MILFORD, Mass. — Simon Barenbaum died on Nov. 18, 2023, in Milford, Mass., together with his daughters by his aspect. He was 97 years outdated.

He was born in 1926 to Israel Barenbaum and Esther Zevko Barenbaum, touring actors within the Yiddish theater. Their troupe was in Latvia on the time of his start, and settled in Paris when he was very younger. Within the late Thirties, once they carried out in Britain, Simon realized English, which might show important to his later endeavors.

The Barenbaums had been in Paris in June 1940 when the Nazi occupation started. Simon was 14. His beloved older brother, Kadia, was ordered to report back to the French police, and by no means returned dwelling.

In 1942, Simon’s father, after which he and his mom, had been detained in Drancy, a transit camp exterior Paris. Simply earlier than they had been to be deported, they had been saved by a pal who advised the authorities they had been his staff, wanted to make fur coats and boots for the Nazis. That fall, they had been allowed to return to Paris.

At age 16, Simon joined a gaggle of Jewish Boy Scouts who had been making false ID playing cards. He managed to acquire some for his household, and so they left for Draguignan within the south of France, the place they’d associates. There, they lived a comparatively regular life for 2 years. Simon’s prowess at soccer earned him a spot on the native crew.

American paratroopers landed within the space in August of 1944. Hoping to hasten liberation, Simon provided to assist them, utilizing his proficient English. The top of the native Resistance gave him a mission, and he was in a position to assist the People to achieve army benefit. Simon was in a position to take part in a number of different missions, and to behave as a information and go-between, averting additional assaults.

Quickly after he returned to Draguignan, his household realized that Kadia had died of typhus at Auschwitz. After the struggle, the household moved again to Paris. Simon studied on the Sorbonne, and met Colette Jacot, who would change into his first spouse.

In 1950, Simon and his dad and mom moved to the US in order that he might proceed his research. He married Colette in 1951, and taught French at Brown College whereas working towards his Ph.D. He and Colette had a daughter, Nicole. Sadly, in 1954, Colette succumbed to most cancers. A while afterwards, Simon met and married Ruth Schwarzkopf, daughter of Common Norman Schwarzkopf. After incomes his Ph.D., he moved with Ruth, Nicole, and daughter Myriam to Oberlin, the place he would educate French language and literature and direct French performs for 13 years. Son Kadia, born in Oberlin, was named after Simon’s brother.

The household moved to Middlebury in 1970, drawn by the robust languages program there. At Middlebury, Simon continued to encourage college students together with his love of French language, tradition, and theater. He directed college students in French performs, and assigned a venture to create “Vous Allez à Montréal?,” a free journey information in French providing strolling excursions and extra, which he continued to replace for a few years. His love for Francophone Canada expanded as he took a collection of week-long bike journeys in Quebec.

After retiring from Middlebury in 1992, Simon turned extra concerned in selling Francophony in Northern Vermont. He helped discovered the Alliance Française of Vermont: Cercle Québecois (now the AFLCR). In 1992, he launched “Les Boulangers,” a French dialog group that met weekly in Bristol. That group continues in Middlebury, with some members having attended for many years. He additionally edited a e-newsletter saying Francophone actions and occasions within the space, and created a month-to-month program, Chronique Francophone, for Middlebury Group Tv. He organized “Chez Roland” social lunches in Rutland and Burlington.

In 1999, the Vermont Chapter of the American Affiliation of Lecturers of French named him “Ambassador of French” for the various methods he promoted the training and talking of French.

Simon additionally spoke ceaselessly to Vermont highschool college students about his experiences of surviving the Holocaust. He remained politically lively, helping with tasks by means of the native Mates’ group. He and Ruth beloved and cared for his or her backyard in East Middlebury.

After Ruth died in 2022, Simon moved to Massachusetts to be close to Nicole. Nicole and Myriam helped him to maintain “Les Boulangers” logging on every week. The group gave him a much-needed connection to his neighborhood in Middlebury, and the prospect to share songs, poems, and texts associated to France. He turned identified at his senior residing middle for breaking into music throughout Blissful Hour and at any time when else he felt so moved.

Family and friends appreciated Simon’s braveness, enthusiasm, creativity, generosity, and humorousness. As one pal mentioned, “His reminiscence will all the time evoke his irrepressible optimism, dignity, and devotion to others, to life and studying.”

He’s survived by his daughters, Nicole Barenbaum of Mendon, Mass., and Myriam Barenbaum of Sleepy Hole, N.Y.; son, Kadia Barenbaum of Burlington, Vt.; grandsons Joshua Scheufler of Nashville, Tenn., and Jake Miller of New York, N.Y.; and great-granddaughter, Olive Colette Potts Scheufler. ◊