Nathan Levy

Nathan Levy was born on 12 June 1922 in Maizières-lès-Metz, France. His father, Bernard Levy, was a livestock trader. His mother, Clementine Jacob, was originally from Arlon, in Belgium. Nathan had a sister called Georgette. During the war, Bernard and the rest of the family took refuge in Nomeny, a nearby agricultural town in the Meurthe and Moselle region. It is believed by the family that the family’s presence was reported to the Germans, as the house was raided and they were taken into custody. Nathan had been sent out to run an errand when the Germans arrived at the house, and was not with his family at the time of the raid.  By this remarkable twist of luck, he escaped deportation. His father, mother and sister were taken to Auschwitz where they were murdered by the Nazis.

Not much is known about the nature of Nathan’s eventual arrest as a French Jew, nor about his time in the Norderney camp in Alderney. After a number of months of hard labour in Alderney, he was sent back to the French mainland with a group of his fellow prisoners, arriving at a camp at Étaples-sur-Mer, near Le Touquet.

Nathan recounted what happened next: A German officer’s car had broken down whilst the officer was trying to leave the camp. Nathan and two others prisoners were ordered to push the car a considerable distance down the road, to bump-start the engine. Once the car was on its way, and finding themselves some distance outside the camp, Nathan suggested to his two fellow prisoners, Théo Haenel and Julien Picard (both from Metz), that they all hide in a nearby ditch. Théo and Haenel refused, but Nathan hid and stayed alone in the ditch all night. In the morning he was found by the concierge of the Banque de France in Le Touquet, who took him to a friend of his, a local butcher, who was about to depart to Paris for business. Nathan hitched a ride with the butcher. In Paris he joined an American regiment, putting the date at August 1944 at the earliest, and during his time with the GIs, he learnt to drive. To the knowledge of his sons, Nathan never spoke of his living or work conditions as a prisoner in Norderney camp on Alderney.

Nathan eventually returned to the family house in Maizières-lès-Metz, where he worked as a livestock trader, like his father. He married Juliette Kahn from Saverne and together they had three children: Bernard, Claude and Francine.

On May 30th 1974, Nathan Levy was awarded a certificate signed by George W. Baron, President of the States of Alderney. The certificate, hanging in the dining room of his house in Maizières-lès-Metz, read:

The people of the island of Alderney
hereby desire to pay homage to the
courage and endurance of those from
many lands deported to Alderney during
the Second World War (1939-1945)

Nathan Levy died on 23 July 2002.

Sources:
Bernard Levy and Claude Levy, Nathan Levy’s sons.

Deportation lists of those sent to Alderney: http://www.bddm.org/liv/details.php?id=V.1.