FTP-MOI
Encyclopedia
The Francs-tireurs et partisans – main-d'œuvre immigrée (FTP-MOI) were a sub-group of the Francs-tireurs et partisans (FTP) organization, a component of the French Resistance
. A wing composed mostly of foreigners, the MOI maintained an armed force to oppose the German occupation of France during World War II. The Main-d'œuvre immigrée
was the "Immigrant Movement" of the FTP.
region in 1941, at the same time as the Francs-tireurs et partisans. Their ranks were filled with foreign communists living in France who were not part of the French Communist Party
. Although integrated with the FTP, these groups depended directly on Jacques Duclos
, who passed on orders from the Communist International (Comintern). Members also included other immigrants, especially many young Hungarian writers, artists and intellectuals. Among them were the painter Sándor Józsa; sculptor István Hajdú (Etienne Hajdu); journalists László Kőrösi and Imre Gyomra; photographers Andras (André) Steiner, Lucien Hervé
, and Ervin Marton; and printer Ladislas Mandel.
The FTP-MOI were among the most active and determined of the resistance groups; particularly because they were foreigners and mostly Jews, they were under the direct watch of the Vichy regime and the Germans. Without maintaining strict secrecy, they risked internment
, deportation
and death. Because they depended directly on the Comintern, with Duclos as their intermediary, they were often on the front line when the order to fight came from Moscow
. The various French groups were more attentive to the French national political climate.
The Parisian groups were initially led by Boris Holban, then the poet turned activist Missak Manouchian
. After Manouchian was arrested in 1943 and executed in February 1944, Holban took over again.
The FTP-MOI are particularly well known because of the highly publicized trial of numerous members of the Manouchian Group. Tracked, arrested and interrogated by the French police, the show trial of the 23 members was held in front of a German military tribunal
at the hôtel Continental
. It began on 17 February 1944, lasted between two and four days, and after a 30-minute deliberation, the court reached the following verdict: All of the accused were condemned to death, with no possibility of appeal.
All but two were shot immediately on 21 February at Mont-Valérien. The execution of Olga Bancic
was suspended for further enquiry and because French law prohibited executing women by firing squad. In a new sentence passed on her birthday of 10 May 1944 at Stuttgart
, she was condemned to death. She was beheaded shortly after the sentencing. One accused, Migratulski, was transferred to French jurisdiction.
Following the trial and executions, the Germans created a poster with a red background, featuring ten men of the Manouchian group with their names, photos and alleged crimes; it became known as l'Affiche Rouge. The Germans distributed thousands of copies of the poster around the city to encourage Parisians to think of the partisans as criminal foreigners and "not French", and discourage resistance; instead, the Affiches Rouges inspired citizens to more actions. Some marked the posters with phrases such as Morts pour la France! (They died for France.)
, the armed group had the following members:
Herbert Herz
was a member of these two groups.
, to which Marcel (Mendel) Langer, head of the regional FTP-MOI, had claimed to belong. In February 1943, Langer was arrested carrying explosives. He was tried by the section spéciale
of the Toulouse appeals court. The avocat général, Lespinasse, demanded his execution and, on 21 March 1943, Langer was sentenced to death. He was executed on 23 July 1943.
The 35th Brigade then called themselves the Brigade Marcel Langer in his honor. Eighteen members were arrested by the Vichy police and handed over to the Germans. Two died of unknown causes on the train transporting them to be deported. Four were shot.
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...
. A wing composed mostly of foreigners, the MOI maintained an armed force to oppose the German occupation of France during World War II. The Main-d'œuvre immigrée
Main-d'œuvre immigrée
The Main-d'œuvre immigrée was a French trade unionist organisation, composed of immigrant workers of the Confédération générale du travail unitaire in the 1920s. The MOI was affiliated to the Profintern...
was the "Immigrant Movement" of the FTP.
History
The FTP-MOI groups were organized in the ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
region in 1941, at the same time as the Francs-tireurs et partisans. Their ranks were filled with foreign communists living in France who were not part of the French Communist Party
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
. Although integrated with the FTP, these groups depended directly on Jacques Duclos
Jacques Duclos
Jacques Duclos was a French Communist politician who played a key role in French politics from 1926, when he entered the French National Assembly after defeating Paul Reynaud, until 1969, when he won a substantial portion of the vote in the presidential elections.During World War I, Duclos fought...
, who passed on orders from the Communist International (Comintern). Members also included other immigrants, especially many young Hungarian writers, artists and intellectuals. Among them were the painter Sándor Józsa; sculptor István Hajdú (Etienne Hajdu); journalists László Kőrösi and Imre Gyomra; photographers Andras (André) Steiner, Lucien Hervé
Lucien Hervé
Lucien Hervé was a Jewish Hungarian-French photographer well known for his black-and-white photos of architecture, especially that of Le Corbusier, with whom he had a nearly 20-year collaboration....
, and Ervin Marton; and printer Ladislas Mandel.
The FTP-MOI were among the most active and determined of the resistance groups; particularly because they were foreigners and mostly Jews, they were under the direct watch of the Vichy regime and the Germans. Without maintaining strict secrecy, they risked internment
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
, deportation
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
and death. Because they depended directly on the Comintern, with Duclos as their intermediary, they were often on the front line when the order to fight came from Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. The various French groups were more attentive to the French national political climate.
The Parisian groups were initially led by Boris Holban, then the poet turned activist Missak Manouchian
Missak Manouchian
Missak Manouchian was a French poet of Armenian birth, a militant communist in the MOI , and military commissioner of the FTP-MOI in the Paris region...
. After Manouchian was arrested in 1943 and executed in February 1944, Holban took over again.
The FTP-MOI are particularly well known because of the highly publicized trial of numerous members of the Manouchian Group. Tracked, arrested and interrogated by the French police, the show trial of the 23 members was held in front of a German military tribunal
Military tribunal
A military tribunal is a kind of military court designed to try members of enemy forces during wartime, operating outside the scope of conventional criminal and civil proceedings. The judges are military officers and fulfill the role of jurors...
at the hôtel Continental
Hôtel Continental
The Westin Paris - Vendôme, at 3 rue de Castiglione on the corner of the rue de Rivoli, facing the Tuileries Garden opened in April 1878 as the Hôtel Continental, It was designed by Charles Garnier's nephew Henri Blondel and was intended to be the most luxurious hotel in Paris at the time...
. It began on 17 February 1944, lasted between two and four days, and after a 30-minute deliberation, the court reached the following verdict: All of the accused were condemned to death, with no possibility of appeal.
All but two were shot immediately on 21 February at Mont-Valérien. The execution of Olga Bancic
Olga Bancic
Olga Bancic , also known under her French nom de guerre Pierrette , was a Jewish Romanian communist, known for her role in the French Resistance during World War II. A member of the FTP-MOI and the Manouchian Group, she was captured by Nazi German forces in late 1943...
was suspended for further enquiry and because French law prohibited executing women by firing squad. In a new sentence passed on her birthday of 10 May 1944 at Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, she was condemned to death. She was beheaded shortly after the sentencing. One accused, Migratulski, was transferred to French jurisdiction.
Following the trial and executions, the Germans created a poster with a red background, featuring ten men of the Manouchian group with their names, photos and alleged crimes; it became known as l'Affiche Rouge. The Germans distributed thousands of copies of the poster around the city to encourage Parisians to think of the partisans as criminal foreigners and "not French", and discourage resistance; instead, the Affiches Rouges inspired citizens to more actions. Some marked the posters with phrases such as Morts pour la France! (They died for France.)
Paris region, Groupe Manouchian
Led by Joseph Epstein and Missak ManouchianMissak Manouchian
Missak Manouchian was a French poet of Armenian birth, a militant communist in the MOI , and military commissioner of the FTP-MOI in the Paris region...
, the armed group had the following members:
- Celestino AlfonsoCelestino AlfonsoCélestino Alfonso was a Spanish republican, a volunteer in the French liberation army FTP-MOI, and a part of the resistance operation led by Missak Manouchian. He was, by profession, a carpenter.-Youth:Alfonso arrived in France at the beginning of the 1930s...
— Spaniard - Olga BancicOlga BancicOlga Bancic , also known under her French nom de guerre Pierrette , was a Jewish Romanian communist, known for her role in the French Resistance during World War II. A member of the FTP-MOI and the Manouchian Group, she was captured by Nazi German forces in late 1943...
— Jewish Romanian - Joseph BoczovJoseph BoczovJoseph Boczov or József Boczor, aka Ferenc Wolff , was a chemical engineer, Hungarian Jew, and volunteer fighter for the French liberation army FTP-MOI. In 1942 Boczov founded and led the 4th detachment, called the dérailleurs, as they specialized in derailing trains...
— Jewish Hungarian - Georges CloarecGeorges CloarecGeorges Cloarec was a fighter in the French resistance, a volunteer in the FTP-MOI liberation army in the Manouchian group.- Biography :...
— French - Rino Della Negra— Italian
- Thomas ElekThomas ElekThomas Elek, also known as Támas Elek and KERPAL was one of the members of the French resistance executed at the fort of Mont Valérien as a member of the Manouchian Group, a volunteer of the French liberation army FTP-MOI...
— Jewish Hungarian - Maurice FingercwajgMaurice FingercwajgMaurice Fingercwajg also Mojsze, Fingercweig , was one of the resistance fighters shot at the Fort Mont Valérien, a volunteer soldier in the French liberation army FTP-MOI and a member of the group of Missak Manouchian.- Biography :Fingercwajg was born on 25 December 1923 in Warsaw, Poland...
— Polish Jew - Spartaco FontanoSpartaco FontanoSpartaco Fontano , was one of the members of the French resistance shot at Mont Valérien as a member of the Manouchian group. He was an Italian volunteer soldier in the French liberation army FTP-MOI...
— Italian - Imre Glasz — Jewish Hungarian
- Jonas Geduldig — Polish Jew
- Léon GoldbergLéon GoldbergLéon Goldberg, called "Julien" was a Polish Jew and volunteer fighter in the French Liberation army FTP-MOI in the Manouchian Group.- Youth :...
— Polish Jew - Szlama GrzywaczSzlama GrzywaczSzlama Grzywacz was one of the members of the French resistance executed at the fort of Mont Valérien as a member of the Manouchian group, a volunteer of the French liberation army FTP-MOI. His name is one of the ten which featured on the Affiche Rouge displayed by the Germans during the trial of...
— Polish Jew - Stanislas Kubacki — Polish
- Arpen Lavitian — Armenian
- Cesare Luccarini — Italian
- Missak Manouchian — Armenian
- Marcel RaymanMarcel RaymanMarcel Rayman, alias Simon Maujean, Faculté, Michel, and Michel Mieczlav 1 May 1923, Warsaw, Poland − 21 February 1944, fort du Mont-Valérien) was a Polish Jew and volunteer fighter in the FTP-MOI group of French resistance fighters during World War II, and the head of "Stalingrad", a highly active...
— Polish Jew - Roger Rouxel — French
- Antonio Salvadori — Italian
- Willy SchapiroWilly SchapiroSalomon Wolf Willy Schapiro , was a Polish Jew, and a soldier in the FTP-MOI French liberation army in the Manouchian group).-Youth:...
— Polish Jew - Amadeo Usseglio— Italian
- Wolf WajsbrotWolf WajsbrotWolf Wajsbrot was a member of the French Resistance under the Nazi occupation. Born in the Polish town of Kraśnik, his parents moved to France, eventually settling in Paris, shortly after his birth due to increasing anti-semitism and a worsening economic climate.In 1939, the year Germany invaded...
— Polish Jew - Robert WitchitzRobert WitchitzRobert Witchitz was a volunteer soldier in the French liberation force FTP-MOI in the group of Missak Manouchian.- Youth :...
— French
Lyon region, Compagnie Carmagnole-Liberté
- Carmagnole branch in LyonLyonLyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
- Liberté branch in GrenobleGrenobleGrenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
Herbert Herz
Herbert Herz
Herbert Herz is a former fighter with the French Résistance in the FTP-MOI, a member of the Carmagnole and Liberté squads of the Lyon region during World War II. His Jewish family emigrated to France in 1934 to escape Nazi persecution. In 1996 he was awarded the Legion d'honneur...
was a member of these two groups.
Toulouse region, 35th Brigade
The 35th Brigade took its name from the thirty-five divisions of gunners of the International BrigadesInternational Brigades
The International Brigades were military units made up of volunteers from different countries, who traveled to Spain to defend the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939....
, to which Marcel (Mendel) Langer, head of the regional FTP-MOI, had claimed to belong. In February 1943, Langer was arrested carrying explosives. He was tried by the section spéciale
Section spéciale
Section spéciale is a 1975 French film, directed by Costa Gavras. It stars Louis Seigner, Roland Bertin, Michael Lonsdale, Ivo Garrani, François Maistre, Jacques Spiesser, Henri Serre, Heinz Bennett and Claude Piéplu...
of the Toulouse appeals court. The avocat général, Lespinasse, demanded his execution and, on 21 March 1943, Langer was sentenced to death. He was executed on 23 July 1943.
The 35th Brigade then called themselves the Brigade Marcel Langer in his honor. Eighteen members were arrested by the Vichy police and handed over to the Germans. Two died of unknown causes on the train transporting them to be deported. Four were shot.
In popular culture
- The Spanish writer Jorge SemprunJorge SemprúnJorge Semprún Maura was a Spanish writer and politician who lived in France most of his life and wrote primarily in French. From 1953 to 1962, during the era of Francisco Franco, Semprún lived clandestinely in Spain working as an organizer for the exiled Communist Party of Spain, but was expelled...
wrote a postwar novel referring to the FTP-MOI in Paris. He had also served in the Resistance, first with the FTP-MOI, and then with the FTP after he joined the Communist Party. He was captured and deported, but survived internment at Buchenwald.
- There have been numerous portrayals of the Resistance in novels.
Filmography
- Stéphane CourtoisStéphane CourtoisStéphane Courtois is a French historian, an internationally known expert on communist studies, particularly the history of communism and communist genocides, and author of several books...
and Mosco Boucault, Des terroristes à la retraite, broadcast by Antenne 2 in 1983, included interviews of surviving FTP-MOI members and families of the victims. It accused the Communist Party in France (PCF) of betraying the Manouchian Group. - Mosco Boucault (director), Ni travail, ni famille, ni patrie - Journal d’une brigade FTP-MOÏ (1993), documentary about the Toulouse 35th Brigade
- Étrangers et nos frères pourtant (Foreigners and yet our brothers) - 2x26mn (1994), First part: Liberté, guérilla urbaine à Lyon et Grenoble Francs-Tireurs et Partisans de la Main-d’œuvre Immigrée (FTP-MOI), Second part: Carmagnole : l’insurrection de Villeurbanne. About actions of the FTP-MOI in Lyon and Grenoble. A video documentary by Claude and Denis Collins Cugnot, the title was taken from the poem/song "L'affiche rouge" (Words: Louis Aragon http://www.memoire-net.org/etran/aragon.html. Music: Jean Ferrat, Maurice Vandair).
- La traque de l’Affiche rouge, a documentary produced by Denis Peschanski and Jorge Amat, broadcast by France 2France 2France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...
on 15 March 2007, refuted Courtois and Boucault's allegations. - The dramatic film L'Armée du crimeThe Army of CrimeThe Army of Crime is a 2009 French drama-war film directed by Robert Guédiguian and based on a story by Serge Le Péron, one of three credited for the screenplay. It received a wide release in France on September 16, 2009 and opened in the United States in 2010.The film deals with the events of the...
(2009) features the story of the Manouchian Group. Directed by Robert GuédiguianRobert GuédiguianRobert Jules Guédiguian is a French film director, actor, screenwriter and producer. Most of his films star Ariane Ascaride and Jean-Pierre Darroussin....
, a MarseilleMarseilleMarseille , 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...
-based filmmaker of German and Armenian parentage, it was adapted from a story by Serge Le Péron. It reflects some of the divisions among the Résistance.
See also
- Affiche rougeAffiche RougeThe Affiche Rouge is a famous propaganda poster, distributed by Vichy French and German authorities in the spring of 1944 in occupied Paris, to discredit 23 French Resistance fighters, members of the Manouchian Group...
- Österreichische FreiheitsfrontÖsterreichische FreiheitsfrontThe Österreichische Freiheitsfront was an antifascist organization created by Austrian and German communist refugees in Brussels during the Second World War occupation of Belgium by Nazi Germany...
(An Austrian communist resistance network in Belgium)
External links
- Léon Landini, member of the Carmagnole-Liberté group (French vidéo)
- "Evidence of Léon Landini, president of the Amicale Carmagnole-Liberté", Patriote Résistant, 2002, FNDIRP
- "Herbert Herz", Carmagnole-Liberté group (French), Herbert Herz Website]
- "Affiche Rouge" (French)