Paul Dungler (

Thann, Haut-Rhin Thann (; Alsatian: ''Dànn'', , german: Thann) is a commune in the northeastern French department of Haut-Rhin, in Grand Est.Colmar Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is ...

, 1974) was a French industrialist, royalist militant and

Resistance Resistance may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm: ** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title ** ''T ...

worker. Dungler joined the ranks of

Action Française Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 f ...

then of

La Cagoule La Cagoule (''The Cowl'', press nickname coined by the ''Action Française'' nationalist Maurice Pujo), originally called the ''Organisation secrète d'action révolutionnaire nationale'' (Osarn or OSAR; Secret Organisation for revolutionary nat ...

, and launched himself into politics during the inter-war period. Upon France's defeat in 1940, he was in

Périgord Périgord ( , ; ; oc, Peiregòrd / ) is a natural region and former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne department, now forming the northern part of the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is div ...

where he returned to

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

to join the Resistance. He returned secretly to Thann in Alsace on 25 August 1940, and founded the 7e Colonne d'Alsace, registered at London under the name of the Martial network. Général Giraud's escape was one of the network's greatest successes. Dungler was one of the initiators of the

Organisation de résistance de l'armée The ''Organisation de résistance de l'armée'', ''O.R.A.'' (Fr: resistance organisation of the army) was a French paramilitary resistance organisation during the Second World War. It was created on 31 January 1943, following the November 1942 Ger ...

(ORA) and involved in the founding of Groupes Mobiles d'Alsace. Threatened with arrest,On December 9, 1940 he was notified that he would be arrested at 7 am the following day and so went to bed, woke up at 6 am and fled. Dungler decided to take refuge in the unoccupied zone of France, all the while planning secret operations through London. In 1943 he negotiated with General

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...

and the Americans at

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

so that Alsace would be present in the next wars of liberation.

Notes

References

*''Qui était Paul Dungler ?'' Bernard Reumaux, in ''Saisons d'Alsace'' n° 114, Ed. La Nuée bleue, Strasbourg, winter 1991-1992 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dungler, Paul 1902 births 1974 deaths People from Thann, Haut-Rhin People affiliated with Action Française French Resistance members