Addi Bâ Mamadou (25 December 1916 – 18 December 1943) was part 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 ...

as a member of the first Maquis des Vosges 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, known to the Germans as "the Black Terrorist" (''Der schwarze Terrorist'').

Biography

Addi Bâ arrived in France in 1938 with the family of a colonial tax collector and spent a year in

Langeais Langeais () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. On 1 January 2017, the former commune of Les Essards was merged into Langeais.

Indre-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River. In 2019, it had a population of 610,079.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. Si ...

. He enlisted in the French army in 1939 as part of the 12th regiment of

Senegalese Tirailleurs The Senegalese Tirailleurs (french: Tirailleurs Sénégalais) were a corps of colonial infantry in the French Army. They were initially recruited from Senegal, French West Africa and subsequently throughout Western, Central and Eastern Africa: t ...

. Bâ was taken prisoner, but managed to escape and joined others in the maquis des Vosges. He was arrested on 18 November 1943 by Germans after the attack of the maquis of the ''Délivrance'' group. Bâ was tortured but did not speak. On 18 December 1943, Bâ was shot at Épinal along with the leader of the maquis, Marcel Arburger.

Legacy

On 13 July 2003, Bâ was posthumously awarded the

Resistance Medal The Resistance Medal (french: Médaille de la Résistance) was a decoration bestowed by the French Committee of National Liberation, based in the United Kingdom, during World War II. It was established by a decree of General Charles de Gaulle on 9 ...

. In 2010, the former footballer

Lilian Thuram Ruddy Lilian Thuram-Ulien (; born 1 January 1972) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defender. He began playing football professionally in his homeland with Monaco and played in the top flight in France, Italy and Spai ...

devoted a chapter to Addi Bâ in his work ''Mes étoiles noires'' ("My Black Stars") on historically important black individuals. Some extracts of this chapter were published on 4 September 2010 in the journal ''

L'Humanité ''L'Humanité'' (; ), is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organ of the French Communist Party, and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, ''L'Humanité'' would not exist." History and profile Pre-World Wa ...

'', as part of a feature titled "Portraits de résistants."Site on Addi Bâ
produced by the independent journalist Étienne Guillermond. His life was recounted in a romanticised manner by Tierno Monénembo in his novel '' le Terroriste noir'', published by

éditions du Seuil Éditions du Seuil (), also known as ''Le Seuil'', is a French publishing house established in 1935 by Catholic intellectual Jean Plaquevent (1901–1965), and currently owned by La Martinière Groupe. It owes its name to this goal "The ''seuil'' ...

in 2012. In September 2013, Étienne Guillermond published ''Addi Bâ, résistant des Vosges'', with éditions Duboiris, the result of ten years of research into the young Guinean. A street in Tollaincourt and another in

Langeais Langeais () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. On 1 January 2017, the former commune of Les Essards was merged into Langeais.

are named in his honour.

References

Bibliography

* * *

, with the collaboration of Bernard Fillaire, ''Mes étoiles noires'', Éditions Philippe Rey, 2010 *

External links

Addi Bâ Mamadou, héros méconnu de la résistance

Étienne Guillermond, "Sur les traces d'Addi Bâ, héros vosgien d'origine guinéenne," ''Hommes et migrations'' n° 1247, January-February 2004
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ba, Addi 1916 births 1943 deaths Recipients of the Resistance Medal People executed by Nazi Germany by firearm Guinean emigrants to France