Albert Gustave Bedane | |
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 Portrait of Albert Bedane displayed on a banner inSt Helier to mark the 60th anniversary of the Liberation | |
| Born | 1893 (1893) |
| Died | 1980 (aged 86–87) |
| Occupation | masseur/physiotherapist |
| Known for | British Hero of the Holocaust Righteous Among the Nations |
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| Righteous Among the Nations |
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| By country |
Albert Gustave Bedane (1893–1980) lived inJersey during theGerman occupation duringWorld War II, and provided shelter to a Jewish woman and others, preventing their capture by the Nazis. In 2010, Bedane was posthumously named aBritish Hero of the Holocaust.[1]
Albert Bedane was born inAngers in France in 1893 and lived in Jersey from 1894. He served in theBritish Army, 1917-1920, and was naturalised as a British subject by theRoyal Court of Jersey in 1921. By profession he was amasseur/physiotherapist, running a physiotherapy clinic from his home in Roseville Street, St Helier.
During theGerman occupation of the Channel Islands, some of the Germans came to his clinic for treatment.[2] Bedane was also using his home to shelter an escaped French prisoner of war, three escaped Soviet slave labourers and a Dutch Jewish woman, Mrs Mary Richardson, who was married to a local man, Captain Richardson. For 2 1/2 years, Mary Richardson lived in the cellar and attic of Bedane's house. Beneath his clinic there was a three-roomed cellar, which he used to shelter those who had sought refuge. By asking for payment in food rather than money from his clients, Bedane managed to feed everyone without arousing suspicion.
In 1966 the Soviet government presented Albert Bedane (along with other Jersey resistance activists who had helped and sheltered escaped Soviet slave-workers) with a gold watch. On 4 January 2000, Albert Bedane wasposthumously recognised asRighteous Among the Nations.
In 2004BBC South West launched an audience vote forSouth West Heroes. The four nominations from Jersey, which falls within the BBC's South West broadcasting region, wereGerald Durrell, SirWalter Ralegh, SirBilly Butlin and Bedane.[3]
On 9 March 2010 the award ofBritish Hero of the Holocaust was made to 25 individuals, including four Jerseymen, by the United Kingdom government in recognition of UK citizens who assisted inrescuing victims ofthe Holocaust. The Jersey recipients wereLouisa Gould,Ivy Forster,Harold Le Druillenec and Bedane.[2][4][5] It was, according to historianFreddie Cohen, the first time that the UK Government recognised the heroism of Jersey islanders during the German occupation.[6]
The Righteous Among the Nations medal and certificate are on display in the Occupation Tapestry Gallery at theJersey Maritime Museum on New North Quay.
A plaque erected by theVingtaine de la Ville marks the site of his home in Roseville Street,St Helier, where he sheltered escapees.