Yvonne Jospa (''née'' Have Groisman, February 3, 1910 in Poputi,
Bessarabia
Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...
– January 20, 2000 in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
) was a cofounder and leading organizer of the ''
Comité de Défense des Juifs
The Committee for the Defence of Jews (french: Comité de Défense des Juifs, or CDJ; nl, Joods Verdedigingscomiteit, JVD) was a group within the Belgian Resistance, affiliated to the Front de l'Indépendance, founded by the Jewish Communist Her ...
'' in September 1942 with her husband Hertz Jospa, which saved over 3,000 Jewish children from deportation and death. Yvonne Jaspar was her
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
in the
Belgian Resistance.
Biography
Born in a well-to-do
Bessarabian Jewish family, Groisman attended the Jewish
gymnasium in
Chişinău (present-day
Moldova
Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...
), coming to
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
with the intention to study at the
University of Liège
The University of Liège (french: Université de Liège), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French. As of 2020, ULiège is ranked in the 301 ...
, in the Philosophy and Letters section. However, she changed direction, studying to become a social worker. In 1933 she married Hertz Jospa, and they both became activists, first in the
Belgian Communist Party
french: Parti Communiste de Belgique
, abbreviation = KPB-PCB
, colorcode =
, leader1_title = Historical leaders
, leader1_name = Joseph JacquemotteJulien LahautLouis Van Geyt
, founder = Julien Lahaut
, founded =
, dissolved =
, merge ...
, then in 1936 in the
anti-racism
Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate a ...
organisation ''Ligue contre le racisme et l'antisémitisme'', the Belgian section of the ''Ligue internationale contre l'antisémitime''. She took part in hosting
child refugees
Nearly half of all refugees are children, and almost one in three children living outside their country of birth is a refugee.Emily Garin, Jan Beise, Lucia Hug, and Danzhen You. 2016. “Uprooted: The Growing Crisis for Refugee and Migrant Children ...
from the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
and in arranging secret passage through Belgium of volunteers for the
International Brigades
The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...
.
Jospa's husband Herz Jospa was arrested in June 1943, detained in
Fort Breendonk
Fort Breendonk ( nl, Fort van Breendonk, french: Fort de Breendonk) is a former military installation at Breendonk, near Mechelen, in Belgium which served as a Nazi prison camp (''Auffanglager'') during the German occupation of Belgium during Wo ...
, then deported to
Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...
in May 1944. She thought he had died there, but he came back on May 8, 1945, after the camp was
liberated by
American troops
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
.
In 1964, Jospa co-founded the ''Union des Anciens Résistants Juifs de Belgique'' (Union of former Jewish resistance members of Belgium), of which she remained honorary chairperson until her death in 2000. She was also a cofounder, with her husband and others, of the Belgian chapter of the communist-led ''
Mouvement contre le racisme, l'antisémitisme et pour la paix'' (M.R.A.P., "Movement against racism and antisemitism, and for peace") founded in Paris in 1949. The Belgian branch was renamed in 1966 to ''
Mouvement contre le racisme, l'antisémitisme et la xénophobie'' (M.R.A.X., "Movement against racism, antisemitism and xenophobia"). She was a staunch communist but at the same time refused to endorse
anti-zionist
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palestine ...
stances after 1947. She was made an honorary member of the ''L'Enfant Caché'' association ("The hidden child").
[
In January 2003, Jospa's name was given to a road in Brussels, ''rue Yvonne Jospa''.][
]
References
Additional bibliography and filmography
*french: Maurice Bolle, Jean Fonteyne, Ianchelevici et al., Le combat de Hertz Jospa, Brussels, Editions des 9, 1970, 104 p.
*french: Jean-Marie Faux, Hertz et Hava Jospa, in : Jean-Philippe Schreiber (ed.), Hertz Jospa, juif, résistant, communiste, Editions Vie Ouvrière - Mrax, Bruxelles, 1997, 160 p.
*french: Myriam Abramowicz et Esther Hoffenberg, Comme si c’était hier, Ping-Pong Production (Distribution National Center for Jewish Film, Brandeis University), 1980, 86 minutes, documentary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jospa, Yvonne
1910 births
2000 deaths
People from Rezina District
Moldovan Jews
Bessarabian Jews
Romanian emigrants to Belgium
Belgian people of Moldovan-Jewish descent
Jewish anti-racism activists
Belgian resistance members
Female resistance members of World War II
Buchenwald concentration camp survivors
The Holocaust in Belgium