Jacques Lusseyran; 1924-1971

By Sister Irene Hartman, OP

A blind French lad … what could he do to prevent bloodshed and torture during World War II? A blind lad who became a brilliant student, who relied on sounds to bring him information and create images that endured, he learned how to adapt his every move to his environment. He was born Sept. 19, 1924 in the heart of Paris in a modest 19th century house. His parents were both well educated and spoke to him about God.

“I had no name for him. He was just there and it was better so. My parents were responsible for passing along the gift. My religion began like this and it was better so, which explains why I never knew doubt.”

At seven, Jacques had a fall which resulted in total blindness. From that day on, he was dependent on others to show him the world, a world which he could imagine. He learned how to adapt to his new world, especially through his many friends. Soon he was able to read Braille, which he mastered in six weeks. His education was not interrupted and he became an avid reader. Blindness became not an obstacle, but a daily challenge. Jacques at 10 knew the power of prayer, and daily prayed the Lord’s Prayer.

Alarmed at the rise of Adolph Hitler in 1938, he self-taught himself German so he could listen to German radio. What he heard gave him great fear, and yet a determination that would never waver. At 14, he was going to help save his beloved France, which was invaded by Germany in 1940. As a lone patriot, he planned to form a resistance group called Volunteers of Liberty. Word spread among his friends, and at the first meeting to which he expected two lads, there were 52 young boys eager to do what they could to save France. They were teenagers at first; later scholars from colleges of letters, science, agronomy, chemistry, and physics offered their services.

In the midst of a country suffering from food and fuel shortages, the movement would have no arms, nor even any talk about arms. Their first task was to give people the news by means of a bulletin which was produced by the thousands. The French had to be informed of the brutality of the Gestapo, the arrests, the persecutions, and torture, especially of the Jews. The group manufactured false identification papers. Their major thrust was to instill hope and courage when these were in such short supply. “France will die. There is no hope.” This idea had to be changed. Downed pilots had to be rescued and given medical attention. “Our goal was to keep France from abdicating, to see to it that she was present and intact when she was liberated.”

Eventually, in July, 1943, Jacques was betrayed by one of his resistance members and imprisoned. He was sent to Buchenwald, but because of his blindness, he was not ordered to do heavy labor. Instead, he was able to assist the less fortunate with words of encouragement, with gentleness, with sharing his food whenever possible, in binding up wounds, and comforting the afflicted. “I was aware that my conscience was in touch with the conscience of hundreds of others, growing in rhythm with their sufferings or their hopes.” Jacques was one of 30 resistors in Buchenwald when the Americans liberated the country in April 1945.

Sickened by torture and lack of food, he gradually came back to good health and went on to become husband, father, university professor, and writer. In his story, he said he wishes to show what these years “held of life, light and joy by the grace of God.” Jacques Lusseyran was killed in an auto accident in 1971.