Jean Dupouy (2 April 1911 – 11 August 1944), was a
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
in 1944.
Biography
He was born in the city of Bordeaux to Marguerite Marie (née Dulucq) and Pierre Georges. He married Marthe Octavie Bouyx. They had two children and the family lived in Bordeaux, where he did his insurance agency work. A strong Catholic activist, he became the regional president of the '' :fr:Association Catholique de la Jeunesse Française''. Along with Marguerite Dupouy, he was active in the ''Comité National Catholique d’accueil aux Basques'' (National Catholic Committee for the reception of the Basques) from its inception in 1937; the word 'Basques' was changed to ''réfugiés d’Espagne'' to accommodate refugees of varying backgrounds escaping the Spanish Civil War. Dupouy helped Antoine Dieuzayde, a Basque
, organise the reception of the refugees from his base at the ''foyer Henri Bazire'', rue du Pont-de-la-Mousque, and also at the ''camp de Bernard Rollo'' in Barèges. He also organised ''Semaines Sociales'' assemblies in 1939 to discuss problems with class and social order.
World War II and resistance membership
At the outbreak of World War II, he was mobilised as a lieutenant in the artillery. He avoided capture in June 1940 when his unit was overrun by Nazi forces. After demobilisation, he was a creator of the '' :fr:Secours national'' in Bordeaux. In 1941, he was arrested by the French police and sentenced by the Nazi authorities to three months in prison at the '' :fr:Fort du Hâ'' for having taken part in a parade to celebrate Jeanne d'Arc. Upon his release, he found that he was on a list of
Gironde
Gironde ( US usually, , ; oc, Gironda, ) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,62 ...
's 'designated hostages'. He became a resistance member and moved first to Lyon, then
Isère
Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.:fr:École des cadres d'Uriage'', a youth-oriented leadership school which had distanced itself from the Vichy régime and was producing resistance leaders for Savoie, Haute-Savoie and Vercors; in 1942, he was the school's secretary general. The school was closed on 1 January 1943. Dupouy then became the host of the intelligence service made up of alumni from the school, moving from town to town accompanied by his wife. He returned to Isère after 6 June 1944 and became deputy to ''commandant'' Alain Le Ray, leader of the
Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur
The French Forces of the Interior (french: Forces françaises de l'Intérieur) were French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation ...
(F.F.I.) in Isère in 1944, in the departmental staff. He was also a member of ''secteur 1'' of the '' Armée secrète'' of Isère. He was arrested on 31 July 1944 in Grenoble, carrying information evidently relating to the resistance. He was tortured and imprisoned in the Bonne barracks in Grenoble, where he shared his final days in the same cell as the Jesuit priest, philosopher and theologian, :fr:Yves de Montcheuil. He was executed on the night of 10–11 August, with Fr. de Montcheuil and twenty-two others.
Post war investigations
The twenty-four bodies had been buried in a bomb crater. The grave was discovered on 26 August 1944. His body was identified by Mme. Ardain from the school in Isère and later officially by the funeral director, a family friend. He was cited by Xavier de Virieu, commanding officer of the F.F.I., on 25 September at the inauguration of the F.F.I. d'Uriage. He was declared as ''Mort pour la France'' and posthumously awarded the Médaille de la Résistance française. In 1946, his remains were exhumed and reinterred in the :fr:Cimetière de la Chartreuse in Bordeaux. His name is on the monument to the dead in Bordeaux and likely also the memorial of the
Maquis de l'Oisans
During the Second World War, the Oisans maquis was an important center for the French Resistance, in the Oisans region between the Belledonne range and Grenoble to the north, the ' massif of the Alps and the Croix de Fer pass to the east, the D ...