Berty Albrecht
Encyclopedia
Berty Albrecht was a French Resistance
Fighter, born Berthe Wild at Marseille
, 15 February 1893. She died in 1943 at Fresnes
.
Separated from her husband, she moved to Paris, where she made friends with Victor Basch
, a teacher at the Sorbonne
and the president of the Human Rights League
. She then created a feminist journal, Le Problème Sexuel (The Sexual Problem), in which she campaigned for the freedom of contraception
and abortion
.
Conscious of the reality of Nazism
and hostile towards the Munich Accords, she founded a welcome centre for German refugees. There, she met Captain Henri Frenay
, and participated in all of his Resistance initiatives, despite their political differences: Albrecht was close to the Communists whereas Frenay, although he was a visceral enemy of the Nazis and collaborators, he harboured doubts about Marshal Pétain
, who he thought was secretly preparing the Liberation of France. Together, they successively produced three journals: “Bulletins d’informations et de propagande” (Information and Propaganda Bulletins), “Les Petites Ailes” (Little Wings) and then “Vérités” (Truths), before becoming directors of the “Combat” network.
Stopped and then released once by the French police, she was arrested in 1943 by the Gestapo and transferred to Fresnes Prison
, where she was tortured and then committed suicide by hanging. After the war, her body was buried in the crypt of the French Resistance martyrs in Mount Valérien.
Berty Albecht is one of the six women nominated to the order of French Resistance Fighter.
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
Fighter, born Berthe Wild at Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, 15 February 1893. She died in 1943 at Fresnes
Fresnes, Val-de-Marne
Fresnes is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.The Fresnes Prison is located there.-Name:...
.
Life
Born into a middle-class Protestant family, she married the Dutch banker Frédéric Albrecht in 1918. They had two children, Frédéric and Mireille.Separated from her husband, she moved to Paris, where she made friends with Victor Basch
Victor Basch
Basch Viktor Vilém, or Victor-Guillaume Basch was a French politician and professor of germanistics and philosophy at the Sorbonne descending vom Hungary...
, a teacher at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
and the president of the Human Rights League
Human Rights League (France)
The Human Rights League of France, is a Human Rights NGO founded on 4 June 1898 by the republican Ludovic Trarieux to defend captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jew wrongly convicted for treason - this would be known as the Dreyfus Affair...
. She then created a feminist journal, Le Problème Sexuel (The Sexual Problem), in which she campaigned for the freedom of contraception
Contraception
Contraception is the prevention of the fusion of gametes during or after sexual activity. The term contraception is a contraction of contra, which means against, and the word conception, meaning fertilization...
and abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
.
Conscious of the reality of Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
and hostile towards the Munich Accords, she founded a welcome centre for German refugees. There, she met Captain Henri Frenay
Henri Frenay
Henri Frenay was a French military officer and French resistance member.Henri Frenay was born in Lyon, France on 11 November 1905, into a Catholic family with a military tradition. He studied the Germanic languages at the University of Strasbourg...
, and participated in all of his Resistance initiatives, despite their political differences: Albrecht was close to the Communists whereas Frenay, although he was a visceral enemy of the Nazis and collaborators, he harboured doubts about Marshal Pétain
Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain , generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain , was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944...
, who he thought was secretly preparing the Liberation of France. Together, they successively produced three journals: “Bulletins d’informations et de propagande” (Information and Propaganda Bulletins), “Les Petites Ailes” (Little Wings) and then “Vérités” (Truths), before becoming directors of the “Combat” network.
Stopped and then released once by the French police, she was arrested in 1943 by the Gestapo and transferred to Fresnes Prison
Fresnes Prison
Fresnes Prison is the second largest prison in France, located in the town of Fresnes, Val-de-Marne South of Paris...
, where she was tortured and then committed suicide by hanging. After the war, her body was buried in the crypt of the French Resistance martyrs in Mount Valérien.
Berty Albecht is one of the six women nominated to the order of French Resistance Fighter.
Honour
- Compagnon de la Libération (she is one of the only six women nominated in this Order)
- Médaille militaireMédaille militaireThe Médaille militaire is a decoration of the French Republic which was first instituted in 1852.-History:The creator of the médaille was the emperor Napoléon III, who may have taken his inspiration in a medal issued by his father, Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland...
(posthumous) - Croix de guerre 1939-1945Croix de guerreThe Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...
with Army acknowledgements - Officer of the ResistanceMédaille de la RésistanceThe French Médaille de la Résistance was awarded by General Charles de Gaulle "to recognise the remarkable acts of faith and of courage that, in France, in the empire and abroad, have contributed to the resistance of the French people against the enemy and against its accomplices since June 18,...