On the occasion of a commemorative ceremony, the Port School unveiled two plaques honoring students who died during deportation.
The children of Port School are struggling to hide their pride and joy. It’s quite difficult to keep them in place, grouped in the center of the courtyard. It is a special day for them and for the school. No recess at 10 a.m., but a ceremony. And not just any ceremony.
At the entrance of the courtyard, two French flags cover two plaques which will be unveiled in a few minutes. “The children are very happy to participate in this commemorative ceremony,” says Robert Bottau, director of Port School.
In the presence of Éric Ciotti, president of the departmental council of Alpes-Maritimes, Philippe Pradal, mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, president of the PACA region, and Lauriano Azinheirinha, deputy mayor in charge of education, the ceremony began with the reading of texts about the Holocaust by six children from the school. These texts notably recalled the prohibitions faced by Jews during the occupation.
After a minute of silence and the Marseillaise performed by the Nice Firefighters Band, the two commemorative plaques were unveiled. The first in memory of all the students deported to extermination camps between 1942 and 1944 and executed for being born Jewish. The second pays tribute to Robert Brousski, a student from Port School who died in deportation at the age of 14.
After the children sang the songs “Comme Toi” by Jean-Jacques Goldman and “On écrit sur les murs,” Éric Ciotti paid tribute to Robert Brousski, “about whom unfortunately little is known.” He was registered at the school as a “refugee,” then interned at the Hôtel Excelsior near the Nice train station, and later sent to Drancy with his family. “Through Pierre Brousski, I pay tribute to all the Jewish children deported,” added the president of the departmental council.
Christian Estrosi reminded the children that “it is their duty to carry the memory, so that such atrocities never happen again.” He then stated that “France will forever bear the memory of shame and the Occupation.”
Michelle Merowka, president of the Association for the Memory of Jewish Deported Children of the Alpes-Maritimes, specified that “the association tries to perpetuate the memory of the children after their short time on Earth.” Christian Estrosi concluded by thanking the children “for this magnificent ceremony and the extraordinary energy they have shown.”
