Austrian Jew Leaves Fortune to French Town that Saved His Life
Eric Schwam was one of over 3,000 Jews saved by the residents in one small French town.
When Vienna-born Jew Eric Schwam recently passed away at the age of 90, he left an unusual bequest. He left the small fortune he’d managed to save up in a lifetime working in the pharmaceutical field to Le Chambon sur Lignon, a town of fewer than 2,500 people in southeastern France. Eighty years ago, the residents of Le Chambon sur Lignon saved the life of Mr. Schwam as well as thousands of other Jewish refugees during the darkest days of the Holocaust.
Jewish refugee who fled Nazis with his family from Austria during World War II leaves two million euros in his will to French village whose residents hid them from persecution
Eric Schwam was a Jewish refugee who arrived in Chambon-sur-Lignon, southeast France, with his parents and maternal grandmother in February 1943
Schwam, who died aged 90 in December, is believed to have left around two million euros to the village
He bequeathed the fortune in gratitude for the residents hiding them from Nazis
Man leaves fortune to French village that saved Jews in WWII
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Man leaves fortune to French village that saved Jews in WWII
Erich Schwam who died at the age of 90 left a “considerable sum” to Chambon-sur-Lignon, the only village in France to have received the honorary title ‘Righteous Among The Nations’ from the state of Israel
30 January 2021
A plaque in Chambon-sur-Lignon commemorating the town s efforts to shelter Jews from NazisBy Connexion journalist
French village inherits fortune from Austrian Jew it sheltered from Nazis
Issued on: Chambon-sur-Lignon has a history of offering shelter to those in need JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK AFP 3 min An Austrian man who fled the Nazis with his family during World War II has remembered in his will a French village whose residents hid them from persecution. Advertising Read more
Eric Schwam died aged 90 on 25 December last year. His will contained a surprise gift for Chambon-sur-Lignon, a small town on a remote mountain plateau in southeast France. It s a large amount for the village, Mayor Jean-Michel Eyraud said, while declining to say exactly how much since the will is still being sorted out.