Elaborate Certificate of Appreciation, Illustrated by Lazar Berson – Awarded for Assistance to Jewish Refugees in ...

Elaborate Certificate of Appreciation, Illustrated by Lazar Berson – Awarded for Assistance to Jewish Refugees in France, by the Refugee Aid Committee "Comité Dubouchage" – Nice, 1946 – Signed by Lazar Berson and by the President of "Comité Dubouchage" Yaakov Doubinski
An elaborate certificate of appreciation, illustrated by Lazar (Eliezer) Berson, awarded by the refugee aid committee "Comité Dubouchage" in Nice. Nice (Southern France), 1946. Hebrew and French.
A printed certificate, hand-colored. In the center, below the inscription "Teudat Toda veRav Hesed LeHaAdon" (Gratitude certificate), appears a dedication in French dated 15.11.1946, to Max Blasberg, for assistance granted to "His brethren [the Jews] under enemy occupation". The certificate is signed by hand by Yaakov Doubinski and Lazar (Eliezer) Berson, "on behalf of the Jewish committee of Dubouchage in Nice" [Comité Dubouchage in Nice].
A lion supporting a pole is seen to the right of the dedication; on top of the pole is a round flag is with a Star of David and a Menorah. around the dedication appear Illustrations symbolizing the atrocities which the Jews went through and the anticipated consolation: a bird of prey with a swastika around its neck attacking a Jew with its claws, memorial candles on the background of a Tallith, the Western Wall, Bat Zion sailing to the shores of Palestine, and the synagogue on Dubouchage street in Nice, where the Jewish committee that awarded this certificate held its activities. All of the above are surrounded by a frame decorated with a vegetal pattern and chains, and on the bottom, in two medallions, the year – "1944".
"Comité Dubouchage" is a relief organization for Jewish refugees which operated in Nice, in the south of France, in the 1940s. The organization was founded and directed by Yaakov Doubinski, merchant and activist, one of the most influential persons in Nice. Doubinski acted, with the Italian Jew Angelo Donatti and with others, to achieve documents and residence for thousands of Jews in the area of Nice.
Lazare (Eliezer) Berson (1882-1954) – who illustrated this certificate, is signed as secretary of the "Comité Dubouchage". Berson was born in Kupiškis (near Kovno), and studied art in St. Petersburg and in Paris. He arrived in London in 1914, where he was engaged in art that combines Jewish-folk motifs and founded the "Ben Uri" gallery in order to exhibit and nurture Jewish art. He left England for France in 1916, and passed away in Nice.
The certificate is printed on a cardboard, 60.5X49 cm. Good condition. Minor creases and stains. Slightly darkened margins. Small peelings and tears at margins.