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Dutch Jew Who Rescued 100s in Vichy France Finally Recognized
(Times of Israel) Robert Philpot - In August 1942, as the Nazis' net grew ever tighter around the Jews of Vichy France, Dutch diplomat Salomon (Sally) Noach walked into Lyon's Palais de Justice and successfully demanded the release of 118 prisoners being held there. He then appeared at the Stade des Iris on the outskirts of the city where Jews were being detained and issued false papers to 432 people, registering them as Dutch and thus securing their escape from near-certain death. The feature-length documentary "Forgotten Soldier," released last year, lifts the veil on a man who never received the recognition he undoubtedly deserved during his lifetime. Using fake documents supplied by the resistance (which supposedly proved the inmates weren't Jewish), he entered prisons and holding centers with the aim of securing the release of as many refugees as he could. He greased the process with bribes and gifts for the guards and police.