Meet Michel Jeruchim, born in Paris in 1937 to Polish-Jewish émigrés, as he shares his memories of a hidden child during the Nazi occupation, and how he made his life in America.

Michel lives with his wife Joan in Philadelphia and will be signing the second edition of his book 

OUT OF THE SHADOWS - 

SURVIVAL IN NAZI-OCCUPIED FRANCE AND MAKING A LIFE IN AMERICA

Written as a memoir, the French for mémoire  means memory, it took Michel several years, with the help of his older siblings to recollect and write about the most traumatic and dramatic events of his childhood but also how, after emmigrating to the USA at the age of twelve, he had to adapt to become an American.

In the preface Michel writes ‘I prefer to think of this writing as a conversation with you, the reader, and like all good conversations, the topics meander, triggered by a word, an unspoken or hypothetical question, or a random thought…..the real incentive has been for me to try to emerge from the shadow of WWII and reconstruct a lost childhood….the reconstruction is not only to find myself as a child, but to ‘find’ my parents, about whom I think almost on a daily basis’

A deeply moving biography of Michel’s life, in France and later here in America which resonates with the lives of many immigrants. Today Michel and Joan are about to embark on yet another trip to Normandy, France, to meet again with the  Family who looked after him as a boy and maybe finally obtain French Citizenship, ‘It would mean a lot to me’ he says.

Michel will talk to the audience based on his memoir and share an extensive presentation with many photos and maps.

Copies of the book will be available to buy at a discounted price of $20 on the day

Participants can also pre-order the book available in English from Amazon, , Barnes and Noble, or Bookshop.org.

Some refreshments will be served on the day

*** WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ***

Day: Friday, April  11th, 2025
Time: 6:00 PM
Duration: 1.5 hours
Location:  Alliance Francaise, 1420 Walnut St, Suite 700, Philadelphia, PA 19102
Language: English, French
Fee: $10 for AF Members / $15 for non AF Members