Alter Mojze Goldman (17 November 1909 – 1988) was a Polish Jew who was active in the French

Résistance 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 ...

during World War II. He was born in Lublin after the death of his father. He fled to France at the age of fifteen because of

anti-Semitism 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 ...

. However, he was disappointed with reality in France and tried Germany] There, he was horrified by what he saw and returned to France, becoming a miner. He joined a military unit in Algeria and thus obtained French citizenship. He was disgusted by the violence he witnessed and returned to France, becoming a tailor and playing basketball in a Jewish sports club. There, he became a communist and a militant, but he was revolted by the assassination of

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

and the excesses of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

. He went to Spain, where he tried to join the French unit in the International Brigades fighting with the

Spanish Republicans Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

, but was rejected. In 1939, he was

mobilized Mobilization is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war. The word ''mobilization'' was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the Prussian Army. Mobilization theories and ...

in the French military and was decorated. When he was demobilized, he went south to the unoccupied part of France (

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

), where he joined the FTP-MOI Resistant Communist movement, composed of immigrants.Michaël Prazan, ''L'assassinat de Pierre Goldman'' (2005) - film documentary His unit was involved in urban sabotage efforts. In Lyon, he met Janine Sochaczewska, who became the mother of his illegitimate son

Pierre Goldman Pierre Goldman (; Lyon, 22 June 1944 – Paris, 20 September 1979) was a French left-wing intellectual who was convicted of several robberies and mysteriously assassinated. It has been suspected that the Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación (G ...

, born 22 June 1944. They separated after the liberation, and she worked in the Polish embassy and returned to Poland in 1947. At that time, Alter took Pierre so that he would not grow up in the country that had seen the elimination of so many Jews. In June 1949, Alter married Ruth Ambrunn, another Jewish Résistance fighter, born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

in 1922. Pierre was legitimized as their son. The couple had three children together: a daughter, Evelyne, and two sons,

Jean-Jacques Goldman Jean-Jacques Goldman (; born 11 October 1951) is a French singer-songwriter and music record producer. He is hugely popular in the French-speaking world. Since the death of Johnny Hallyday in 2017 he has been the highest grossing living French p ...

, the pop singer, and Robert Goldman, a songwriter. Goldman was elected to the

Légion d'Honneur 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 ...

on 19 November 1988 for his role in the Résistance. He died barely a month later at the age of seventy-nine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldman, Alter Mojze 1909 births 1988 deaths People from Lublin 20th-century Polish Jews Members of the Francs-tireurs et partisans Jews in the French resistance Polish emigrants to France