Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz (25 October 1920 – 14 February 2002) was a member of the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, during which she was sent to

Ravensbrück concentration camp Ravensbrück () was a Nazi 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 of 1 ...

. After the war, she was a

human rights defender A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

and president of the charity organisation ATD Quart Monde for

poverty reduction Poverty reduction, poverty relief, or poverty alleviation is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian, that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty. Measures, like those promoted by Henry George in his economics classi ...

. Her uncle was General

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

, who served as President of France from 1959 to 1969.

French Resistance

Rennes - Maison de Gaulle-Anthonioz plaque

Geneviève de Gaulle joined the Resistance after the

occupation of France The Military Administration in France (; ) was an Military Administration (Nazi Germany), interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western French Third ...

in June 1940 and expanded its publicity networks, in particular that of ''

Défense de la France ''Défense de la France'' was an underground newspaper produced by a group of the French Resistance during World War II. Essentially developed in the Northern Zone, ''Défense de la France'' distinguishes itself by an activity centered on the ...

''. She was arrested by

Pierre Bonny Pierre Bonny (25 January 1895 – 27 December 1944) was a French police officer. As an inspector, he was the investigating officer in the 1923 Seznec case, and was accused of falsifying the evidence. He was once praised as one of the most ta ...

of the French Gestapo on 20 July 1943, imprisoned in Fresnes and deported to

on 2 February 1944. Her fellow-prisoners included Jacqueline Fleury and

Germaine Tillion Germaine Tillion (30 May 1907 – 18 April 2008) was a French ethnologist, known for her work in Algeria in the 1950s on behalf of the Government of France. A member of the French Resistance in World War II, she spent time in Ravensbrück co ...

. In October 1944, de Gaulle was placed in isolation in the camp bunker.

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...

made the decision to keep her alive to use her as a possible exchange prisoner. She was released in April 1945. In 1946 she married Bernard Anthonioz, a fellow resistance member and art editor, with whom she had four children. Fifty years after her release from Ravensbrück Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz wrote the book ''La Traversée de la nuit'' (literally, ''The Crossing of the Night'') about her life in the concentration camp and the mutual help among the women. It was translated into English and published by Arcade Publishing as ''The Dawn of Hope: A Memoir of Ravensbrück'' , and re-published by Points in 1998 as ''God Remained Outside - An Echo of Ravensbruck''.

Career

As an active member and later president of the ADIR (Association of Deportées and Internées of the Résistance), she filed lawsuits against Nazi war criminals, then took part in the rise of the political movement launched by her uncle, Rassemblement du peuple français (

Rally of the French People The Rally of the French People ( , RPF) was a right-wing French political party, existing from 1947 to 1955 and led by Charles de Gaulle. Foundation The RPF was founded by Charles de Gaulle in Strasbourg on 14 April 1947, one year after his resi ...

). In 1958, de Gaulle-Anthonioz worked with the cabinet of

André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( ; ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (''Man's Fate'') (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed ...

of which her husband was a member. She met Father

Joseph Wresinski Joseph Wresinski (12 February 1917 – 14 February 1988) was a French priest and humanitarian activist who was born in Angers and died in Suresnes. Biography Born to immigrant parents, Wresinski grew up in poverty and experienced social exclusion ...

, then chaplain of the town of

Noisy-le-Grand Noisy-le-Grand () is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. The commune of Noisy-le-Grand is part of the sector of Porte de Paris, one of the four sectors of the "new town" of Marne-la-Vallée ...

. The suffering of the families she met there revived those which she and other deportees had experienced. Starting as a permanent volunteer, de Gaulle-Anthonioz served as president of the movement ATD Quart Monde from 1964 to 1998. In 1987, she testified in the case of

Klaus Barbie Nikolaus Barbie (25 October 1913 – 25 September 1991) was a German officer of the ''Schutzstaffel'' and ''Sicherheitsdienst'' who worked in Vichy France during World War II. He became known as the "Butcher of Lyon" for having personally tortu ...

. In 1988 she became a member of the

French Economic and Social Council The Economic, Social and Environmental Council ( French: ''Conseil économique, social et environnemental''), known as the Economic and Social Council before the constitutional law of 23 July 2008, is a consultative assembly in France. It doe ...

, and for ten years fought for the adoption of a law against poverty. Deferred in 1997 due to the dissolution of the French National Assembly, her law was enacted in 1998.

Legacy

On 21 February 2014, French President

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of th ...

announced that Mme. de Gaulle-Anthonioz would be interred in the

Panthéon The Panthéon (, ), is a monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It stands in the Latin Quarter, Paris, Latin Quarter (Quartier latin), atop the , in the centre of the , which was named after it. The edifice was built between 1758 ...

. She was interred there in May 2015 in a symbolic funeral. The coffin of Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz at the Panthéon does not contain her remains but soil from her gravesite, because her family did not want her remains to be parted from those of her husband.

Works

* ''La traversée de la nuit'', Editions du Seuil,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, 1998 * ''God Remained Outside - An Echo of Ravensbruck'' (Translation), 1999, * ''Le secret de l'espérance'', Fayard/Editions Quart Monde,

, 2001

Decorations

Médaille de la Résistance The Resistance Medal (, ) 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 February 1943 "to recognize the ...

Croix de guerre 1939-1945 Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...

* Grand-Croix de la

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(de Gaulle-Anthonioz was the first woman to be awarded this rank).

Other

* General

dedicated his ''Mémoires de guerre'' to her.

Bibliography

* Benoit Cazenave, ''Geneviève de Gaulle'', in ''Hier war das Ganze Europa'', Stiftung Brandenburgische Gedenkstätte, Editions Metropol Verlag, Berlin 2004.

References

External links

* Related to the website o
CIDEM
(file .pdf) * Discussion wit

The official site of ATD Quart Monde
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaulle-Anthonioz, Genevieve de 1920 births 2002 deaths People from Gard

Genevieve Genevieve (; ; also called ''Genovefa'' and ''Genofeva''; 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD) was a consecrated virgin, and is one of the two patron saints of Paris in the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. Her feast day is on 3 January. Rec ...

French activists French women activists French women memoirists 20th-century French memoirists 20th-century French women French Resistance members Ravensbrück concentration camp survivors Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Resistance Medal Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)