Born in 1921 in Mersch, Julie Barthélemy was the daughter of John P. and Ethel Barthélemy, who returned to Luxembourg from the United States in 1920. From a very young age, she helped out in her parents' café. In 1940, Julie married Will Muller, a railway worker who frequented the café with his father. Two years later, twins Marthy and Marion were born.
After spending a year at the girls' secondary school in Luxembourg, Julie continued her secondary education at the Pensionnat Sainte-Anne boarding school in Ettelbruck. From 1935 onwards, she worked in her parents' hotel, which at that time welcomed many Jewish emigrants and refugees. This courageous and empathetic gesture proved fateful: on 8 October 1943, she was deported with her parents and her one-and-a-half-year-old twins to the Wallisfurth camp in Silesia, then to the special camp in Jeschütz. Julie's memories of these difficult times are marked by fear, especially for her children. In 1945, the family returned to Luxembourg via Austria, Switzerland and France. A diary written in 1945, recounting her years of deportation, was published in 1974 in "Rappel".
In the 1950s, when the family settled in Luxembourg City, Julie Muller-Barthélemy joined the Socialist Party and became secretary-general of the ‘Socialist Women’.
Back in Mersch, she took over the family hotel with her mother in 1960, while continuing her involvement in the community. In 1972, Julie Muller-Barthélemy became a founding member of the local branch of Amiperas, then national president of the association from 1986 to 1989, before being appointed honorary president. For 30 years, she volunteered her time to organise ‘Meals on Wheels’.
In her book "Erënnerungen aus engem beweegte Jorhonnert" (Memories of an eventful century), Julie Muller-Barthélemy looks back on her life and also recounts the living conditions of her ancestors in the United States. Her detailed memories highlight the role of women in society and the difficulties she encountered as the child of parents who espoused liberal ideas in a society that was then very Catholic and conservative.
Julie Muller-Barthélemy passed away on 5 March 2020.
Sources :
● Tageblatt du 8 mai 2020: Porträt Julie Muller-Barthélemy: Rückblick auf ein bemerkenswertes Leben /Philip Michel
● Autorenlexikon https://www.autorenlexikon.lu/page/author/111/1115/DEU/index.html