Louise Magadur (21 April 1899 - 12 May 1992) was a French resistance fighter, Communist and Holocaust survivor.
Biography
Magadur was born on 21 April 1899 in
Pont-Croix
Pont-Croix (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Finistère Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in north-western France.
The town lies about from Audierne on the road to Douarnenez and is connec ...
in
Finistère
Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090. ,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
[Charlotte Delbo, ''Le Convoi du 24 janvier'', p.188-189.] Her father was a miller and she was the fourth child of a family of six.
She learnt to be a seamstress and moved to Paris in 1924, where she offered hairdressings lessons.
In 1942 she opened a hairdressing salon in the
12th arrondissement.
Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, Magadur was active in the Communist Party.
She became a member of the National Front for the Fight for the Liberation and Independence of France (Front National) and was an active member of the Resistance.
Her salon became the respectable cover for activities including leaflet distribution, letter exchange and the creation of disguises for members.
She also encouraged others to join the fight, including
Suzanne Lasne.
On 9 March 1942, she was arrested by the French police and was held in solitary confinement until 24 August 1942.
She was then sent to Fort
Romainville
Romainville () is a Communes of France, commune in the Seine-Saint-Denis department and in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France.
Location
It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris.
History
On 24 July 1867, a part of the territory ...
, which was under German administration; there she discovered the news that both her mother and sister had died.
From Romainville she was transported on 24 January 1943 in what became known as the ''convoi des 31,000'' (
Convoy 31000) - all of whom were sent to
Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
.
Many of those in the convoy were Communist Party members.
On 4 August 1944 she was deported to
Ravensbrück.
On 5 March 1945 she was moved to
Mauthausen
Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with nearly 100 further subcamps located throughout Austria and southern German ...
.
Magadur was released from Mauthausen on 22 April 1945.
Six months after her release, Magadur was able to reopen her hair salon, despite the fact that she found readjusting to life difficult.
By the time of her death, she was the oldest survivor of 'Convoy 31,000' and was the only woman who was transported on it, born before 1900, to return.
Legacy
There is a playground dedicated to Louise Magadur in her hometown of Pont-Croix, which was named as a tribute to her.
See also
*
Convoi des 31000 The Convoi des 31000 or Convoy of the 31000s was a deportation convoy that left Romainville, France, for Auschwitz Concentration Camp on 24 January 1943. The women who were transported were mostly Communist Party members or Resistance fighters. Its ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magadur, Louise
1899 births
1992 deaths
French Holocaust survivors
Communist members of the French Resistance
French Communist Party members