Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

Although they were born Jewish, Alexandre and Vila Glasberg's parents had them baptized when they were children.

Alexandre Glasberg was appointed Vicar of the parish of Notre-Dame de Saint-Alban, a poor district of Lyon, whose pastor, Lawrence Remilleux, pioneered work in hosting refugees and welfare.

In 1940, Abbé Glasberg was appointed by Cardinal Gerlier delegate tole Comité d’aide aux réfugiés (CAR).

Alexandre Glasberg falsified files to gain the release of hundreds of Jews, many of them children.
After the war, he helped facilitate the emigration of Holocaust survivors to Mandate Palestine and mass emigrations of Jews from Iraq, Morocco and Egypt.

By mid-1941, Abbé Glasberg and Dr. Weil established the OSE Direction des Centres d'accueil (DCA).

In 1942, Abbé Glasberg, Father Chaillet, Jean-Marie Soutou and Germaine Ribiere, founded the resistance group l'Amitié Chrétienne, to help Jews and victims of the Nazis.

In the summer of 1942, Abbé Glasberg participated in the rescue of 180 Jewish children held in the Venissieux camp.

After the war, Abbé Glasberg worked with Mossad leAliyah Bet, helping Jews to emigrate to Palestine.

 

Abbé Glasberg worked with the Haganah, acquiring buying weapons from Czechoslovakia, and routing the shipments via Corsica.
In 1948, after the independence of the State of Israel,he helped Jewish troops in Jerusalem, using his contacts in the Catholic community in Jerusalem.

In 1951, Abbé Glasberg participated in Operation Ezra and Nehemiah, the Mossad airlift evacuate Iraqi Jews,

In 1972, Abbé Glasberg was decorated as Chevalier of l'Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur.

On February, 1970, Yad vaShem יד ושם‎‎ honored Germaine Chesneau as Righteous among the Nations חסידי אומות העולם‎ for hiding and rescuing 139 people.

On March 18, 1976, Daniel Trocmé was honored by Yad VaShem יד ושם‎‎ as Righteous among the Nations חסידי אומות העולם‎.

On January 14, 1985, Gilbert Lesage was honored by Yad vaShem יד ושם‎‎ as Righteous among the Nations חסידי אומות העולם‎.

In 1990, the entire town of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon was honored as Righteous among the Nations חסידי אומות העולם‎, for their humanitarianism and bravery under extreme danger.
A small garden and plaque on the grounds of Yad vaShem יד ושם‎‎ memorial to the Holocaust was dedicated to the citizens of Chambon-sur-Lignon.

In 2004, Alexandre and Vila Glasberg were honored by Yad vaShem יד ושם‎‎ as Righteous among the Nations חסידי אומות העולם‎.