Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz (25 October 1920 – 14 February 2002) was a member of the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

and served as president of ATD Quart Monde. Her uncle was General Charles de Gaulle. Rennes - Maison de Gaulle-Anthonioz plaque

French Resistance

Geneviève de Gaulle joined the Resistance after the

occupation of France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

in June 1940 and expanded its publicity networks, in particular that of ''

Défense de la France ''Défense de la France'' was an Underground media in German-occupied Europe, underground newspaper produced by a group of the French Resistance during World War II. Essentially developed in the Vichy France, Northern Zone, ''Défense de la Fra ...

''. She was arrested by

Pierre Bonny Pierre Bonny (25 January 1895 – 26 December 1944) was a corrupt French police officer. As an inspector, he was the investigating officer in the 1923 Seznec case, and was accused of falsifying the evidence. He was once praised as one of th ...

of the French Gestapo on 20 July 1943, imprisoned in Fresnes and deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp on 2 February 1944. Her fellow-prisoners included Jacqueline Fleury and

Germaine Tillion Germaine Tillion (30 May 1907 – 18 April 2008) was a French ethnologist, best known for her work in Algeria in the 1950s on behalf of the French government. A member of the French resistance, she spent time in the Ravensbrück concentration ...

. In October 1944, de Gaulle was placed in isolation in the camp bunker.

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

made the decision to keep her alive to use her as a possible exchange prisoner. She was released in April 1945. In 1946 she married Bernard Anthonioz, a fellow resistance member and art editor, with whom she had four children. Fifty years after her release from Ravensbrück Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz wrote the book ''La Traversée de la nuit'' (literally, ''The Crossing of the Night'') about her life in the concentration camp and the mutual help among the women. It was translated to English and published by Arcade Publishing as ''The Dawn of Hope: A Memoir of Ravensbrück'' , and re-published by Points in 1998 as ''God Remained Outside - An Echo of Ravensbruck''.

Career

As an active member and later president of the ADIR (Association of Deportées and Internées of the Résistance), she filed lawsuits against Nazi war criminals, then took part in the rise of the political movement launched by her uncle, Rassemblement du peuple français (

Rally of the French People The Rally of the French People (french: Rassemblement du Peuple Français, RPF) was a French political party, led by Charles de Gaulle. Foundation The RPF was founded by Charles de Gaulle in Strasbourg on 14 April 1947, one year after his resign ...

). In 1958, de Gaulle-Anthonioz worked with the cabinet of

André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( , ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and Minister of Culture (France), minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (Man's Fate) (1933) won the Prix Go ...

of which her husband was a member. She met Father

Joseph Wresinski Joseph Wresinski (12 February 1917 in Angers – 14 February 1988 in Suresnes) was a French priest and humanitarian activist. Biography Born to immigrant parents, Wresinski grew up in poverty and experienced social exclusion. He established major ...

, then chaplain of the town of

Noisy-le-Grand Noisy-le-Grand () is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. The commune of Noisy-le-Grand is part of the sector of Porte de Paris, one of the four sectors of the "new town" of Marne-la-Vallée ...

. The suffering of the families she met there revived those which she and other deportees had experienced. Starting as a permanent volunteer, de Gaulle-Anthonioz served as president of the movement ATD Quart Monde from 1964 to 1998. In 1987, she testified in the case of

Klaus Barbie Nikolaus "Klaus" Barbie (25 October 1913 – 25 September 1991) was a German operative of the SS and SD who worked in Vichy France during World War II. He became known as the "Butcher of Lyon" for having personally tortured prisoners—primar ...

. In 1988 she became a member of the

French Economic and Social Council The Economic, Social and Environmental Council (French: ''Conseil économique, social et environnemental''), known as the Economic and Social Council before the constitutional law of 23 July 2008, is a consultative assembly in France. It does ...

, and for ten years fought for the adoption of a law against poverty. Deferred in 1997 due to dissolution of the French National Assembly, her law was enacted in 1998.

Legacy

On 21 February 2014, French President François Hollande announced that Mme. de Gaulle-Anthonioz would be interred in the

Panthéon The Panthéon (, from the Classical Greek word , , ' empleto all the gods') is a monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It stands in the Latin Quarter, atop the , in the centre of the , which was named after it. The edifice was b ...

. She was interred there in May 2015 in a symbolic funeral. The coffin of Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz at the Panthéon does not contain her remains but soil from her gravesite, because her family didn't want her remains to be parted from those of her husband.

Works

* ''La traversée de la nuit'', Editions du Seuil,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, 1998 * ''God Remained Outside - An Echo of Ravensbruck'' (Translation), 1999, * ''Le secret de l'espérance'', Fayard/Editions Quart Monde,

, 2001

Decorations

Médaille de la Résistance The Resistance Medal (french: Médaille de la Résistance) was a decoration bestowed by the French Committee of National Liberation, based in the United Kingdom, during World War II. It was established by a decree of General Charles de Gaulle on 9 ...

* Croix de guerre 1939-1945 * Grand-Croix de la

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

(Mme. de Gaulle-Anthonioz was the first woman to be awarded this rank).

Other

* General Charles de Gaulle dedicated his ''Mémoires de guerre'' to her.

Bibliography

* Benoit Cazenave, ''Geneviève de Gaulle'', in ''Hier war das Ganze Europa'', Stiftung Brandenburgische Gedenkstätte, Editions Metropol Verlag, Berlin 2004.

References

External links

* Related to the website o
CIDEM
(file .pdf) * Discussion wit

The official site of ATD Quart Monde
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaulle-Anthonioz, Genevieve de 1920 births 2002 deaths French activists French women activists French Resistance members Ravensbrück concentration camp survivors

Genevieve Genevieve (french: link=no, Sainte Geneviève; la, Sancta Genovefa, Genoveva; 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD) is the patroness saint of Paris in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Her feast is on 3 January. Genevieve was born in Nanterre a ...

Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Resistance Medal Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) French women memoirists 20th-century French memoirists 20th-century French women