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" (Certificate of appreciation), 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 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" was a relief organization for Jewish refugees active in Nice, in the south of France, in the early 1940s. The organization was founded and headed by merchant and activist Yaakov Doubinski. Together with Jewish Italian banker Angelo Donati and others, Doubinski was active in providing documents and residences for thousands of Jews from the Nice area.
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, and later founded there the "Ben Uri" gallery in order to exhibit and nurture Jewish art. His own art was often inspird by Jewish folk motifs. He left England for France in 1916, and passed away in Nice.
Printed on cardboard, 60.5X49 cm. Good condition. Minor creases and stains. Slightly browned margins. Small peelings and tears at margins.