OSE (Ouevre de Secours aux Enfants) armband

Armband isssued to and worn by Julien Engel as identification for group of 60 children transported to the U.S.A. aboard "Athos II" leaving Marseilles September 1946 under the auspices of the French-Jewish aid organization, O.S.E. (Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants). No restrictions on access Julien Engel's parents were arrested and eventually transported to Auschwitz. Julien and his younger brother George were saved. They were sheltered in Cannes for three years by Rayon de Soleil, a private children's home. They were liberated in mid-August 1944. The boys were sent to the O.S.E. home in Orsay, outside of Paris before boarding the Athos II. On September 6, 1946 (two days out of New York) Julien celebrated his Bar Mitzvah. The ceremony was attended by Marc Chagall.