(Union des Juifs pour la Resistance et l'Entr'aide), a secret resistance organization, originally called Solidarite (Solidarity), formed by Jewish Communists in Paris after the German invasion in August 1940.
In January 1941 Solidarite refused to join the Coordinating Committee of Jewish Welfare Societies, suspecting the Nazis would take control. In May almost 4,000 Parisian Jews were arrested, which took Solidarite and others by surprise. After the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in June, Solidarite began to sabotage German industry. In early 1942 they opposed the Union of French Jews, claiming that its members were collaborators. At the same time Solidarite created the National Movement against Racism, hoping for non-Jewish support.
After the mass Deportations of July 1942, Solidarite formed more partisan groups. In their secret press they publicized the Nazi program for mass gassing, and called for the Jews to hide and fight, not work for German industry. However, by summer 1943, Solidarite changed its name and strategy after the Germans had devastated the group and the French-Jewish population. It then turned to its members in southern France to lead fighting efforts. By war's end, the organization had saved 900 children, but lost more than 500 of its members. (see also Resistance, Jewish.)
