During the spring, a plaque paying homage to Abraham Silberschein (1882-1951), who saved numerous Jewish people and families during the Holocaust, was installed on the building at 22 rue des Pâquis where he used to live.
Having arrived in Geneva in 1939, this Polish lawyer of Jewish origin played an active role in the work of the World Jewish Congress and directed the Committee for the Assistance of Jewish war victims.
Supported by the actions of the diplomats at the Polish Embassy in Bern, he actively participated in the rescue operation which involved creating forged passports for different countries in Latin America to allow thousands of Jewish individuals and families to escape the Nazi extermination camps between 1941 and 1943.
In 1943, Abraham Silberschein was temporarily arrested by the Swiss police, informing them that he was supplying Peruvian and Paraguayan passports to Poles from the Warsaw ghetto.
After the war, he remained in Geneva where he married his secretary, Fanny Hirsch, who also participated in this rescue operation. When he died in 1951, he was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Veyrier.
The research carried out by the Polish embassy in Switzerland in collaboration with a number of institutions, including the World Jewish Congress, brought to light the activities of the “Lados Group” – named after the ambassador at that time, Aleksander Lados – of which Abraham Silberschein was a member. This research gave rise to a list of people who were saved.
The commemorative plaque acknowledges the courage and determination of Abraham Silberschein and reminds us that the fight for justice and tolerance remains a key issue.
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Département de l'aménagement, des constructions et de la mobilité - Direction
Anaïs Balabazan
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Article modifié le 20.02.2024 à 11:34