Simone Weil-Golden, a French Jewish doctor, infiltrated a transit camp in 1943 under a false identity. She used her position to smuggle 47 children out over eight months — hiding them in medical supply crates, in disguise, in quarantine transfers.
Among the children were her own two nieces, ages 7 and 9. She spent three months planning their escape, building trust with guards, and arranging a French resistance driver.
Simone was caught in November 1943 after a child she had smuggled out was arrested near the border. She was deported to Auschwitz in January 1944, survived, and was liberated in 1945. She spent the rest of her life reuniting the children she had saved.
When she died in 2002 at age 89, investigators found a notebook on her bedside table containing 47 names: Marie, age 8, loved to draw. Henri, age 12, played the accordion. Lucie, age 6, was afraid of the dark.