At the time of the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 she had been managing the hospice of Gerbéviller, Meurthe-et-Moselle, for two years, looking after the sick and old people.

[4] On 24 August 1914 the village was occupied by German soldiers, who burned the houses on the grounds that civilians had fired on them.

[4] 21 hostages were arrested including the priest, who was accused of hiding civilians in the bell tower to shoot Germans.

The hospice was one of the few buildings that were not totally destroyed, although repairs were needed to protect the sick from the bad weather.

[2] The delay gave General Castelnau time to prepare his counter-offensive on Rozelieures, the first French victory of the war.