Open Book!
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Names Not Numbers
Mireille Taub
Mireille Taub
Mireille was born in Paris on October 7, 1938. Both of her parents were originally from Poland. Her father came from a small village called Chizev, near Bialistock, located on the main railroad linking Warsaw and St. Petersburg.
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He eventually left Poland for Paris, writing to his cousins back in Poland about the work he had found and how easily he had managed to integrate into Parisian life, something that had been impossible for him in Warsaw, where he was culturally marked as a Jew.
Several years later, her father met her mother, who was also from Warsaw.
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Her mother’s family had immigrated to France for similar financial and social reasons, like many other Jewish families. The years leading up to the Nazi invasion of Poland were filled with uncertainty, anguish, and turmoil, not only in France but across Europe.
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Mireille’s parents, filled with apprehension, began searching for visas and emigration papers, with the help of her father’s older cousin in Chicago, who had successfully established a small manufacturing company.
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ne major obstacle in obtaining visas was that her father had left Poland before conscription age and had never served in the Polish National Army, so he was not recognized as a legal citizen by the post-war Polish government, despite having a Polish birth certificate.
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Even though Mireille and her sister were born in France, their parents had to petition the French government for citizenship, which was granted after filing numerous papers and paying fees.
Between 1934, when Mireille’s sister was born, and 1938, when she was born, the world faced increasingly serious political and economic crises, making war seem inevitable.
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In September 1939, while Mireille’s parents were on vacation in Fontainebleau with extended family, Hitler invaded Poland. As hostilities began, her father petitioned the American consulate for evacuation and prepared an escape route through Bordeaux to Spain. However, as France rapidly lost the war, her father was mobilized and ordered to report to a command post in Paris.
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Equipped with his visas and exit papers, he requested not to serve, fearing for the safety of his family. Compassion prevailed, and he was told to return to his family.
Mireille’s family managed to reach the train station in Paris, boarding the last train out just hours before the city surrendered to Nazi forces. Their train was attacked, forcing terrified refugees to hide in the bushes, expecting to be strafed by fighter bombers.
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After surviving the attack, they joined the long march of refugees fleeing across France, searching for safety in small communities.
Her father attempted to take the family to Bordeaux as planned, but the Germans had declared it a “forbidden” area due to its strategic position near the Atlantic Ocean and Spain.
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Recently discovered documents show that the family stayed in Montory from June 28 to July 8, 1940, during which time her father tried to find a way to cross into Spain. He met an American consulate officer who had helped him in Paris, and together they rented a truck and traveled across France toward the Mediterranean, picking up other stranded refugees along the way. The consulate officer’s American status offered her some protection.
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The family stayed briefly in Perpignan before finding a way to cross the mountains into Spain, a dangerous journey that carried the constant fear of being sent back into Occupied France or imprisoned. Once in Spain, they traveled by train to Barcelona, where they were allowed only to pass through. From Barcelona, they continued to Lisbon and boarded a Greek tramp steamer.
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Their journey across the North Atlantic took three weeks, during which they tried to avoid U-boats targeting ships bound for America.
Mireille’s family arrived in America on August 11, 1940, after six weeks of travel through war zones, Atlantic storms, and surviving on inadequate food. The journey had taken a toll on her, and upon arrival at Ellis Island, doctors deemed her too ill to leave.
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She had developed a fever, hives, and was a very unhappy toddler. However, her mother successfully convinced the doctors that Mireille’s condition was due to the accumulated stress of their long and perilous journey.
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The End
Mireille Taub interview at The Community Synagogue of Port Washington - 2023-2024
Mireille Taub interview at Roslyn High School - 2023-2024
The Community Synagogue of Port Washington
