Paulette Sarcey (11 April 1924 – 5 May 2020) was a French resistant. She 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 ...

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 ...

Biography

Paulette Sarcey was born as Paula Szlifke on 11 April 1924 in

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 ...

. Her family was of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

Jewish origin. Her father, Froïm (Efrayam) Szlifke, was a leather worker and

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

activist. Her mother, Jenta ("Yentil") Przepiorka, worked in the clothing industry. The family fled

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

in 1923, arriving in

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 ...

. They settled in Belleville, and Sarcey joined the communist circles in the area. She joined the Resistance in 1940 at the age of 16 alongside other communist youth, most notably

Henri Krasucki Henri Krasucki (2 September 1924, Wołomin, Poland – 24 January 2003, France) was a French trade-unionist, former secretary general of the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) from 1982 to 1992. Early life Henri Krasucki's father, Iza ...

. She changed her name to Martine while in hiding, but was captured by police of the

Vichy Regime Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

on 23 March 1943 after a denunciation. Her final address was at 14 Rue de Vaucouleurs in the

11th arrondissement of Paris The 11th arrondissement of Paris (''XIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''onzième''. The arrondissement, called Popincourt, is situated on ...

. She was taken to a small station of the Paris Police Prefecture, where she was harshly interrogated. She was first taken to Drancy internment camp, then 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 ...

on 23 June 1943. Following the

death marches A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war or other captives or deportees in which individuals are left to die along the way. It is distinguished in this way from simple prisoner transport via foot march. Article 19 of the Geneva Conven ...

, she was interned at

Ravensbrück concentration camp Ravensbrück () was a German concentration camp exclusively for women from 1939 to 1945, located in northern Germany, north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück (part of Fürstenberg/Havel). The camp memorial's estimated figure o ...

, and shortly thereafter at Neustadt-Glewe, where she was liberated on 2 May 1945. Back in France, Sarcey was reunited with her family, and began aiming at spreading awareness of the horrors of the camps. Her parents hid in their Parisian workshop, and her brother, Robert, was hidden in a Catholic family in

Chahaignes Chahaignes () is a commune in the Sarthe department in the region of Pays de la Loire in north-western France. See also *Communes of the Sarthe department The following is a list of the 354 communes of the Sarthe department of France. The ...

. Her father died in 1972, her mother in 1981, and her brother in 2019. In 1947, Paulette married Max Swiczarczyk (later known as Max Sarcey; 1926-2003), two years her junior, also of Polish Jewish descent and also a former member of the French Resistance. He joined the F.T.P.M.O.I and after the roundup of 16 July 1942, was 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 ...

, where his goal was to join the Free French Forces. After a stint in Franco's jails in Spain, he arrived in England where he joined the special assault sections (Bataillons du Ciel). Max and his cousin, Joseph Dymenstein, were two of the youngest parachutists in France. Parachuted in June 1944 in Normandy, he participated in all the battles until the capture of Hitler's eagle's nest in

Berchtesgaden Berchtesgaden () is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, south of Salzburg and southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps, south of Berchtesgaden; the ...

. The couple had two children: Michèle and Claude. The family lived in Montreuil. Max died in 2003 and Paulette Sarcey died on 5 May 2020 at the age of 96.

Distinctions

*Knight of the

Legion of Honour 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, ...

* Médaille militaire *

Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 The ''Croix de Guerre 1939–1945'' (English: War Cross 1939–1945) is a French military decoration, a version of the ''Croix de Guerre'' created on 26 September 1939 to honour people who fought with the Allies against the Axis forces at any ti ...

Works

*''Paula, survivre obstinément'' (2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarcey, Paulette French Resistance members 1924 births 2020 deaths