Jewish woman rescued by Jersey boat returns 82 years on

A 92-year-old Jewish woman has returned to France and Jersey for the first time in 82 years since being rescued from the Nazis.

Irène Probstein was nine years old when she was evacuated by a Jersey boat from the French port of St Malo on 16 June 1940, along with her family.

It was part of a rescue of stranded British troops by St Helier Yacht Club.

Mrs Probstein is the last known living survivor of the evacuation and now lives with her family in the US.

"It's amazing to see it, incredible," she said. "It's really closing the circle."

St Helier Yacht Club commodore Rhys Perkins described her as "remarkable".

He said: "She was a Jewish girl and she was fleeing in front of the Nazis.

"She has now come back for the first time in 82 years to say a thank you, not only to the St Helier Yacht Club but to Jersey in general for the hospitality they were given."

Mrs Probstein made contact with the club in 2021 having read about a parade of sail in St Aubin's Bay in 2020 to mark the 80th anniversary of the evacuation.

The evacuation unfolded following an urgent telegram to Jersey's government calling for "all available vessels to set sail for Normandy".

The St Helier Yacht Club called on its members to embark on a mission to rescue thousands of British troops stranded in St. Malo as the Germans closed the gap on northern France.

It was a rescue often referred to locally as "Jersey's finest hour" and "Little Dunkirk".

On 10 May 1940 Mrs Probstein's then family home in Antwerp, Belgium, was bombed by the Germans and the family fled to Paris where her father was taken prisoner.

Mrs Probstein, her English mother and her brothers made their way to Dinard and were then evacuated in a boat owned by Jim Langlois' family, of Sion Hall Farm at Longueville.

Mrs Probstein, who now lives with her family in Massachusetts, US, recalled the moment she was evacuated.

She was immediately told to go below deck.

"It was not a moment after that, when we were there in the cabin, we heard the word "allez" and the boat sped off," she said.

"Then, for a short time, these German planes came to follow us and started shooting and then on board they picked up their guns and started shooting back."

Mrs Probstein said she had returned to Jersey to thank the island and the family who helped her and her family.

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