The Yad Vashem Institute recognized Marie-Louise Charpentier as Righteous Among the Nations in 1990 for her clandestine efforts to save Jewish refugees during the German occupation of France. Operating from her base in Rennes, she utilized her position as a social worker to orchestrate high-stakes rescues while simultaneously sabotaging German administrative control over the local population.
Resistance Activities in Rennes
During World War II, Charpentier operated within German-occupied Rennes while maintaining her professional role as a social worker for families of prisoners of war. Her resistance work involved distributing leaflets alongside Dr. Menon until his death in a May 1943 Allied bombardment. She further hindered German operations by saving a Polish couple from deportation and assisting young individuals in evading compulsory labor service. Her strategy involved administering drugs to these individuals prior to their mandatory medical evaluations by German doctors, effectively disqualifying them from service.
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In 1943, Charpentier intervened when Gestapo agents targeted the Engelstein family, who had fled Metz following the German annexation of France. After agents seized Fishel Engelstein and his daughter-in-law, Charpentier immediately relocated the grandmother, Malka Engelstein, along with three-year-old Catherine and two-year-old Raymond to a rural farm fifteen kilometers from Rennes. Maintaining responsibility for their safety, she arranged for her brother to deliver daily provisions. To ensure their long-term security, she coordinated with Archbishop Clément Roques to facilitate their transit to Paris. Disguised as a deaf woman, Malka traveled with the children, escorted by two French youths seeking to join General de Gaulle in North Africa. The safe arrival of the group was confirmed via the coded telegram: the five rabbits have arrived.
Post-War Legacy and Recognition
Following the conflict, Charpentier continued her life in Rennes, where she adopted three children. She remained humble regarding her wartime activities, noting that her commitment stemmed from natural patriotism and a fundamental rejection of injustice. In 1990, she became the first individual in the Ille-et-Vilaine region to be named Righteous Among the Nations. Her name was subsequently inscribed on the Wall of the Righteous at the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem. She died in Rennes on 24 June 1998, at the age of 93.
Fast facts
- Born: 26 November 1905, Rennes
- Died: 24 June 1998, Rennes
- Citizenship: France
- Primary Occupations: Nurse, social worker, French Resistance fighter
- Award: Righteous Among the Nations (1990)
- Adopted children: 3
Questions readers ask
How did Charpentier protect young people from German labor service?
She administered drugs to them immediately before their health evaluations by German doctors, rendering them ineligible for service.
What happened to the family members who were captured by the Gestapo?
Fishel Engelstein died on a train to the Auschwitz concentration camp, while his daughter-in-law survived the Bergen-Belsen camp but passed away five years after the war.
Achievements
- Righteous Among the Nations — 1990
- Worked as nurse, social and health care assistant and French resistance fighter
