This week we remember Holocaust survivor Renee Joffe who died earlier this week at the age of 99. Renee’s extraordinary impact in our community was groundbreaking, and we are deeply grateful for her vision and unwavering commitment to Holocaust education.
Renee and her late husband Boris funded the Holocaust Resource Center (HRC, now HERO) Arts and Writing Contest for 33 years. This initiative continues to inspire middle school and high school students to respond to the Holocaust through arts and writing, taking lessons of the Holocaust forward.
Renee was born in Antwerp and grew up in Paris living a normal childhood with her parents and younger sister. Her favorite activities as a young girl being ice skating and swimming.
When Paris was invaded by the Nazis in 1940, Renee remembers her identity card had “Jew” stamped on it. Restrictions for Jews quickly escalated. In 1941, her father tried to secure a visa to the United States, but sadly was unsuccessful. He was taken by the Germans and that was the last time he was seen by Renee’s family.
In 1942, a friend who had a connection to the Commissioner of Police notified Renee’s mother that they would be rounding up all the Jewish women and children in Paris. She managed to find a contact that would cross them into unoccupied France. Along with her mother and sister, Renee was brought to a farm and that night literally on their hands and knees, miraculously crossed into the unoccupied area of France. While there, they were able to obtain false papers and ration cards. Renee’s mother also helped some young French men, and in return one of the men promised help from his aunt who lived in Valance in Southern France. The Joffes found their way to Valance and there Renee’s mother enrolled Renee and her sister in a boarding school. Renee’s mother contacted family friends in Grenoble and with the help of the Paris Catholic Church, Renee’s sister was enrolled in Catholic school and Renee worked in the school’s dormitory. As the war progressed, Renee and her sister were sent to another Catholic school where Renee taught the children Latin and Geography.
Renee was a longtime board member of the HRC, and an active speaker in its Speakers Bureau, telling her story to thousands of students and community members. In her presentations, Renee was always an inspiration; exuding resilience, strength, warmth, and grace. She empowered the audience to use their voices to be an upstander. When asked by the Buffalo News in 2017, why telling her story is important she replied, “There are so many bad things going on, and people cannot be bystanders. You must do something if you can. You have to let everybody know that it’s not all right to abuse other people. If you see anything done wrong to a person, a child, a group, open your mouth.”
We send our love and deepest condolences to Renee’s three children, Serge, Alain (Susan) and Muriel Joffe, her grandchildren, Bryan (Lyla) Joffe, Lindsey (Frank) Joffe, Carriera, Caitlin (Neal Urwitz) Joffe and Benjamin Joffe and her great grandchildren, Francesco, Andre, Kai, Eleanor, Tova, Ian, and Serafina. May Her Memory Be for a Blessing.
Please join us on Sunday May 5th at noon for this year’s Yom HaShoah/Holocaust Memorial Commemoration in the Research Studies Auditorium at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. During our Commemoration, we will remember and honor the survivors and victims of the Holocaust using their stories and memories to ensure that we never forget!
