Olga Bancic
Encyclopedia
Olga Bancic also known under her French
nom de guerre Pierrette (May 10, 1912–May 10, 1944), was a Jewish Romania
n 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. She was tried with Missak Manouchian
and 21 others in February 1944. While the others were executed immediately after the trial in France, she was transported to Stuttgart
, Germany and beheaded in May.
family in Chişinău
, Bessarabia
, which was then part of the Russian Empire
. The region became part of the Kingdom of Romania
after World War I
and the break-up of the empire. She worked in a mattress factory by the age of 12, and joined the local labor movement, taking part in a strike
. Despite her age, she was taken to prison and beaten.
(PCR), was subsequently arrested and imprisoned several times during the 1930s and considered it part of her activities. In 1938, she traveled to France
, where she aided local left-wing activists in transporting weapons to Spanish
Republican
forces fighting in the Civil War
.
-based Francs-Tireurs et Partisans de la Main d'Oeuvre Immigrée (FTP-MOI
), an armed group, and took part in about 100 sabotage
acts against the Wehrmacht
. They also helped manufacture and transport explosives. This came at a time when the PCR, weakened by successive crackdowns, had become divided into several autonomous groups. Similar to Gheorghe Gaston Marin
, Bancic was among the Romanian activists who were integrated into the French Communist Party
.
Arrested by the Gestapo
on November 6, 1943, Bancic was torture
d, but resisted giving information about her collaborators. On February 21, 1944, Bancic, Manouchian, and 21 men were sentenced to death— all male defendants were executed by a firing squad later that day at Fort Mont-Valérien
. As French law prohibited execution of women by firing squad, Bancic was deported to a prison in Stuttgart
, where she was beheaded
by axe in the yard, on her 32nd birthday. During her transportation to the prison, Bancic wrote a letter to her daughter Dolores (called Dolores Jacob) and threw the paper out the window, in hopes that someone would get it to her. The letter was passed on and preserved.
After the show trial and executions, the Gestapo published thousands of copies of a propaganda poster, known as l'Affiche Rouge because of its red background. The poster featured ten men of the Manouchian group with their alleged crimes, and portrayed them as foreigners and an "army of crime". Intended to quell citizen resistance, the poster of the deceased french underground members inspired more. Parisians wrote on the posters Mort pour la France! (They died for France).
. In the mid-1950s, the Communist leadership persuaded Jar to denounce "the cult of personality" among intellectuals, for which he was expelled from the Writers' Union in May 1956. After that, he became an opponent of the Party leadership around Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
when Dej continued waves of purges and arrests to stifle writers and intellectuals. Together with Mihail Davidoglu and Ion Vitner, Jar was criticized by the activist Miron Constantinescu
for "intellectual
ist-liberalist
tendencies."
In the postwar years, Communist authorities named several streets in Romania in honor of Bancic, and erected small monuments to her memory. Her name continued to be used as an asset by the Communists. Since the 1989 Revolution
, she has fallen into some disfavor. In 2005, the writer and journalist Bedros Horasangian objected to Bucharest
officials' plans to remove the Polonă Street commemorative plaque noting her activities and to change the name of Olga Bancic Street; he argued:
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
nom de guerre Pierrette (May 10, 1912–May 10, 1944), was a Jewish Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
, known for her role in the French Resistance
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...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. A member of the FTP-MOI
FTP-MOI
The Francs-tireurs et partisans – main-d'œuvre immigrée were a sub-group of the Francs-tireurs et partisans 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...
and the Manouchian Group, she was captured by Nazi German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
forces in late 1943. She was tried with 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...
and 21 others in February 1944. While the others were executed immediately after the trial in France, she was transported to 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 ....
, Germany and beheaded in May.
Early life and education
Golda Bancic was born in 1912 to a JewishBessarabian Jews
-Early history:Jews are mentioned from very early in the Principality of Moldavia, but they did not represent a significant number. Their main activity in Moldavia was commerce, but they could not compete with Greeks and Armenians, who had the knowledge of the Levantine commerce and relationships...
family in Chişinău
Chisinau
Chișinău is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc...
, Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
, which was then part of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. The region became part of the Kingdom of Romania
Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania was the Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions of Romania...
after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the break-up of the empire. She worked in a mattress factory by the age of 12, and joined the local labor movement, taking part in a strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
. Despite her age, she was taken to prison and beaten.
Political career
Bancic, who became a member of the outlawed Romanian Communist PartyRomanian Communist Party
The Romanian Communist Party was a communist political party in Romania. Successor to the Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to communist revolution and the disestablishment of Greater Romania. The PCR was a minor and illegal grouping for much of the...
(PCR), was subsequently arrested and imprisoned several times during the 1930s and considered it part of her activities. In 1938, she traveled to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, where she aided local left-wing activists in transporting weapons to Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Republican
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
forces fighting in the Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
.
Marriage and family
In 1939 shortly before the outbreak of World war II, Bancic gave birth to Dolores, her daughter with Alexandru Jar, a writer and fellow activist. She left her child for safety in the care of a French family, following the start of German occupation.Résistance
Together with Jar, Bancic joined 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...
-based Francs-Tireurs et Partisans de la Main d'Oeuvre Immigrée (FTP-MOI
FTP-MOI
The Francs-tireurs et partisans – main-d'œuvre immigrée were a sub-group of the Francs-tireurs et partisans 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...
), an armed group, and took part in about 100 sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
acts against the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
. They also helped manufacture and transport explosives. This came at a time when the PCR, weakened by successive crackdowns, had become divided into several autonomous groups. Similar to Gheorghe Gaston Marin
Gheorghe Gaston Marin
Gheorghe Gaston Marin was a Romanian former communist politician who had many roles under Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej and Nicolae Ceauşescu. He was born Gheorghe Grossmann in Pădureni Vaslui County...
, Bancic was among the Romanian activists who were integrated into 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...
.
Arrested by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
on November 6, 1943, Bancic was torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d, but resisted giving information about her collaborators. On February 21, 1944, Bancic, Manouchian, and 21 men were sentenced to death— all male defendants were executed by a firing squad later that day at Fort Mont-Valérien
Fort Mont-Valérien
Fort Mont-Valérien is a fortress in Suresnes a western Paris suburb, built in 1841 as part of the city's ring of modern fortifications...
. As French law prohibited execution of women by firing squad, Bancic was deported to a prison in 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 ....
, where she was beheaded
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
by axe in the yard, on her 32nd birthday. During her transportation to the prison, Bancic wrote a letter to her daughter Dolores (called Dolores Jacob) and threw the paper out the window, in hopes that someone would get it to her. The letter was passed on and preserved.
After the show trial and executions, the Gestapo published thousands of copies of a propaganda poster, known as l'Affiche Rouge because of its red background. The poster featured ten men of the Manouchian group with their alleged crimes, and portrayed them as foreigners and an "army of crime". Intended to quell citizen resistance, the poster of the deceased french underground members inspired more. Parisians wrote on the posters Mort pour la France! (They died for France).
Legacy
Bancic was survived by her daughter Dolores and Alexandru Jar. Jar returned with Dolores to Romania, where he managed to work as a writer under the new Communist regimeCommunist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
. In the mid-1950s, the Communist leadership persuaded Jar to denounce "the cult of personality" among intellectuals, for which he was expelled from the Writers' Union in May 1956. After that, he became an opponent of the Party leadership around Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej was the Communist leader of Romania from 1948 until his death in 1965.-Early life:Gheorghe was the son of a poor worker, Tănase Gheorghiu, and his wife Ana. Gheorghiu-Dej joined the Communist Party of Romania in 1930...
when Dej continued waves of purges and arrests to stifle writers and intellectuals. Together with Mihail Davidoglu and Ion Vitner, Jar was criticized by the activist Miron Constantinescu
Miron Constantinescu
Miron Constantinescu was a Romanian communist politician, a leading member of the Romanian Communist Party , as well as a Marxist sociologist, historian, academic, and journalist...
for "intellectual
Intellectual
An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
ist-liberalist
Libertarian socialism
Libertarian socialism is a group of political philosophies that promote a non-hierarchical, non-bureaucratic, stateless society without private property in the means of production...
tendencies."
In the postwar years, Communist authorities named several streets in Romania in honor of Bancic, and erected small monuments to her memory. Her name continued to be used as an asset by the Communists. Since the 1989 Revolution
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
, she has fallen into some disfavor. In 2005, the writer and journalist Bedros Horasangian objected to Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
officials' plans to remove the Polonă Street commemorative plaque noting her activities and to change the name of Olga Bancic Street; he argued:
"It is not proper and insults the memory of a woman who actually died for AlliedAllies of World War IIThe Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
victory (when Romania was allied to the GermansRomania during World War IIFollowing the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, the Kingdom of Romania officially adopted a position of neutrality. However, the rapidly changing situation in Europe during 1940, as well as domestic political upheaval, undermined this stance. Fascist political forces such as the Iron...
!). [...] In France, those who have fought in the antifascistAnti-fascismAnti-fascism is the opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals, such as that of the resistance movements during World War II. The related term antifa derives from Antifaschismus, which is German for anti-fascism; it refers to individuals and groups on the left of the political...
resistance enjoy full respect".
In popular culture
- Bancic is portrayed by the actress Olga Legrand in the French film The Army of 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) about 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....
.