LEA AND OSWALDO BARDONE
French Rescuers

Poliakov introduced the Bardones to Joseph Bass, another Jewish man who was also active in the French Resistance. Bass led an organization called G.A.D., Action Group Against Deportation, affiliated with the Jewish Combat Organization. The aim of this group was to evacuate Jewish adults and children from the big cities to the underground of the Massif Central, and from there to the Haute Loire, where they were hidden with farm families sympathetic to their plight. The Bardone's cafe soon became an important transit point for this rescue effort. Lea can not even estimate how many Jews, fearful for their lives, came through her restaurant, young and old, and especially children. Photograph of Lea and Oswald Bardone, c.1940

Lea quickly established a reputation of dependably remaining calm and cool under the enduring stress of her situation. Before long the cafe became the headquarters of the entire operation. In 1943 the group set up a "laboratory" in a back room to manufacture forged identity and work papers required for the hidden Jews passing through.

In May 1944, while on a mission to deliver false identity papers to young Jews waiting in Nice, Oswaldo was arrested. He remained in prison for four months. Lea, afraid of reprisals against herself and her young children, fled to the mountainous region of Dauphiné. Because of her reliable composure and reputation for being quickwitted, she took on even more dangerous missions while in hiding. For the Jewish Combat Organization, she deftly smuggled small arms, and munitions, hidden in books and painter's tools.

In a testimonial given by Leon Poliakov after the war, he wrote: "(Lea's) merits were great in warding off any danger, facing questions of neighbors or occasional police who were sometimes intrigued by the presence of strangers in her establishment, and to whom she always managed to furnish proper explanations. The courage and presence of mind of Lea Bardone, especially during the months when her husband was held by the Gestapo in Nice, were beyond any praise."



Back to the Previous Page

Go to the Next Page