GÇ£Allen has always said Lumbroso was a member of the Free French resistance movementGÇ¥ (Chicago Tribune, Sep 22)
GǣAllen said he was proud to have discovered recently [how recently?] that his grandfather Felix LumbrosoGǪbattled the Nazis as a Resistance fighter in North AfricaGǥ (Seattle Times, Sep 22)
Allen is studiously vague in his press release of September 19: GÇ£I have never known whether he was persecuted by the Nazis because of his nationality, his religious faith, his role as a community leader, or his part in the anti-Nazi resistance.GÇ¥
Strangely, although AllenGÇÖs mother Henrietta has now spoken about the trauma of her fatherGÇÖs incarceration, she has made no mention of any participation by him in the Resistance. Strangely, because this participation is a badge of honor among former GÇ£resistantsGÇ¥ and their families. There were, sadly, not that many of them. In fact, the French still joke GÇô bitterly GÇô about the huge numbers of GÇ£fauxGÇ¥ Resistance fighters who emerged from the woodwork after the downfall of Vichy.
So: Was Felix Lumbroso incarcerated as a GÇ£Resistance fighterGÇ¥?
Published records list two Tunisian Lumbrosos as authentic members of the Resistance: Sylvain Lumbroso and Lucien Lumbroso (who was subsequently decorated with the Croix de Guerre). I have seen no mention of Felix (and it should be noted that these records might be far from complete).
There is perhaps a simpler explanation for FelixGÇÖ GÇ£incarceration.GÇ¥ During the German-Italian occupation of Tunisia in 1942-43, at least 5,000 able-bodied Tunisian Jews were conscripted into forced labor. This was not a Gestapo operation, nor was it in the direct purview of the SS (under the dreaded Rauff). As elsewhere, the Germans convened a board of Jewish elders and, in December 1942, instructed them to deliver a fixed number of laborers. When the effort lagged, stern measures were brought to bear: to rachet up the pressure, the Germans arrested a number of proment Jews. Was Felix Lumbroso one of these, or was he among the mass of conscripts taken to camps, notably at Bizerte? (Others were assigned to private farms and factories.) There were, happily, few fatalities and, at the collapse of the Axis occupation, the surviving conscripts simply walked back to their homes.
Immediately following the arrival of the Allies, a number of Tunisians GÇô mostly Italians GÇô were briefly incarcerated GÇô ironically, in the same camps which had held the labor conscripts GÇô on the charge of collaboration with the Axis. It is unclear whether or not these GÇ£collaboratorsGÇ¥ included members of the Jewish council who against their will had negotiated with the Nazis, or businessmen (such as the Lumbrosos, major importers of wine and spirits) who had thrived on dealings with Fascist Italy or Vichy France.
To me, the question of LumbrosoGÇÖs wartime exploits remains open. I would suggest that George Allen not rely solely on Wolf BlitzerGÇÖs prompt cards while learning his family history: a bit of fact-checking is in order, perhaps in another conversation over the kitchen table with his mother, who appears to be much brighter than her son.