During the Holocaust, Aznavour’s home gave shelter to Jews and Armenians who fled from the Nazis. The International Raoul Waldenburg Foundation paid a visit to Mr. Charles Aznavour to learn the details.
Aznavour’s parents hid Jews people in their apartment during the Holocaust. “My sister and I were sleeping on the floor,” Aznavour said.
The Raoul Wallenberg Foundation established about twenty years ago focuses on rescue of people, on people who risk their lives to save others.
Up to now Charles Aznavour has said very little about an especially humane and heroic chapter in his and his family’s life: Their decision to shelter and save Jews, Armenian deserters and underground activists in their home during the German occupation of France during the war, and their involvement in anti-Nazi activity.
Now Aznavour has decided to tell the whole story, in Hebrew, in a self-published book, “Matzilim (Tzadikim) Ve’Lohamim” (“Righteous Saviors and Fighters”), by genocide researcher Prof. Yair Auron.
The latter spoke at length with Aznavour and his sister, Aida Aznavour-Garvarentz, who told him about their lives under the German occupation and what led their family, especially their father, to take part in rescue missions despite the many risks. The book, which will also be translated into French and Armenian, recounts a specific case, but offers a moral lesson on human behavior under conditions of widespread terror, and political and ideological violence. Above all, it is the moving story of survivors of one genocide who, at great personal risk, felt compelled to help victims of another.
