Robert Witchitz
Encyclopedia
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...
in the group of 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...
.
Youth
Witchitz was born on 5 August in AbsconAbscon
Abscon is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.-Heraldry:-References:*...
, in the Nord department, to a miner of Polish origin and a French woman. He was brought up by his grandparents, staying in his village of birth until the age of five, then moving to the Paris region where he attended a secular school.
Second World War
At the beginning of the war, Witchitz' father was mobilised, and Witchitz became a telegrapher. Witchitz' father was taken prisoner but released on grounds of his service in the first world war. Robert was dismissed, and had to make runs by bicycle for a distillery, all while fighting for the Jeunesse communiste (communist youth), in Ivry-sur-SeineIvry-sur-Seine
Ivry-sur-Seine is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris....
. Witchitz was assigned to the management of the Service du travail obligatoire
Service du travail obligatoire
The Service du travail obligatoire was the forced enlistment and deportation of hundreds of thousands of French workers to Nazi Germany in order to work as forced labour for the German war effort during World War II....
to work in Germany.
Unbeknownst to his parents, he joined 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...
in February 1943. Each time he heard from the press or elsewhere of the death of a German or a collaborator, he rejoiced and remarked to his father that there were still men, and good Frenchmen. One morning at about 5am while Witchitz was at home, the police announced themselves outside. His parents recalled with anguish how he tried in vain to escape through the window. He asked his parents to let the officers in. When they saw him, they said "Is it you, Robert? You have two or three hours to get lost!". From then on, Witchitz' parents understood the kind of activity that their son was involved in.
On 12 October 1943, Witchitz was arrested after an operation against a German money transport. He forewarned his parents in a letter where he accused himself of having done something crazy, in order not to incriminate his fellows. He stayed in prison for exactly 100 days; his parents, though making frequent requests, were not authorised to visit him. Witchitz was handed over with his comrades to the tribunal (the procès des 23), and sentenced to death.
Witchitz' parents eventually did not receive authorization to visit him until the day after he had been shot at Mont Valérien on 21 February 1944 with 23 members of the Affiche Rouge. His body was laid in the square of the fallen in the Ivry-sur-Seine cemetery. Later, in accordance with his mother's wishes, it was moved to the family tomb.
In the short period of time during which he was active in the resistance, Robert took part in 13 operations.
Witchitz' name appeared on the German Affiche Rouge
Affiche Rouge
The 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...
propaganda poster, with the caption:
"Witchitz, Juif polonais, 15 attentats".
Nonetheless it is unclear whether Witchitz was either Jewish or Polish.
See also
- Main-d'œuvre immigréeMain-d'œuvre immigréeThe 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...
- Francs-tireurs et partisans - Main-d'œuvre immigrée
- 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...
- Brigades Spéciales
- Geheime Feld Polizei