Adélaïde Hautval
Adélaïde Hautval | |
|---|---|
| Born | Marthe Adélaïde Hautval 1 January 1906 |
| Died | 12 October 1988 (aged 82) |
| Nationality | French |
| Other names | Haïdi |
| Education | University of Strasbourg (Doctorate, 1933) |
| Occupation | Psychiatrist |
| Known for | Opposing Nazi medical practices at Auschwitz; Righteous Among the Nations |
| Criminal penalty | Imprisonment in Ravensbrück and Auschwitz |
| Awards | |
| Righteous Among the Nations |
|---|
| By country |
Adélaïde Haas Hautval (1 January 1906 – 17 October 1988)[1] was a French physician, psychiatrist, and Holocaust rescuer. Imprisoned in Auschwitz concentration camp during the Second World War, she provided medical care to Jewish prisoners and refused to participate in Nazi medical experiments. In 1965, she was recognised as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem for her moral courage and efforts to protect Jewish lives.
Early life
Hautval was born on 1 January 1906 in Le Hohwald, a village in the Alsace region of eastern France.[1] She was the seventh and youngest child of Philippe Haas, a Protestant minister active in the region during the 1890s, and Sophie Lydie Kuntz, daughter of Jean-Hippolyte Kuntz, proprietor of the Grand Hotel Du Hohwald.[2] Known affectionately as "Heidi" in childhood, she later adopted the name "Hautval" in memory of her native village.[3] She studied medicine at the University of Strasbourg and specialised in psychiatry, training in various institutions across France and Switzerland.[4] During the evacuation of Alsace in 1939, she was relocated to the Dordogne region with much of the local population. She continued her psychiatric work at the Lannemezan facility in the Hautes-Pyrénées.[3]
Arrest and imprisonment
In 1942, upon the death of her mother in Paris, Hautval sought permission to travel across the demarcation line to attend the funeral. When the request was denied, she crossed into Nazi-occupied territory illegally and was arrested in Bourges.[5] While imprisoned, she was detained alongside Jewish prisoners. She openly expressed solidarity with them, repeatedly defending them to the Gestapo and even wearing a sign reading "friend of the Jews", mimicking the yellow badge imposed on Jewish inmates.[1][4][5]
Hautval was transferred through a series of internment camps for Jewish deportees, including Pithiviers internment camp, Beaune-la-Rolande internment camp, and Fort de Romainville. In January 1943, she was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp along with 230 other French female political prisoners, in a convoy later known as the Convoi des 31000.[1]
Upon arrival at Auschwitz, camp doctor Eduard Wirths assigned Hautval to practise gynaecology. She complied initially but withdrew when she discovered the department was conducting forced sterilisation experiments on Jewish women, using x-rays and surgical removal of the ovaries.[6] She was widely known in the camp as "the saint" for secretly providing medical aid to Jewish prisoners in her barracks, despite the grave risks involved.[5]
In August 1944, she was transferred to Ravensbrück concentration camp, where she remained imprisoned until the arrival of Allied forces in April 1945.[1]
Later life and legacy
Following liberation, Hautval returned to France and resumed her medical practice.[4] In 1964, she gave testimony in the British High Court during the Dering v Uris libel trial. The Polish doctor Wladislaw Dering had sued the novelist Leon Uris for naming him in the book Exodus as having conducted medical experiments in Auschwitz. Dering argued that disobedience would have led to execution, but Hautval, under oath, testified that she had disobeyed orders and survived nonetheless.[1] Her testimony played a critical role in the case. Justice Frederick Lawton later described her as "perhaps one of the most impressive and courageous women who had ever given evidence in the courts of this country".[4]
In 1965, Hautval was honoured by Yad Vashem as one of the Righteous Among the Nations, acknowledging her exceptional moral courage in protecting Jewish lives under the Nazi regime.[7]
Later in life, Hautval was diagnosed with Parkinson disease.[1][2] In 1987, she completed her memoirs, which were published posthumously in 1991 as Médecine et crimes contre l'humanité ("Medicine and Crimes Against Humanity").[8] She died by suicide in 1988.[1][2]
In 1993, a street in front of the University of Strasbourg’s medical faculty was renamed in her honour.[1] In 2015, the Parisian hospital formerly named after Charles Richet was renamed Adélaïde-Hautval Hospital, recognising her contributions and correcting the historical record.[9]
Memorials
In 1991, a fountain and memorial stone known as the Fontaine Haïdi Hautval was erected in her birthplace, Le Hohwald.[10]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Haag, John. "Hautval, Adelaide (1906–1988)". Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
- ^ a b c "Adelaïde Haas Hautval (1906–1988)". Virtual Museum of Protestantism. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
- ^ a b Wagner-Remy, Claire (2016-06-03). Sur les traces du passé: auf den spuren der vergagenheit (in French). BoD – Books on Demand. p. 99. ISBN 978-2-322-07800-4. Retrieved 2025-04-20.
- ^ a b c d Paldiel, Mordecai (1993). The Path of the Righteous: Gentile Rescuers of Jews During the Holocaust. KTAV Publishing House, Inc. pp. 62–64. ISBN 978-0-88125-376-4.
- ^ a b c Bartrop, Paul R.; Dickerman, Michael (15 September 2017). The Holocaust: An Encyclopedia and Document Collection. ABC-CLIO. p. 276. ISBN 978-1-4408-4084-5.
- ^ Windsor, Laura Lynn (2002). Women in Medicine: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 92. ISBN 978-1-57607-392-6.
- ^ "Dr. Adelaide Hautval". Yad Vashem. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
- ^ "Adélaïde Hautval". en.gariwo.net (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-01-26.
- ^ "L'hôpital de Villiers-le-Bel, Charles Richet, renommé Adélaïde Hautval après une longue polémique". Huffington Post (in French). 13 May 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
- ^ "Fontaine Haïdi Hautval". Massif des Vosges (in French). 2020-12-18. Retrieved 2025-04-21.