Léon Israël,éonIsraë also known as Dr. Israël, born on January 13, 1906, in Kœnigsmacker and assassinated by the Milice of Lyon on April 27, 1944, in Mâcon was a French doctor, resistance fighter, and Jew.
Originally from Moselle, he joined his family in Mâcon in 1941 after they sought refuge there. He clandestinely provided medical assistance to the resistance fighters in the city and surrounding areas. He also provided care to the needy in the region, earning the appreciation of the population of Mâcon.
While on his way to visit his brother-in-law and sister, he was shot in front of them and his niece by the Milice, in front of the current 116 rue du 28 juin 1944 in Mâcon. After his assassination, the Israël family was hidden by the Blanvillain family, who were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations in 2005.
Youth and arrival to Mâcon
Léon Israël was born on January 13, 1906, in Kœnigsmacker, in occupied Moselle. After completing his medical studies, he practiced medicine and received patients in Metz. He remained unmarried and continued his medical practice until the Occupation of France, when his brother, sister-in-law, and their children decided to flee Moselle and their hometown of Yutz to seek refuge in the Zone libre. Before fleeing, the family ran a livestock business.
Dr. Israël followed them in 1941 and joined them in Mâcon, where they were settled and hidden by the local resistance, particularly by Léon-Albert and Renée Blanvillain, Mâcon-based hardware store owners.
Resistance
While being relatively protected by the resistance, Léon Israël took on the clandestine task of providing medical care to the local resistance fighters and made rounds in the city to assist the impoverished. However, starting in 1942 with Operation Anton, which concluded with the annexation of the Vichy France by Nazi Germany, the hunt for Jews, which was already significant, intensified even further, forcing the Israël family into hiding. Léon continued to visit his family in Mâcon, but he was sheltered in Beaujeu by the Rochard family, who owned vineyards there.
He was denounced by Dr. Poncet, the departmental inspector responsible for identifying Jewish doctors and transmitting the list to the prefecture.
Assassination and aftermath
Resistants attacked a group of Milice members on April 25, 1944. In retaliation, on April 27, 1944, while Léon was discreetly visiting his family on what is now Rue du 28 juin 1944, Léon Israël was arrested in the street by the Milice of Lyon and immediately executed by firing squad. His brother Joseph, sister-in-law Annette, and 5-year-old niece Monique witnessed his summary execution, which took place near their home. During his funeral, the people of Mâcon rallied together, and more than a thousand individuals attended, despite the city still being under occupation.
Following the assassination, the Blanvillain family decided to conceal and extract the Israël family from Mâcon to Sancé until the Liberation of France, when they returned to live in Lorraine.
Memory
Their families remained close. Claude Blanvillain, who welcomed Monique Israël into his room, passed away on August 21, 2017, at the age of 83. Monique Israël herself passed away on January 14, 2023.
In recognition of their actions, Léon-Albert and Renée Blanvillain were awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations in 2005. Renée Blanvillain received the title in person at the age of 94, while her husband Léon-Albert had passed away in 1991.
An annual tribute is organized in Mâcon in front of the commemorative plaque on April 17, the day of the Vel d'Hiv roundup.