The Heschel School

Simone Lisoprawski was born in Paris, France, on October 16, 1925. Her mother, Hena, died when Simone was nine years old, and she grew up with her father, Ruben, who owned a bakery, and younger brother, Daniel, born in 1927. The family was traditional but not strictly religious in their Jewish practice.

During the war, they remained in their Paris apartment until it became too dangerous.  They subsequently hid with various friends but when that became untenable, they returned home despite the threat of arrest.

Some time in the spring of 1944, after the bakery was destroyed, the family went back into hiding for about six weeks. They lived in an unknown place on the same street as the bakery, Rue du Moulinet, where a woman named Victoria regularly came to give them food. In June, a friend of Victoria's named Anne Beaumanoir, who was only 20 years old and a member of the French Communist underground, warned them of an impending police raid. She sent the children, then 16 and 14, to live with her parents, Jean and Marthe, in Dinan, Brittany.

Ruben, who had intended to join his children once their safety in Brittany was assured, was arrested one or two days later and deported to Auschwitz. His children never saw him again.

Simone and Daniel stayed in Dinan until the end of the war. Simone worked in the Beaumanoir family restaurant, and Daniel worked as a gardener. Jean, Marthe and Anne were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in 1996.

In 1948, Simone married Charles Rak. They had two children, Hélène and Robert, whom Simone named for her parents. Simone passed away on August 27, 2016. She is survived by her children, five grandchildren, and ever-growing brood of great-grandchildren, including Heschel students Noémie Adelia and Léa Paule Rak.