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During the month of April 1944, Mr. and Mrs. Lob came to appeal to Dr. Jean-Marie Musy to
intervene to the German authorities, in order to obtain the release of their sister and brother-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Bloch. The Blochs, of Jewish religious faith, had been
arrested in France by the Germans. Mr. Musy knew the family Lob for a long time, as he had been Mr. Lob's attorney in Bulle (Gruyère-Switzerland). The Lob sons had all done their
military service in the Swiss cavalry with Jean-Marie Musy's sons, Pierre and Luigi Musy.
Jean Musy accepted the pleas of the Lob family and he left for Paris, although having little hope that he would be
successful in his delicate mission. When he arrived in Paris, General Hoberg, chief of the German Police in France, immediately said that "an Israelite (Jew) who has entered
a concentration camp has never come out of it." Mr. Musy did not loose hope and insisted on the fact that Mrs. Bloch was of Swiss origin. After multiple steps, the liberation
of the Bloch couple was obtained thanks to J-M Musy. This was a success which was almost not expected and this liberation was without precedent.
It was probably because of this liberation that Mrs. Bolomey visited Mr. Musy in October 1944. She
came in the name of a Committee which had been recently formed in Montreux (Switzerland). This Committee was headed by Rabbi Isaac Sternbuch, which acted on behalf of the
"Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada." Mr. Sternbuch and his wife Mrs. Recha Sternbuch, asked Mr. Musy to intervene in Germany with the aim to
obtain the release of Jews who were prisoners in concentration camps. Dr. Musy knew that it would not only be very difficult to be successful in this mission, but also that it
would be significantly dangerous. The Allies were keeping a watch over the roads and were constantly machine gunning the roads, which had to be inevitably traveled upon to reach
Berlin.
Nevertheless, for Jean-Marie Musy, the danger which he would encounter did not play an important role in his decision to
accept the mission. It is with a deep sentiment of humanity and Christian concern that drove Mr. J-M Musy and his son Benoît to intervene on behalf of the prisoners of the
concentration camps. They never asked or received personal monetary compensation for their frequent trips to Germany.
Afterwards he wrote to Himmler, the commander of the S.S. to ask for a meeting. As J.-M. Musy was an ex-President of
Switzerland, he knew Himmler from the days when "Anti-Communist Committees" had been formed in almost every country. Fifteen days later, the reply from General Himmler
was positive, and a few weeks later, Jean-Marie and his son Benoît Musy arrived in Berlin by automobile (a distance of approximately 900 km (560 miles) from Switzerland).
They traveled in Germany during 1944-45 as private individuals., as Jean-Marie Musy had retired in
1934. He was no longer representing the government of Switzerland. They were simply two Swiss citizens who were trying to help the Jewish prisoners in Germany.
The meeting with Himmler took place in a German military train which was traveling to Vienna. During the first meeting,
General Himmler expressed the following comments about the ex-Swiss Statesman: "He was a man totally unselfish, extremely intelligent and educated, who only had one goal: to save as many human lives as possible amongst the hundreds of thousands of prisoners of the concentration camps."
Mr. Musy articulated to Himmler the humanitarian consideration of his mission and that Germany had a major interest in
liberating all of the concentration camps. A document was presented to General Himmler, attesting to the fact that the Americans were ready to take at their cost all transport and
support for all of the Jews which were released.
The conference lasted two hours. The outcome of the meeting was positive between General Himmler
and Mr. Musy, who represented the "Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada." An agreement was reached with the following clauses:
I) The Germans would agree to liberate all Jews, approximately 600,000, held in the concentration camps that were
located in territory under the control of the Germans. These releases could be done without Hitler's authorization.
II) This liberation of the camps, would start immediately and be in exchange for compensations,
to be determined later, as soon as the Union of Orthodox Rabbis had accepted the offer in principle. Himmler wanted trucks, tractors, automobiles, etc. Jean-Marie Musy
immediately made the observation to the SS General that it would be very difficult to supply Germany with compensations of this nature. Mr. Musy did his best to make him
understand that, the transaction would be easier if the Germans would accept money, to which a supply of medicine could possibly be included. Himmler maintained his position
concerning the compensation in automotive hardware.
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