Isabelle Veil Perona, Jean’s daughter, Simone Veil’s eldest son.
«If I commit myself in such a total way to a united Europe, it is because I learned from my past and I think about the future of France. I suffered too personally, in the mind and body, to accept that my children and grandchildren one day can suffer what I and many others have suffered … Europe is peace “. In these words, pronounced with passionate conviction in one of his speeches in front of the European Parliament, there is all the legacy of Simone Veil, who survived Auschwitz, the first president of the Woman of the Superior Council of the judiciary in France, the first woman president of the European Parliament: a twentieth century giant or, as played The beautiful film by Olivier Dahan who finally arrives in Italy, Simone Veil. The woman of the century (in theaters on January 27 for the day of memory and then from January 30). An engaging portrait that moves between the private sphere.
“For me it was above all a grandmother very close to her grandchildren,” says Isabelle Veil Perona, Jean’s daughter, Simone Veil’s eldest son, in this interview granted exclusively to Christian family. «As soon as possible, he was carved out of his public commitments to be with us. And he had particular attention to females: he recommended to study and work, to be independent ».
And what memory does her grandfather Antoine have, Simone’s husband?
“They were very tied. The film tells well how, before the grandmother’s entry into politics, she was known as “Antoine’s wife”, because he had embarked on a prestigious career in the state administration; Then he had to get aside, leaving the policy for the industrial sector, so much so that he becomes “Simone Veil’s husband”. He suffered a little, but he never made his grandmother support. “
Did you give your grandchildren about the Shoah?
«He did not like talking about it in the family, probably to protect us. Of course we were not unaware of the terrible experience he had lived, but when he was with us he concentrated and dedicated to our lives: I know he preferred to return to these topics with the other deportees. Things changed when, in 2005, Paris Match He proposed to return to the concentration camp: she accepted, and wanted us to bring us grandchildren too … he told us that it was impossible to understand what he had lived, the pain he had felt. That no one was able to understand it ».
Precisely because of this “trauma” he had made one of the reasons of life united Europe. What would think today that that project, on many occasions, proves to be fragile?
«She repeated that to guarantee peace it was necessary to build a common European defense. He always denounced this gap in the original project. Having said that, his question brings me back to a very personal memory. For 30 years I have been married to an Italian, mine is a Franco-Italian family, and this grandmother Simone liked it very much, because she saw in us an example of that Europe who knows how to be together in the differences, who knows how to deal. He did not miss an opportunity to dialogue with people of other nationalities and cultures ».
Unfortunately today, even in Europe, episodes of racism and anti -Semitism follow one another. How would Simone Veil react?
«He would continue to testify to the horror of the concentration camp, he would have multiplied the efforts to transmit, especially to the new generations, the message that hatred does not make sense, which brings only destruction and that we must avoid any extremism. She herself, as the film documents, gave the example, returning to Germany and concentration camps ».
The president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen a few years ago said: “If the EU was a woman, it would be Simone Veil”. Do you think there is a figure today in Europe or in the world that has gathered its inheritance more than others?
«I don’t know … what I can say is that, when he died, I lost a grandmother I loved, while many people let them understand that they had lost someone who had been able to show themselves sensitive to their needs, which he had somehow scored their life. He led so many battles – for prisoners, women, the sick, the Jews, Europe, working dignity – which is difficult to identify a single heir “.
It affects how Simone Veil has been able to transform the enormous pain that he had had to face into energy to fight in favor of the most fragile, from prisoners to the sick to drug addicts …
«Yes, he could not stand injustice and took care of the most fragile. He received many letters, not only from the personalities of politics, but also from common citizens … on the weekends and during the holidays we spent together we saw it at the desk, at night, to write: he had a handwriting difficult to interpret, but certainly he wanted to answer to everyone”.
Among his battles there was also that, controversial and painful, for the decriminalization of abortion in France …
«I think the film explains this aspect well, and there are very in -depth documentaries on the matter. I can only say that for her there was not only the question of women’s freedom, but much more: a health emergency, the desire to protect the weakest and less wealthy women … (the film reports the VEIL speech To the French parliament in which it defines abortion “a failure and a drama”, he recalls that “no woman ever chooses it lightly, just listen to their stories”, and denounces the fact that women in difficulty, especially the sun, come abandon themselves by fueling the use of practices that cause serious damage to health, leaving those wealthy the possibility of going abroad, editor’s note).
Had he met Primo Levi?
“I don’t know if there were direct contacts with each other, but I can reveal that he had read his works, since he recommended to us grandchildren to read them.”
When today thinks of Nonna Simone, what is the strongest feeling that pervades her?
«I miss as a grandmother, but the characteristic of his personality that most affected me was the desire to confront himself, to also discuss animatedly, bringing each one their reasons, arguing their point of view. He loved the intergenerational exchange, listen to young people, listen to what they thought, even if she had a precise idea about things ».
