Marcel Bahsi was born on January 12, 1884. He was one of the seven sons of David Bahsi and Myriam Eskanazi, all born in Shumen, Bulgaria. Marcel and his brothers migrated to Paris, became naturalized French citizens, and worked as merchants in the city. He married Marie Gautheron, a housekeeper, on December 11, 1920, in Paris. Their daughter, Andrée Carmen Bahsi, was born on February 15, 1910.

On April 2, 1943, Marcel was detained and held at Drancy transit camp. He was registered under number 19476, and listed as the “spouse of an Aryan.” On July 7, 1943, he was transferred to Cherbourg, before being sent to Alderney on August 12 of that same year. It is unclear how long Marcel remained on Alderney, but he was eventually discharged by Organisation Todt. He was subsequently interned at Camp Picpus (74 Rue de Picpus, Paris, two doors down from the Hospices de Rothschild), where he was present on 8 April 1944, and then again at Drancy, where he remained until the camp was liberated on August 18, 1944.

After the war, Marcel returned to his home in Paris, where he lived for the rest of his life, and resumed his work as a merchant. He was reunited with his wife and daughter, but three of his brothers had died in Auschwitz in 1943.

Marcel died on December 23, 1970, in Paris. He shares a tomb at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris with his wife, daughter, and grandchildren.