office notifying him that an inquiry had been opened into the death of his mother, Rosa Lambert, with a view to her being granted the status of “Mort pour la France” (“Died for France”). On January 28, 1963, he received another letter informing him that the “Died for France” status had been granted and would be recorded on Rosa Lambert’s death certificate. On May 28, 1963, he received confirmation that the title of “political deportee” had also been granted and that this too would be noted on her death certificate.

The inscriptions “Died for France” and “Died during deportation”. Source: Paris digital archives

 

THE FAMILY TREE

 

 

We found 97 people in the family, 128 including marriages, but we only know the identity of 54 of them.

Rosa Lambert’s name is in the fourth row down on the right, in the pale blue box. Her parents were Mathilde Levy and Bernard Issachar Meir Merzbach. She had three brothers and three sisters: Bertha Rosenau, Saul Samuel Merzbach, Georges Jacob Merzbach, Aline Arline Alice Lehmann, Pauline Leon and Sigismond Merzbach. Rosa had three children: Sigismond Lambert, Bernard Lambert and Marcelle Rachelle Lambert. Her brother Sigismond Merzbach never married and had no children. Bertha was married to Selmar Rosenau, and they had one child, Denise Devillers and one grandson, whose name is unknown. Saul Samuel Merzbach was married to Renee Durlacher and they had one daughter, Mathilde Merzbach. Aline Arline Alice Lehmann was married to Isidore Lehmann and they had two children: Julie Seligman and Rosette Shulman. They had seven grandsons: Jacques-Claude Seligman, Arlette Mandel and five others whose names are unknown. They also had four great-grandchildren, all of whose names are unknown. Pauline Leon was married to Emmanuel Leon and they had one daughter, Sara Odette Levy. They had six grandchildren: Ester Lise Lisette Kahn, Rene Issachar Levy Chaim Pierre Levy, Isaac Levy and two whose names are unknown. They also had twenty-one great-grandchildren: Odette Sara Kahn and twenty whose names are unknown. Georges Jacob Merzbach was married to Fogel Alice Reitlinger and they had four children: Jean-Paul Samuel Saul Merzbach, Ida Rivka, Bernard Issachar Merzbach and Charles Ezriel Merzbach. In addition, they had fourteen grandchildren, ten of whose names are unknown, and the others are: Yossi Meir Yossi Merzbach, Rosiane Rachel Merzbach, Dab Samuel Jean-Paul Merzbach and Elizabeth Miriam Koki Weisz. They also had twenty-four great-grandchildren, twenty-three of whose names are unknown, the last of whom is Bat Zion Tal Merzbach.