Michel Valat had a newspaper shop on Poitou Street in Paris. He was a witness to the round-up of Jews that reached his building on July 16, 1942, when the police come to arrest Joseph and Mina Meyersohn. Michel Valat offered the family refuge in Ganges (Hérault), at the home of his brothers Marius and Edmond. The Meyersohns had lived in Paris since the early 1920s and ran a furrier workshop. Their daughter, seven-year-old Suzy lived with them. On the morning of the big roundup, Suzy was on holiday outside of Paris. Her mother refused to leave without her daughter and suggested sending someone to get her. The policemen agreed and waited for the daughter to return. As the wait became long, the policemen became impatient. They left, promising to return the next day. This reprieve gave the Meyersohns and their relatives, Milan and Rachel Malamid and their 18-year-old daughter Venette, time to escape. After secretly crossing the partition line, the Meyersohns and Malamids showed up at the home of Marius Valat, Edmond’s brother. Even though he had not been alerted ahead of time, he welcomed them warmly. Marius and his brother Edmond offered the Jewish fugitives the use of an old, abandoned and isolated farmhouse. The house was in Saint Laurent le Minier, not far from Ganges. The two families put the farmhouse back in shape, raised chickens and rabbits and grew a vegetable garden. Relations with their new neighbors were good, until one of them denounced the families in 1943. The Meyersohn couple and Suzy were arrested and later released, once the father’s military booklet was presented. For safety’s sake, they decided to split up. Edmond Valat took in Suzy and sent her to school in Ganges. She was baptized, studied catechism and celebrated her First Communion. She remembers, with much gratitude, the generosity and hospitality of Edmond Valat and his wife. It was also thanks to them that Suzy saw her parents once a week, as they too were under Edmond’s protection until the Liberation.
On February 8, 2000, Yad Vashem recognized Edmond Valat as Righteous Among the Nations.