The Éclaireuses et Éclaireurs israélites de France (EEIF, ''Jewish Guides and Scouts of France'') is a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...
and
Guiding organization in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. It was founded in 1923 and serves about 4,000 members. The EEIF is a member of the
Fédération du Scoutisme Français and of the
International Forum of Jewish Scouts.
History
In 1923, Robert Gamzon, grandson of the Chief Rabbi of France
Alfred Lévy, founded the first chapter of the Éclaireurs Israélites de France (EIF) in Paris. This Scouting organization brought together native-born and immigrant Jewish youth, and affirmed their Jewish identity. The group expanded rapidly in the east of France, then in the south of France and in North Africa.
Edmond Fleg
Edmond Flegenheimer better known as Edmond Fleg, (26 November 1874 – 15 October 1963) was a Jewish French writer, thinker, novelist, essayist and playwright of the 20th century. Fleg's oeuvre was crucial in constructing a modern French Jewish ...
advised the group and tried to avoid tension between the scouts and members of the consistory.
The
''Fédération Française des Eclaireuses'' (FFE; French Guides Federation) was formed in 1921, and in 1928 accepted a Jewish section. The FFE (Israélite) section was also a member of the EIF, sharing local groups and formations.
By 1927 the EIF was publicly supporting cultural Zionism, was cooperating with Zionist scout groups, and was open to all Jews including free-thinkers and Zionists. In 1930 the leaders of the EIF were informed by the Central Committee that they were being "too Jewish". As a compromise the EIF agreed not to mention Zionism among the goals of the movement, but the Scout camps continued to teach Hebrew, practice Jewish ritual, learn about Jewish culture and practice the Zionist ideal of combining manual labor and intellectual activity. The national ''
Éclaireurs de France'' rejected the EIF as an affiliate because they were too sectarian. Their emphasis on Jewish identity did not seem compatible with French national identity.
The EIF had 1,200 members in 1930 and over 2,000 at the start of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
(1939–45). In 1939, the EIF were admitted to the ''Bureau inter-fédéral du scoutisme'' (BIF) after having been twice refused, in 1928 and 1937. The BIF coordinated the membership of the different French Scouting associations within the
World Organization of the Scout Movement
The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest international Scouting organization. WOSM has 173 members. These members are recognized national Scout organizations, which collectively have around 43 million participants. WOS ...
. The Guides within the FEE were members of the
World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts
The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS ) is a global association supporting the Girl Guides, female-oriented and female-only Guiding and Scouting organizations in 152 countries. It was established in 1928 in Parád, Hungary, ...
through the ''Comité de liaison'' of the FFE and the
Guides de France. In 1940, these two bodies reorganized and formed the
Fédération du Scoutisme Français.
By an Act of 29 November 1941 the
Vichy government
Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...
dissolved the EIF and all other non-religious Jewish organizations. The president of ''Scoutisme Français'', General
Joseph Lafont, obtained permission from the authorities for the EIF members to continue their activities under the direction of ''Scoutisme Français''. On 5 January 1943
Louis Darquier de Pellepoix
Louis Darquier (19 December 1897 – 29 August 1980), better known under his assumed name Louis Darquier de Pellepoix, was Commissioner-General for Jewish Affairs under the Vichy Régime.
Biography
A veteran of World War I, Darquier had been ac ...
, Commissioner General for Jewish Questions, ordered the immediate dissolution and ban of the EIF and forbade their reconstitution in any form.
Many older members of EIF joined the
French resistance
The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
forming own units; they joined the ''Organisation juive de Combat'' in 1944. About 110 leaders of the EIF were killed in action or deported to the concentration camps.
During the Occupation of Paris, many Jews were deported by the French police and Nazis separately from their children in various roundups. As a result, babies and toddlers and young Jewish teenagers were left alone in apartments or wandering the streets alone. For many days, the Jewish Scout movement, having prepared for the deportations in secret and in hiding themselves, came out of hiding and wandered the streets at night in the Jewish arrondissement areas gathering up thousands of Jewish children and hiding them until liberation.
["When Paris Went Dark" by R. Rosbottom, John Murray 2014, p. 273]
The EIF and the Guides within the FFE resumed their public activities after World War II. In 1948, a group of leaders emigrated to
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
founding a
kibbutz
A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...
and supporting the foundation of the country.
In 1969, the Jewish Guides left the FFE joining the EIF. The association was renamed to ''Eclaireuses et Eclaireurs israélites de France''.
Emblem
The emblems of the organization are:
* The two lions, which defend and protect the Torah. They traditionally symbolize the Jewish people.
* The Torah, which is symbolized by the Tables of the Law (the Ten Commandments).
* The fleur de lys, a symbol of Scouting and the membership in WOSM.
* The trefoil, the membership in WAGGGS, added when the association became mixed in 1965.
Structure
The association runs about 50 local groups in France, served by six regional councils, and one group in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. Typically, a local group has at least one unit of each of the three younger branches.
See also
*
Union générale des israélites de France
The (General Union of French Jews; UGIF) was a body created by the antisemitic French politician Xavier Vallat under the Vichy regime after the Fall of France in World War II. UGIF was created by decree on 29 November 1941 following a Ge ...
Program
The EEIdF works in four branches; all activities are coeducational:
* ''Branche cadette: Bâtisettes et Bâtisseurs'' - ages 8 to 11
* ''Branche moyenne: Eclaireuses et Eclaireurs'' (
Guides
A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom.
Travel and recreation
Exp ...
and
Scouts
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...
) - ages 11 to 15
* ''Branche Perspectives: Pifettes et Pifs'' - ages 15 to 17
* ''Branche aînée: Compagnons'' (
Rovers) - ages 18 to 25
Further reading
* Alain Michel, ''Les Eclaireurs israélites de France pendant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, EIF, Paris, 1984
* Alain Michel, ''Scouts, Juifs et Français: l'histoire des E.I. de 1923 aux années 80''; Editions Elkana, Jerusalem 2003;
References
Sources
*
*
*
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eclaireuses et Eclaireurs israelites de France
Scouting and Guiding in France
World Organization of the Scout Movement member organizations
World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts member organizations
Youth organizations established in 1923