GRUMBACH, SALOMON

GRUMBACH, SALOMON (1884–1952), French socialist. Born in an Alsatian village, Grumbach went to Paris as a young man to become editor of L'Humanité under Jean Jaurès. During World War I he was Swiss correspondent of the paper and wrote French propaganda tracts on such subjects as Le Destin de l'Alsace-Lorraine (Lausanne, 1916) and Germany's Annexionist Aims (Engl., 1918) in both German and French. Elected a member of the central committee of the French Socialist Party (SFIO), he represented it at the Third Socialist International and was elected on the Socialist ticket to the French Chamber of Deputies in 1928. Grumbach was a member of the Chamber almost continually until 1948 and was successively vice-chairman and then chairman of its Foreign Affairs Committee. Following the fall of France in 1940, he was imprisoned and later assigned a place of forced residence but escaped in 1942 and joined the French resistance movement. After the war, Grumbach was reelected to the Chamber of Deputies and concerned himself with aid for refugees. He exercised influence on France's recognition of the State of Israel. He was also active in the World Jewish Congress, especially on behalf of the Jews of North Africa and was secretary-general of the world executive of ort . -BIBLIOGRAPHY: JC (July 18, 1952), 19; New York Times (July 14, 1952), 17. (Shulamith Catane)