Courage has faces. One of those is undoubtedly Adélaïde Hautval.
Born on January 1, 1906, in Hohwald, a small Alsatian village nestled in the Vosges mountains of France, Adélaïde was shaped by the values of her father, a Protestant pastor who instilled in her an unwavering commitment to human dignity and living with conviction.
She first took these lessons into her career. Adélaïde became a psychiatrist at a time when only about 10% of French doctors were female. Then, when World War II engulfed Europe and France in particular shortly after, she continued her work in the French-controlled zone of the country, balancing her medical practice with the growing turmoil.
In 1942, Adélaïde's life took a sharp turn when her mother passed away. Determined to attend the funeral, she boarded a train to German-occupied Paris without the required travel documents. Stopped at the border, she was arrested and imprisoned.
In prison, she observed the treatment of Jewish people by the guards. Refusing to stand idly by, she declared herself "a friend of the Jews" and protested their persecution, telling the guards, "They are people like any others. Leave them alone."
"Deny what you said about the Jews and you will be released," the guards responded to Adélaïde. She refused. To which they replied, "As you wish to defend them, you will follow their fate." Adélaïde was sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp.
At Buchenwald, Adélaïde became known as "The Saint" among her fellow prisoners for risking her own life as she treated inmates suffering from typhus, hiding them from Nazi authorities and refusing to report those who were ill—a virtual death sentence for anyone exposed.
In January 1943, she was transferred to Auschwitz, entering one of the most brutal places in human history. Upon arrival, she remarked, "We are under sentence of death. Let us behave like human beings as long as we are alive."
Assigned to the medical block because of her expertise, she faced a harrowing demand: to assist in Nazi experiments on Jewish prisoners. Adélaïde refused without hesitation, directly defying the orders of Josef Mengele, the infamous "Angel of Death." Somehow, in a place where death could come on a whim, she survived this act of defiance and was eventually transferred out of the camp.
Adélaïde survived the camps and the war, though she would suffer from health issues all her life as result of the time. In 1965, Yad Vashem recognized her with the honor of becoming a part of the" Righteous among the nations."
Sources:
“Adelaide Hautval.” Jewish Virtual Library, https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/adelaide-hautval
“Adelaide Hautval.” University of Northern Iowa, https://chge.uni.edu/adelaide-hautval
Berger, Becky. “Dr. Adelaide Hautval.” The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, https://www.raoulwallenberg.net/general/dr-adelaide-hautval/
“Friend of the Jews.” International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, https://www.ifcj.org/news/fellowship-blog/friend-of-the-jews-2
Levin, Menucha Chana. “Friend of the Jews: How Dr. Adelaide Hautval Defied the Nazis and Saved Jewish Lives.” https://aish.com/friend-of-the-jews-how-dr-adelaide-hautval-defied-the-nazis-and-saved-jewish-lives/
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