Helen Cazès ben Attar: Portrait of an Unknown Holocaust Heroine

Auschwitz

Israel news photo: Flash 90

Helen Cazès ben Attar, a Jewish attorney in Casablanca, managed to help as many as 60,000 refugees.

By David Lev

First Publish: 4/19/2012, 10:38 AM

One of the lesser-known stories of rescue and hope during the Holocaust centered on the Moroccan city of Casblanca, where tens of thousands of Jews – perhaps as many as 60,000 - found refuge, and eventual passage to the U.S. or Israel, all thanks to the actions of one woman. Helen Cazès ben Attar.
A Jewish attorney in Casablanca, Attar, who was active with the Red Cross, established and single-handedly ran an organization that clothed, fed, and housed refugees who managed to make their way to Casablanca, finding them jobs, and eventually helping them to leave for safer regions.
And the fact that she was able to operate openly in Morocco – under the control of the Nazi-aligned French Vichy government, which controlled the country during the war – was nothing less than amazing.

Ben Attar's efforts on behalf of refugees began in July 1940, when she heard about a ship of refugees, both Jewish and non-Jewish, that was docked in Casablanca's harbor. Authorities would not let them disembark, as they had no documentation or family in the country. Read the rest on: Arutz7