Henri Aubry ("Avricourt", "Thomas") (3 March 1914 – 10 November 1970) 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 ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and a leader of the

Combat Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

group.

Biography

Born in

Longwy Longwy (; older german: Langich, ; lb, label=Luxemburgish, Lonkech) is a commune in the French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, administrative region of Grand Est, northeastern France. The inhabitants are known as ''Longoviciens''. ...

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.Morlaix Morlaix (; br, Montroulez) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Leisure and tourism The old quarter of the town has winding streets of cobbled stones and overhan ...

, he was active in a resistance group of

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

. In the intention to enter

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, he got to

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

where he met Maurice Chevance, who convinced to join the small Mouvement de Libération Nationale (National Liberation Movement) of

Henri Frenay Henri Frenay Sandoval (1905–1988) was a French military officer and French Resistance member. He was born in Lyon, France, on 11 November 1905, into a Catholic family with a military tradition. He studied the Germanic languages at the Universit ...

and

Berty Albrecht Berty Albrecht (15 February 1893 – 31 May 1943) was a French feminist and Resistance martyr. Life Albrecht was born Berthe Wild in Marseilles on 15 February 1893 to a middle-class Protestant family. She married the Dutch banker Frédéric Al ...

. The lieutenant participated in the MLN in the South zone: Deputy of Chevance, military leader of the region R2 (Marseille), alongside Jacques Baumel, then inspector of the Secret Army, and finally chief of staff of

Charles Delestraint Charles Delestraint (12 March 1879 – 19 April 1945) was a French Army lieutenant general and member of the French Resistance during World War II. He also befriended Charles de Gaulle. Delestraint was killed by the Gestapo in 1945. Early life H ...

. On 21 June 1943 at

Caluire-et-Cuire Caluire-et-Cuire (; frp, Caluéres-et-Cuéres) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. It is the fifth-largest suburb of the city of Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' als ...

, Aubry was arrested by the team 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—primari ...

in the house of Dr. Frédéric Dugoujon, along with

Jean Moulin Jean Pierre Moulin (; 20 June 1899 – 8 July 1943) was a French civil servant and resistant who served as the first President of the National Council of the Resistance during World War II from 27 May 1943 until his death less than two months l ...

Raymond Aubrac Raymond Aubrac (31 July 1914 – 10 April 2012) was a leader of the French Resistance during the Second World War and a civil engineer after the Second World War. Early life Aubrac was born Raymond Samuel into a middle-class Jewish family in Ves ...

André Lassagne André Lassagne (23 April 1911 – 3 April 1953) was a member of the French Resistance during World War II. The secretary general of "L'Armée Secrète" (AS), he was arrested (along with Jean Moulin) on June 21, 1943, in Caluire-et-Cuire (Rhône). ...

René Hardy René Hardy (31 October 1911 – 12 April 1987) was a member of the French Resistance during World War II. Hardy was born in Mortrée, Orne. In spite of having rendered dedicated and valuable service as a member of the resistance group, Combat (F ...

, Albert Lacaze, Émile Schwarzfeld and Bruno Larat. Hardy and Aubrac escaped. Jean Moulin was interrogated and tortured, dying from his injuries. Colonel Schwarzfeld and Captain Larat died at the camp. André Lassagne returned from deportation. Imprisoned in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, Aubry was beaten and was subject to several mock executions. Transferred to

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, he was released 12 December 1943. Colonel Lacaze and Dr. Dugoujon were released January 17, 1944. Some resistance members has speculated that it was Aubry who broke down under torture and gave Moulin's name to Barbie.Hotel Terminus At the

Libération ''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France's ...

of France, Aubry was appointed Director in the Ministry of Prisoners, Deportees and Refugees by

. In 1947 and 1954, he testified at the trials of Hardy. Challenged by the memories of Baumel and Bourdet, he was defended by his former boss, Chevance.

Bibliography

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External links

*
Thèse de doctorat d'histoire de François-Yves Guillin
''Le Général Delestraint, Premier Chef de l'Armée Secrète'', en ligne ''in extenso''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aubry, Henri 1914 births 1970 deaths French prisoners of war in World War II French Resistance members People from Longwy