Hélène Berr
Hélène's plan was to pass the final exam for the Paris-Sorbonne University. But she was rejected from attending the final exam, becuase the German government did not allow Jews to study there, any longer. When this did not work for Hélène Berr, who was 21 years old at the time, she decided to go find a job. She presented herself at the headquarters to the General Union of Israelites of France (UGIF). Hélène volunteered to be a social worker. She was accepted, and got the role as a social worker on 6 July 1942. Just almost three months earlier, she went to visit Paul Valéry, and on that same day, she began writing her diary. The first entry in her diary is dated 7 April 1942, which was published for the first time in 2008 by Tallandier Editions. Patrick Modiano once compared Hélène's style of writing to the style of Katherine Mansfield. Hélène Berr also became a secretary for Denise Milhaud at the Temporary Mutual Aid, a clandestine group created in 1941, alongside the Social Service for Aid to Emigrants. Lucie Chevalley served as director of the group.