A Note to Child Survivors Seeking Information

Many child survivors who comprised the children’s convoys lack specific information on when and where they crossed the border and the name of the organization responsible.  This is not surprising.  In most instances, little information was imparted to the children, some of whom were extremely young.  For most, the crossing followed weeks, months, or even years fraught with hardship, deprivation, and extreme psychological stress.     

In 1943, when an individual entered Switzerland illegally and was placed under arrest, cantonal authorities created a dossier for him or her and prepared two documents, which were placed in the dossier.  One, an arrest report, detailed the circumstances of the border crossing.  A second, called a “Declaration,” contained biographical information and bore the individual’s signature.  The dossiers have survived largely intact in the Archives d’Etat de Genève (AEG), the Archives of the State of Geneva. 

In recent years, I have conducted research in the Geneva state archives in an effort to document the MJS children’s convoys that entered Switzerland in August, September, and October, 1943.  If you are a child survivor who was or may have been part of an MJS or OSE convoy of that period and are seeking information on the crossing, I may be able to help you.  Please contact me at info@MJS-France.org. 

Nancy Lefenfeld
Clarksville, Maryland