From a Holocaust-era Chimney to a Guide for Refugees in France
A company that has been advising tourists where to stay is now helping refugees say what they need โ thanks to the firm's founder.

French travel guide company Routard published a special guidebook last week. Rather than pictures of exotic sites and recommendations for cheap hotels, the book is made up exclusively of illustrations without any text. This guide was released to help refugees communicate with local assistance organizations in France.
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The 96-page guide entitled โHello!โ is divided into five sections โ practical information, housing, health and hygiene, food, and leisure. Each section contains illustrations related to basic daily needs, such as types of clothing, footwear, food, hygiene products, modes of transportation and payment methods. By pointing to the illustrations, refugees who donโt speak French will be able to explain more easily their needs to aid workers. Routard will print 5,000 copies in mid-October and distribute them free to aid organizations. Meanwhile, it can be downloaded for free on the Routard website.
It is no coincidence that this travel guide company is printing a special guide for refugees. It turns out that Philippe Gloaguen, editor in chief of the Guide du Routard, has a special connection to the issue.
In 1965, after a fire broke out in the godmotherโs home, firefighters asked his parents to clean out the blocked chimneys in her house, which posed a safety hazard. Gloaguen, then 14, joined his father for the 300-kilometer journey south from Paris to her home. When they began the cleaning mission, they discovered within the chimney and in the attack piles of documents and gold jewelry. An examination revealed that they belonged to Jews who fled the Second World War from Nazi-occupied France to Vichy France. Thus, they discovered that Gloaguenโs godmother, who lived on the border between Nazi-occupied France and Vichy France, helped Jews during the war to flee the Nazis without anyone in her family knowing.
Gloaguen recalled that after the discovery his father contacted the Israeli consulate in Paris and consular officials came to investigate and try to locate the owners of the jewelry and documents. The fact that his relative risked her life to save Jews made a deep impression on him.
โI grew up in a family in which it is important to help others,โ he told Haaretz in a phone interview.
Another experience that made a mark on him took place during a visit to Israel with his Catholic father 25 years ago.
His father contracted pneumonia and spent their 10 days in Israel in the hospital. โHe told me that it was the best trip of his life because he met religious Jews and learned a ton about Jews,โ he recalled. โHe met Jews from Morocco who spoke French, and for 10 days a woman of Moroccan descent sat next to him to help him with all his needs.โ When he came to get his father released and pay for the hospitalization, he was told there was no need and that it would be arranged with French authorities.
โI didnโt pay anything, and I never heard anything about it since then,โ he said. โIt is perhaps the reason why I am conscious about helping others โ because it happened to me and my father. You can be proud of your country.โ
When Gloaguen heard that French President Francois Hollande declared that his state would take in 24,00 refugees, the small number outraged him.
โFrance is known for human rights for 200 years,โ he said. โAnd I was shocked by the way in which our government is behaving toward refugees in France. These people โ Eritreans, Iraqis, Syrians โ are not terrorists. They are not people without work. They are not people on the margins. They are just fleeing Muslim terror in their land. The French and Europeans are familiar with Muslim terror, and it is much less serious than the terror these refugees suffered in their land. These people want to live without endangering themselves.โ
He says he was embarrassed when he heard Hollandeโs announcement.
โWe think only about ourselves,โ he said. โItโs nothing but egoism.โ
Gloaguen recalled that in WW1 France absorbed 1.5 million Belgian refugees who fled after Germany invaded their country.
โAll French have forgotten this. Itโs 62 times as many refugees as weโll now accept,โ he said. He says the difference isnโt due to racism, though.
โWe have economic problems, and we want to think only of ourselves, but itโs a question of humanity,โ he said. โWe wonโt be poorer if we accept more refugees.โ
When Gloaguen took matters into his own hands and began preparing a guide that would help refugee absorption in France, he drew from a previous Routard guidebook.
โA few years ago, I published a similar guide for vacationing children,โ he explained. โIf they want orange juice in a hotel and canโt ask in Greek or Spanish, they show the picture. I thought itโs basically the same thing for refugees, only their needs differ. I met with many aid organizations. I asked what questions they ask them, what needs they have, and it was a little complicated. I needed three months to make it, and I wasnโt alone.โ He said travel agency Voyageurs du Monde covered half the printing costs.
โThis guide wonโt be in bookstores,โ stressed Gloaguen. โItโs not a guide for refugees but edited for those helping refugees.โ
He said refugees are not supposed to carry the guide. โThe organizations told me itโs too heavy to carry,โ he said. โThrough the guide the organizations understand their needs and go from there.โ
Gloaguen criticized French authorities on Routardโs website, calling on anyone who can to help refugees. โItโs one of the worst humanitarian disasters since World War II,โ the site stated. โAnd Fortress Europe refuses to see the size of the tragedy.โ
Gloaguen stressed: โIn World War II, help to the Jews incurred risking oneโs life, while now there is no danger in helping refugees, only humanity is needed.โ