Jump to content

Lucie Aubrac: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
mNo edit summary
m replacing {{IPA-fr| → {{IPA|fr| (deprecated template)
 
(26 intermediate revisions by 15 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{short description|French Resistance member}}
{{short description|Member of the French Resistance in World War II (1912–2007)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{infobox person
{{infobox person
|image = Lucie Aubrac 2001.jpg
|image = Lucie aubrac.jpg
|caption = Lucie Aubrac in 2001
|caption = Lucie Aubrac in 2003
|birth_name = Lucie Bernard
|birth_name = Lucie Bernard
|birth_date = 29 June 1912
|birth_date = 29 June 1912
|birth_place = Macon, France
|birth_place = [[Mâcon]], France
|death_date = {{death date and age|2007|3|14|1912|6|29|df=y|}}
|death_date = {{death date and age|2007|3|14|1912|6|29|df=y|}}
|death_place = [[Issy-les-Moulineaux]], Paris, France
|death_place = [[Issy-les-Moulineaux]], France
|resting_place = [[Salornay-sur-Guye]]
|nationality = French
|nationality = French
|occupation = member of French Resistance, history teacher
|party = [[French Communist Party]]
|occupation = Member of the [[French Resistance]], member of the [[Provisional Consultative Assembly]] in Paris, history teacher
|children = 3
|children = 3 (son Jean-Pierre, daughters Catherine and Élisabeth)
|spouse = [[Raymond Aubrac]] (1939–2007; her death)
|spouse = [[Raymond Aubrac]] (1939–2007; her death)
}}
}}
'''Lucie Samuel''' (29 June 1912 – 14 March 2007), born '''Lucie Bernard''', and better known as '''Lucie Aubrac''' ({{IPA-fr|lysi obʁak|-|Fr-Lucie Aubrac.ogg}}), was a [[French people|French]] history teacher and member of the [[French Resistance]] during [[World War II]].<ref name="nytimes2007">{{cite news|author=DOUGLAS MARTINMARCH 18, 2007 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/world/europe/18aubrac.html |title=Lucie Aubrac, Hero of French Resistance, Dies at 94 | newspaper=The New York Times |date=2007-03-18 |accessdate=2018-01-15}}</ref>
'''Lucie Samuel''' (29 June 1912 – 14 March 2007), born '''Bernard''' and known as '''Lucie Aubrac''' ({{IPA|fr|lysi obʁak|-|Fr-Lucie Aubrac.ogg}}), was a member of the [[French Resistance]] in [[World War II]].<ref name="nytimes2007">{{cite news |first=Douglas |last=Martin |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/world/europe/18aubrac.html |title=Lucie Aubrac, Hero of French Resistance, Dies at 94 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2007-03-18 |access-date=2018-01-15}}</ref> A history teacher by occupation, she earned a history ''[[agrégation]]'' in 1938, a highly uncommon achievement for a woman at that time. In 1939 she married [[Raymond Aubrac|Raymond Samuel]], who took the name Aubrac in the Resistance.<ref name="theguardian2007">{{cite news |first=Julian |last=Jackson |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/mar/16/guardianobituaries.france |title=Obituary: Lucie Aubrac |newspaper=The Guardian |date=2007-03-16 |access-date=2018-01-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/15/raymond-aubrac |title=Raymond Aubrac obituary |last=Jackson |first=Julian |date=2012-04-05 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London}}</ref> She was active on a number of operations, including prison breakouts. Like her husband, she was a [[French Communist Party|communist]] militant, which she remained after the war. She sat in the [[Provisional Consultative Assembly]] in Paris from 1944 to 1945.<ref>{{in lang|fr}} [https://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/14/evenements/commemo-aubrac.asp Hommage à Lucie Aubrac], [[National Assembly (France)|French National Assembly]], 29 June 2012.</ref>


Her life was depicted in the 1997 film ''[[Lucie Aubrac (film)|Lucie Aubrac]]'' by [[Claude Berri]]. The [[Paris Métro]] station [[Bagneux–Lucie Aubrac station|Bagneux–Lucie Aubrac]] was named after her.
In 1938, she earned an [[agrégation]] of history (something highly uncommon for a woman at that time), and in 1939 she married [[Raymond Aubrac|Raymond Samuel]], who became known as Raymond Aubrac during the war.<ref name="theguardian2007">{{cite web|author=Julian Jackson |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/mar/16/guardianobituaries.france |title=Obituary: Lucie Aubrac &#124; World news |newspaper=The Guardian |accessdate=2018-01-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/15/raymond-aubrac|title=Guardian Obituary|last=Jackon|first=Julian|date=5 April 2012|newspaper=The Guardian | location=London}}</ref>


== Career ==
In 1940, she joined the [[French Resistance]] among the first<ref name="nytimes2007"/> In [[Clermont-Ferrand]], [[Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie]] formed the [[French Resistance|Resistant group]] ''La Dernière Colonne'', later known as [[Libération-sud]], with her, her husband, and [[Jean Cavaillès]]. During 1941, the group carried out two sabotage attacks at train stations in [[Perpignan]] and [[Cannes]]. In February, they organised the distribution of 10,000 propaganda flyers, but one of the distributors was caught by the police, leading to the arrest of d'Astier's niece and uncle. At this time she gave birth to her first child. The group decided to hide. After a few months' hiatus, they began to work on an underground newspaper, ''Libération''. The first edition was put together with the help of the typographers from a local newspaper and printed on paper supplied by local trade-unionists. 10,000 copies were produced in July 1941.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wieviorka|first=Olivier|title=Histoire de la Résistance 1940-1945|year=2013|publisher=Perrin|location=Paris|page=loc 1262–1278|edition=Kindle}}</ref>
In 1940, Lucie was amongst the first to join the [[French Resistance]].<ref name="nytimes2007"/> In [[Clermont-Ferrand]], [[Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie]] formed the [[French Resistance|Resistance group]] ''La Dernière Colonne'', later known as [[Libération-sud]], with her husband and [[Jean Cavaillès]]. During 1941, the group carried out two sabotage attacks at train stations in [[Perpignan]] and [[Cannes]]. In February, they organised the distribution of 10,000 propaganda flyers, but one of the distributors was caught by the police, leading to the arrest of d'Astier's niece and uncle. At this time, Lucie gave birth to her first child. The group decided to hide, and, after a few months' hiatus, began to work on an underground newspaper, ''Libération''. The first edition was put together with the help of the typographers from a local newspaper and printed on paper supplied by local trade-unionists; 10,000 copies were produced in July 1941.{{sfn|Wieviorka|2013|pp=1262–1278}}


In March 1943, her husband was arrested , but he was released in May of that year, after she had intervened with the local Vichy public prosecutor (where she told him that they were members of the Résistance and that he had 24 hours to release him or that he would be executed by resistance).<ref name="theguardian2007"/> They then organized the clever evasion of the three other group members. However, in June of that year he was arrested again.<ref name="theguardian2007"/> Lucie went to see [[Klaus Barbie]], the notorious [[Gestapo]] chief in [[Vichy France]] then claimed to be his fiancée, saying he was named "Ermelin" (one of his aliases) and that he had been caught in the raid while innocently visiting a doctor.<ref name="theguardian2007"/> She was told that he was to be executed for resistance, and asked to marry him as she was pregnant but unmaried.
In March 1943, Raymond was arrested. He was released in May, after Lucie intervened with the local Vichy public prosecutor, telling him they were members of the Résistance and he had 24 hours to release Raymond or be killed,<ref name="theguardian2007"/> and the couple then organized the clever escape of three other members of their group. A month later, Raymond was arrested again.<ref name="theguardian2007"/> Lucie went to see [[Klaus Barbie]], the notorious [[Gestapo]] chief in [[Vichy France]] and claimed to be Raymond's fiancée, saying he was named "Ermelin" (one of his aliases) and had been caught in a raid while innocently visiting a doctor.<ref name="theguardian2007"/> She was told Raymond was to be executed for being a member of the Resistance, but she was able to get permission to marry him first, supposedly to save her honor and legitimize the child with which she really was pregnant. When Raymond was being brought back to prison after "wedding", he and fifteen other prisoners were rescued by a commando unit led by Lucie, who attacked the vehicle he was in, killing the six guards.<ref name="theguardian2007"/><ref name="independent1">{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/raymond-aubrac-french-resistance-leader-whose-wife-daringly-freed-him-from-captivity-7640711.html |title=Raymond Aubrac: French Resistance leader whose wife daringly freed him from captivity |work=The Independent |access-date=2018-01-15 |first=John |last=Lichfield |date=2012-04-12}}</ref>
Later, when he was being brought back to prison after the supposed marriage, he and fifteen other prisoners were rescued by a commando led by Lucie, who attacked the vehicle he was in, killing the six guards.<ref name="theguardian2007"/><ref name="independent1">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/raymond-aubrac-french-resistance-leader-whose-wife-daringly-freed-him-from-captivity-7640711.html |title=Raymond Aubrac: French Resistance leader whose wife daringly freed him from captivity |work=The Independent|accessdate=2018-01-15}}</ref>


[[File:Hochiminh and Bebet.JPG|thumb|[[Ho Chi Minh]], baby Elizabeth Aubrac and Lucie Aubrac, 1946]]
[[File:Hochiminh and Bebet.JPG|thumb|[[Ho Chi Minh]], baby Elizabeth Aubrac and Lucie Aubrac, 1946]]
In 1944, [[Charles de Gaulle]] appointed a consultative assembly, which Lucie joined as a resistance representative; this made her the first woman to sit in a French parliamentary assembly.<ref name="theguardian2007"/><ref name="Lloyd2003">{{cite book|author=C. Lloyd|title=Collaboration and Resistance in Occupied France: Representing Treason and Sacrifice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CoyDDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA136|date=16 September 2003|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|isbn=978-0-230-50392-2|pages=136–}}</ref>
In 1944, [[Charles de Gaulle]] established a consultative assembly, which Lucie joined as a resistance representative, making her the first woman to sit on a French parliamentary assembly.<ref name="theguardian2007"/>{{sfn|Lloyd|2003|pp=136–}} In 1945, she published the first short history of the French Resistance.<ref name="theguardian2007"/> In 1946, she and Raymond hosted [[Ho Chi Minh]] at their home when he went to France on what turned out to be an unsuccessful mission to win independence for the then-French colony of Vietnam, and Ho Chi Minh and Raymond became friends.<ref name="Associated Press">{{cite news |url=https://www.deseret.com/2012/4/11/20406167/french-resistance-figure-raymond-aubrac-dead-at-97 |title=French Resistance figure Raymond Aubrac dead at 97|agency=Associated Press |date=2018-01-15 |newspaper=Deseret News }}</ref>


In 1984, Lucie published a semi-fictional version of her wartime diaries, the English translation of which is known as ''Outwitting the Gestapo''.<ref name="nytimes2007"/> She was inspired to publish her own writing on the war by [[Klaus Barbie]]'s claim that her husband Raymond had become an informer and betrayed [[Jean Moulin]] after his arrest.<ref name="theguardian2007"/> In 1985, she sat on the "Jury of Honor" to assess whether the documentary ''[[Des terroristes à la retraite]]'' should be aired.{{sfn|Bowles|2011|p=197}} Aubrac hated the film, which she called "misery loving", complaining it dwelled on all that was ugly in France.{{sfn|Bowles|2011|p=197}} The 1992 film ''[[:fr:Boulevard des hirondelles|<span style="color:teal">Boulevard des hirondelles</span>]]'' was about her and Raymond's life during the [[French Resistance]].{{sfn|Chiaroni|2016|pp=77–}}
In 1945, she published the first short history of the [[French Resistance]].<ref name="theguardian2007"/>


In 1996, Lucie was awarded the Legion of Honor by the French government for her heroism during World War II.<ref name=voices>{{cite web |url=http://voiceseducation.org/content/lucie-aubrac-resistance-hero |title=Lucie Aubrac: A Resistance Hero |website=Voices Education |access-date=2016-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822174222/http://voiceseducation.org/content/lucie-aubrac-resistance-hero |archive-date=2017-08-22 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The 1997 film ''[[Lucie Aubrac (film)|Lucie Aubrac]]'', which stars [[Carole Bouquet]] as Lucie, is about her efforts to rescue her husband.<ref name="variety1997">{{cite web |last=Elley |first=Derek |url=https://variety.com/1997/film/reviews/lucie-aubrac-1117432593/ |title=Lucie Aubrac |work=Variety |date=1997-03-02 |access-date=2018-01-15}}</ref> She herself endorsed the film.<ref name="variety1997"/><ref name="nytimes1">{{cite news |first=Douglas |last=Martin |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/12/world/europe/raymond-aubrac-a-leader-of-the-french-resistance-dies-at-97.html |title=Raymond Aubrac, a Leader of the French Resistance, Dies at 97 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=2012-04-11 |access-date=2018-01-15}}</ref>
In 1946, she and Raymond hosted [[Ho Chi Minh]] at their home in France, and he became friends with Raymond.<ref name="Associated Press">{{cite news|url=https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/french-resistance-figure-raymond-aubrac-dead-97|title=French Resistance figure Raymond Aubrac dead at 97|agency=Associated Press|access-date=15 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180116081328/https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/french-resistance-figure-raymond-aubrac-dead-97|archive-date=16 January 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> He had gone to France in an unsuccessful mission to win independence for the then-French colony of Vietnam.<ref name="Associated Press"/>


In April 1997, [[Jacques Vergès]] produced the "Barbie testament", which he claimed [[Klaus Barbie]] had given him ten years earlier, that purported to show the Aubracs had tipped off Barbie regarding Moulin.{{sfn|Clinton|2002|p=209}} Vergès' "Barbie testament" was timed for the publication of the book ''Aubrac Lyon 1943'' by Gérard Chauvy, which was meant to prove the Aubracs were the ones who informed Barbie about the fateful meeting at Caluire where Moulin was arrested in 1943.{{sfn|Clinton|2002}} On 2 April 1998, following a civil suit launched by the Aubracs, a Paris court fined Chauvy and his publisher Albin Michel for "public defamation".{{sfn|Clinton|2002|pp=209–210}} In 1998, the French historian Jacques Baynac, in his book ''Les Secrets de l'affaire Jean Moulin'', claimed Moulin was planning to break with de Gaulle to recognize [[Henri Giraud|General Giraud]], which led the Gaullists to tip off Barbie before this could happen.{{sfn|Clinton|2002|p=210}} Twenty leading resistance survivors published a letter protesting against the accusations against the Aubracs, who asked to appear before a panel of leading [[French historians]].<ref name="theguardian2007"/> The Aubracs did appear in a discussion with historians, organized by the newspaper ''[[Libération]]''.<ref name="theguardian2007"/> While none of the historians involved believed that Raymond was an informer, they did note inconsistencies in Lucie's account of his case.<ref name="theguardian2007"/>
In 1984, she published a semi-fictional version of her wartime diaries, the English translation of which is known as ''Outwitting the Gestapo''.<ref name="nytimes2007"/> She was inspired to publish her own writing on the wartime after [[Klaus Barbie]]'s claim that her husband Raymond had become an informer and betrayed [[Jean Moulin]] after his own arrest.<ref name="theguardian2007"/> In 1985, she sat on the "Jury of Honor" to assess whatever the documentary ''[[Des terroristes à la retraite]]'' should be aired.{{sfn|Bowles|2011|p=197}} Aubrac hated the film, which she called "misery loving", complaining it dwelled on all that was ugly in France.{{sfn|Bowles|2011|p=197}}
[[File:Lucie Aubrac 2001.jpg|thumb|Lucie Aubrac in 2001]]


[[Patrick Marnham]]'s biography of Moulin, ''The Death of [[Jean Moulin]]: Biography of a Ghost'' (2001) suggests Raymond and possibly Lucie betrayed Moulin.{{sfn|Marnham|2001}} In his book ''Resistance and Betrayal: The Death and Life of the Greatest Hero of the French Resistance (2002)'', Marnham suggested that, because Raymond's overriding allegiance was to [[Communism]], he would not have considered himself a traitor if he had betrayed Moulin, claiming that French Communists such as the Aubracs at times gave non-Communists, such as Moulin, to the Gestapo,<ref name="Raymond Aubrac">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9198381/Raymond-Aubrac.html |location=London |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |title=Raymond Aubrac |date=2012-04-11 }}</ref><ref name="independent1"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/mobile/comment/obituaries/raymond-aubrac.2012041676?_=86fd6d23ad14e9a4158cf5a1bec6c1882b45b29f |title=Raymond Aubrac |newspaper=The Herald |location=Scotland |date=2012-04-13 |access-date=2018-01-15}}</ref> though this statement is not supported by evidence: not only was Aubrac not a Communist, but it is doubtful that the Communist party would betray somebody with great knowledge of its leaders and organization.
The 1992 film [[:fr:Boulevard des hirondelles|<span style="color:teal">Boulevard des hirondelles</span>]] was about her and Raymond's life during the [[French Resistance]].<ref name="Chiaroni2016">{{cite book|author=Keren Chiaroni|title=Resistance Heroism and the End of Empire: The Life and Times of Madeleine Riffaud|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VDglDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA77|date=8 December 2016|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-315-39609-5|pages=77–}}</ref>


Lucie had three children with Raymond.<ref name="independent1"/> [[Charles de Gaulle]] was godfather to their second child, Catherine and [[Ho Chi Minh]] was godfather to their third child, Elizabeth.
In 1996, Lucie was awarded the Legion of Honor by the French government for her heroism during World War II.<ref name=voices>{{cite web|url=http://voiceseducation.org/content/lucie-aubrac-resistance-hero|title=Lucie Aubrac: A Resistance Hero {{!}} Voices Education Project|website=voiceseducation.org|access-date=4 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822174222/http://voiceseducation.org/content/lucie-aubrac-resistance-hero|archive-date=22 August 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>


President [[Nicolas Sarkozy]], in a statement after Raymond's death in 2012, said that Raymond's escape from the Nazis led by Lucie in 1943 had "become a legend in the history of the Resistance", and praised him and all Resistance members as "heroes of the shadows who saved France's honor, at a time when it seemed lost".<ref name="Associated Press"/> [[Serge and Beate Klarsfeld|Serge Klarsfeld]], the president of the [[Sons and Daughters of Jewish Deportees from France]], said to BFM-TV that Raymond and Lucie "were a legendary couple" and "exceptional people".<ref>https://calgaryherald.com/news/Raymond+Aubrac+Former+leader+French+Resistance/6461742/story.html#ixzz1sA2Ukl5A{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> [[François Hollande]] said in a statement: "In our darkest times, [Raymond] was, with Lucie Aubrac, among the righteous, who found, in themselves and in the universal values of our Republic, the strength to resist Nazi barbarism".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/world/article/french_reisistance_fighter_raymond_aubrac_dies_20120412 |title=French reisistance fighter Raymond Aubrac dies |work=Jewish Journal |publisher=Tribe Media Corp |date=2012-04-12 |access-date=2018-01-15}}</ref> Lucie's ashes are beside Raymond's in the family tomb in the cemetery in the [[Burgundy (French region)|Burgundian]] village of [[Salornay-sur-Guye]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nouvelobs.com/societe/20120416.AFP3445/hommage-republicain-au-resistant-raymond-aubrac-flambeau-de-la-justice-et-de-l-esperance.html |title=Hommage républicain au résistant Raymond Aubrac, "flambeau de la justice et de l'espérance" |work=L'Obs |date=2012-04-16 |author=AFP |agency=AFP |access-date=2023-03-12 |language=fr}}</ref>
The 1997 film ''[[Lucie Aubrac (film)|Lucie Aubrac]]'' is about her efforts to rescue her husband; in it she is played by [[Carole Bouquet]].<ref name="variety1997">{{cite web|last=Elley |first=Derek |url=https://variety.com/1997/film/reviews/lucie-aubrac-1117432593/ |title=Lucie Aubrac Variety |publisher=Variety.com |accessdate=2018-01-15}}</ref> She herself endorsed the film.<ref name="variety1997"/><ref name="nytimes1">{{cite news|author=DOUGLAS MARTINAPRIL 11, 2012 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/12/world/europe/raymond-aubrac-a-leader-of-the-french-resistance-dies-at-97.html |title=Raymond Aubrac, a Leader of the French Resistance, Dies at 97 - The New York Times |work=Nytimes.com |date=2012-04-11 |accessdate=2018-01-15}}</ref>

In April 1997, [[Jacques Vergès]] produced a "Barbie testament" which he claimed that [[Klaus Barbie]] had given him ten years earlier which purported to show the Aubracs had tipped off Barbie regarding Moulin.<ref>Clinton, Alan ''Jean Moulin, 1899–1943 The French Resistance and the Republic'', London: Macmillan 2002 page 209.</ref> Vergès' "Barbie testament" was timed for the publication of the book ''Aubrac Lyon 1943'' by [[Gérard Chauvy]], which was meant to prove that the Aubracs were the ones who informed Barbie about the fateful meeting at Caluire where Moulin was arrested in 1943.<ref>Clinton, Alan Jean Moulin, 1899–1943 ''The French Resistance and the Republic'', London: Macmillan 2002</ref> On 2 April 1998, following a civil suit launched by the Aubracs, a Paris court fined Chauvy and his publisher Albin Michel for "public defamation".<ref>Clinton, Alan ''Jean Moulin, 1899–1943 The French Resistance and the Republic'', London: Macmillan 2002 pages 209–210.</ref> In 1998, the French historian Jacques Baynac in his book ''Les Secrets de l'affaire Jean Moulin'' claimed that Moulin was planning to break with de Gaulle to recognize General Giraud, which led the Gaullists to tip off Barbie before this could happen.<ref>Clinton, Alan ''Jean Moulin, 1899–1943 The French Resistance and the Republic'', London: Macmillan 2002 page 210.</ref>

Twenty leading resistance survivors published a letter protesting the accusations against the Aubracs, and the Aubracs themselves asked to appear before a panel of leading French historians.<ref name="theguardian2007"/> The Aubracs did appear in a discussion between themselves and historians, organized by the newspaper ''[[Libération]]''.<ref name="theguardian2007"/> While none of the historians involved believed that Raymond was an informer, they did note inconsistencies in Lucie's account of his case.<ref name="theguardian2007"/>

[[Patrick Marnham]]'s biography of Moulin, ''The Death of [[Jean Moulin]]: Biography of a Ghost'' (2001) suggests Raymond and possibly Lucie betrayed Moulin.<ref>Marnham, Patrick. ''The Death of [[Jean Moulin]]: Biography of a Ghost.'' Pimlico. {{ISBN|978-0-7126-6584-1}}.</ref> As well, in his book ''Resistance and Betrayal: The Death and Life of the Greatest Hero of the French Resistance (2002)'', [[Patrick Marnham]] suggested that since Raymond Aubrac's overriding allegiance was to communism, he would not have considered himself a traitor if he had indeed betrayed Moulin, claiming that French Communists such as the Aubracs at times gave non-Communists such as Moulin to the Gestapo.<ref name="Raymond Aubrac">{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9198381/Raymond-Aubrac.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | title=Raymond Aubrac | date=11 April 2012}}</ref><ref name="independent1"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/mobile/comment/obituaries/raymond-aubrac.2012041676?_=86fd6d23ad14e9a4158cf5a1bec6c1882b45b29f |title=Raymond Aubrac |publisher=HeraldScotland |accessdate=2018-01-15}}</ref> This statement is not supported by evidence: not only was Aubrac not a communist, but it's also highly doubtful that the Communist party would betray somebody with a very significant knowledge of its leaders and organization.

Lucie had three children with Raymond.<ref name="independent1"/> [[Charles de Gaulle]] was godfather to their second child, Catherine, and [[Ho Chi Minh]] was godfather to their third child, Elizabeth.

President [[Nicolas Sarkozy]], in a statement after Raymond's death in 2012, said that Raymond's escape from the Nazis led by Lucie in 1943 had "become a legend in the history of the Resistance" and praised him and all Resistance members as "heroes of the shadows who saved France's honor, at a time when it seemed lost."<ref name="Associated Press"/> [[Serge and Beate Klarsfeld|Serge Klarsfeld]], the president of the [[Sons and Daughters of Jewish Deportees from France]], said to BFM-TV, "They (Raymond and Lucie Aubrac) were a legendary couple," adding, "They were exceptional people."<ref>https://calgaryherald.com/news/Raymond+Aubrac+Former+leader+French+Resistance/6461742/story.html#ixzz1sA2Ukl5A{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> [[François Hollande]] said in a statement, "In our darkest times, he [Raymond] was, with Lucie Aubrac, among the righteous, who found, in themselves and in the universal values of our Republic, the strength to resist Nazi barbarism."<ref>{{cite web|author=JTA |url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/world/article/french_reisistance_fighter_raymond_aubrac_dies_20120412 |title=French reisistance fighter Raymond Aubrac dies Jewish Journal |publisher=Jewishjournal.com |date=2012-04-12 |accessdate=2018-01-15}}</ref>

Lucie's ashes are beside Raymond's in the family tomb of the cemetery in the [[Burgundy (French region)|Burgundian]] village of [[Salornay-sur-Guye]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j5TE2uQgB4Hpu9fgCFhOrr-47RTg?docId=CNG.b021632722104887dde882b4dc28b28c.131|title=Hommage républicain au résistant Raymond Aubrac, "flambeau de la justice et de l'espérance"|publisher=AFP}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |first=Keren |last=Chiaroni |title=Resistance Heroism and the End of Empire: The Life and Times of Madeleine Riffaud |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VDglDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA77 |date=2016-12-08 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-315-39609-5}}
*{{cite book |last=Clinton |first=Alan Jean Moulin |title=The French Resistance and the Republic |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |year=2002}}
*{{cite book |first=Christopher |last=Lloyd |title=Collaboration and Resistance in Occupied France: Representing Treason and Sacrifice |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CoyDDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA136 |date=2003-09-16 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |isbn=978-0-230-50392-2}}
*{{cite book |last=Marnham |first=Patrick |year=2001 |title=The Death of [[Jean Moulin]]: Biography of a Ghost |publisher=Pimlico |isbn=978-0-7126-6584-1}}
*{{cite book |last=Wieviorka |first=Olivier |title=Histoire de la Résistance 1940-1945 |year=2013 |publisher=Perrin |location=Paris |pages=1262–1278 |edition=Kindle }}
{{refend}}


== Further reading ==
== Further reading ==
* ''Lucie Aubrac: The French Resistance Heroine who Defied the Gestapo'', Siân Rees, Michael O'Mara Books, 2015
* {{cite book |title=Lucie Aubrac: The French Resistance Heroine who Defied the Gestapo |first=Siân |last=Rees |publisher=Michael O'Mara Books |year=2015}}
*{{cite book|last=Bowles|first=Brett|chapter=Historiography, Memory, and the Politics of Form in Mosco Boucault's ''Terrorists in Retirement''|title=War, Exile, Justice, and Everyday Life, 1936–1946|editor=Sandra Ott|publisher=University of Nevada|location=Reno|date=2011|pages=191–224|isbn=978-1-935709-09-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Bowles |first=Brett |chapter=Historiography, Memory, and the Politics of Form in Mosco Boucault's ''Terrorists in Retirement'' |title=War, Exile, Justice, and Everyday Life, 1936–1946 |editor=Sandra Ott |publisher=University of Nevada |location=Reno |date=2011 |pages=191–224 |isbn=978-1-935709-09-1}}
* {{cite web | url=http://www.liberation.fr/actualite/societe/241055.FR.php | title=Lucie Aubrac, une conscience s'est éteinte | work= [[Libération]]| date = 16 March 2007 | accessdate=3 May 2007 | language=French }}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.liberation.fr/actualite/societe/241055.FR.php |title=Lucie Aubrac, une conscience s'est éteinte |work= [[Libération]] |date=2007-03-16 |access-date=2007-05-03 |language=fr }}
* Laurent Douzou: Lucie Aubrac, Paris 2009, {{ISBN|978-2-262-02746-9}}.
* {{cite book |first=Laurent |last=Douzou |title=Lucie Aubrac |location=Paris |year=2009 |isbn=978-2-262-02746-9}}.
* Christiane Goldenstedt: Lucie Aubrac - The Théroigne de Méricourt of the French Resistance, Spiral of time 7/2010, Journal of the House of Women's History Bonn.
* {{citation |first=Christiane |last=Goldenstedt |title=Lucie Aubrac The Théroigne de Méricourt of the French Resistance, Spiral of time 7/2010, Journal of the House of Women's History Bonn}}


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}
Line 66: Line 64:
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Mâcon]]
[[Category:People from Mâcon]]
[[Category:French memoirists]]
[[Category:Members of the Provisional Consultative Assembly]]
[[Category:Human Rights League (France) members]]
[[Category:Human Rights League (France) members]]
[[Category:French schoolteachers]]
[[Category:20th-century French memoirists]]
[[Category:French women in World War II]]
[[Category:French Resistance members]]
[[Category:French Resistance members]]
[[Category:French schoolteachers]]
[[Category:Female resistance members of World War II]]
[[Category:Female resistance members of World War II]]
[[Category:Members of Liberation-Sud]]
[[Category:Members of Liberation-Sud]]
[[Category:Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur]]
[[Category:Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:French women in World War II]]
[[Category:20th-century memoirists]]
[[Category:20th-century French women]]

Latest revision as of 10:28, 21 August 2024

Lucie Aubrac
Lucie Aubrac in 2003
Born
Lucie Bernard

29 June 1912
Mâcon, France
Died14 March 2007(2007-03-14) (aged 94)
Resting placeSalornay-sur-Guye
NationalityFrench
Occupation(s)Member of the French Resistance, member of the Provisional Consultative Assembly in Paris, history teacher
Political partyFrench Communist Party
SpouseRaymond Aubrac (1939–2007; her death)
Children3 (son Jean-Pierre, daughters Catherine and Élisabeth)

Lucie Samuel (29 June 1912 – 14 March 2007), born Bernard and known as Lucie Aubrac (French pronunciation: [lysi obʁak] ), was a member of the French Resistance in World War II.[1] A history teacher by occupation, she earned a history agrégation in 1938, a highly uncommon achievement for a woman at that time. In 1939 she married Raymond Samuel, who took the name Aubrac in the Resistance.[2][3] She was active on a number of operations, including prison breakouts. Like her husband, she was a communist militant, which she remained after the war. She sat in the Provisional Consultative Assembly in Paris from 1944 to 1945.[4]

Her life was depicted in the 1997 film Lucie Aubrac by Claude Berri. The Paris Métro station Bagneux–Lucie Aubrac was named after her.

Career

[edit]

In 1940, Lucie was amongst the first to join the French Resistance.[1] In Clermont-Ferrand, Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie formed the Resistance group La Dernière Colonne, later known as Libération-sud, with her husband and Jean Cavaillès. During 1941, the group carried out two sabotage attacks at train stations in Perpignan and Cannes. In February, they organised the distribution of 10,000 propaganda flyers, but one of the distributors was caught by the police, leading to the arrest of d'Astier's niece and uncle. At this time, Lucie gave birth to her first child. The group decided to hide, and, after a few months' hiatus, began to work on an underground newspaper, Libération. The first edition was put together with the help of the typographers from a local newspaper and printed on paper supplied by local trade-unionists; 10,000 copies were produced in July 1941.[5]

In March 1943, Raymond was arrested. He was released in May, after Lucie intervened with the local Vichy public prosecutor, telling him they were members of the Résistance and he had 24 hours to release Raymond or be killed,[2] and the couple then organized the clever escape of three other members of their group. A month later, Raymond was arrested again.[2] Lucie went to see Klaus Barbie, the notorious Gestapo chief in Vichy France and claimed to be Raymond's fiancée, saying he was named "Ermelin" (one of his aliases) and had been caught in a raid while innocently visiting a doctor.[2] She was told Raymond was to be executed for being a member of the Resistance, but she was able to get permission to marry him first, supposedly to save her honor and legitimize the child with which she really was pregnant. When Raymond was being brought back to prison after "wedding", he and fifteen other prisoners were rescued by a commando unit led by Lucie, who attacked the vehicle he was in, killing the six guards.[2][6]

Ho Chi Minh, baby Elizabeth Aubrac and Lucie Aubrac, 1946

In 1944, Charles de Gaulle established a consultative assembly, which Lucie joined as a resistance representative, making her the first woman to sit on a French parliamentary assembly.[2][7] In 1945, she published the first short history of the French Resistance.[2] In 1946, she and Raymond hosted Ho Chi Minh at their home when he went to France on what turned out to be an unsuccessful mission to win independence for the then-French colony of Vietnam, and Ho Chi Minh and Raymond became friends.[8]

In 1984, Lucie published a semi-fictional version of her wartime diaries, the English translation of which is known as Outwitting the Gestapo.[1] She was inspired to publish her own writing on the war by Klaus Barbie's claim that her husband Raymond had become an informer and betrayed Jean Moulin after his arrest.[2] In 1985, she sat on the "Jury of Honor" to assess whether the documentary Des terroristes à la retraite should be aired.[9] Aubrac hated the film, which she called "misery loving", complaining it dwelled on all that was ugly in France.[9] The 1992 film Boulevard des hirondelles was about her and Raymond's life during the French Resistance.[10]

In 1996, Lucie was awarded the Legion of Honor by the French government for her heroism during World War II.[11] The 1997 film Lucie Aubrac, which stars Carole Bouquet as Lucie, is about her efforts to rescue her husband.[12] She herself endorsed the film.[12][13]

In April 1997, Jacques Vergès produced the "Barbie testament", which he claimed Klaus Barbie had given him ten years earlier, that purported to show the Aubracs had tipped off Barbie regarding Moulin.[14] Vergès' "Barbie testament" was timed for the publication of the book Aubrac Lyon 1943 by Gérard Chauvy, which was meant to prove the Aubracs were the ones who informed Barbie about the fateful meeting at Caluire where Moulin was arrested in 1943.[15] On 2 April 1998, following a civil suit launched by the Aubracs, a Paris court fined Chauvy and his publisher Albin Michel for "public defamation".[16] In 1998, the French historian Jacques Baynac, in his book Les Secrets de l'affaire Jean Moulin, claimed Moulin was planning to break with de Gaulle to recognize General Giraud, which led the Gaullists to tip off Barbie before this could happen.[17] Twenty leading resistance survivors published a letter protesting against the accusations against the Aubracs, who asked to appear before a panel of leading French historians.[2] The Aubracs did appear in a discussion with historians, organized by the newspaper Libération.[2] While none of the historians involved believed that Raymond was an informer, they did note inconsistencies in Lucie's account of his case.[2]

Lucie Aubrac in 2001

Patrick Marnham's biography of Moulin, The Death of Jean Moulin: Biography of a Ghost (2001) suggests Raymond and possibly Lucie betrayed Moulin.[18] In his book Resistance and Betrayal: The Death and Life of the Greatest Hero of the French Resistance (2002), Marnham suggested that, because Raymond's overriding allegiance was to Communism, he would not have considered himself a traitor if he had betrayed Moulin, claiming that French Communists such as the Aubracs at times gave non-Communists, such as Moulin, to the Gestapo,[19][6][20] though this statement is not supported by evidence: not only was Aubrac not a Communist, but it is doubtful that the Communist party would betray somebody with great knowledge of its leaders and organization.

Lucie had three children with Raymond.[6] Charles de Gaulle was godfather to their second child, Catherine and Ho Chi Minh was godfather to their third child, Elizabeth.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, in a statement after Raymond's death in 2012, said that Raymond's escape from the Nazis led by Lucie in 1943 had "become a legend in the history of the Resistance", and praised him and all Resistance members as "heroes of the shadows who saved France's honor, at a time when it seemed lost".[8] Serge Klarsfeld, the president of the Sons and Daughters of Jewish Deportees from France, said to BFM-TV that Raymond and Lucie "were a legendary couple" and "exceptional people".[21] François Hollande said in a statement: "In our darkest times, [Raymond] was, with Lucie Aubrac, among the righteous, who found, in themselves and in the universal values of our Republic, the strength to resist Nazi barbarism".[22] Lucie's ashes are beside Raymond's in the family tomb in the cemetery in the Burgundian village of Salornay-sur-Guye.[23]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Martin, Douglas (18 March 2007). "Lucie Aubrac, Hero of French Resistance, Dies at 94". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Jackson, Julian (16 March 2007). "Obituary: Lucie Aubrac". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  3. ^ Jackson, Julian (5 April 2012). "Raymond Aubrac obituary". The Guardian. London.
  4. ^ (in French) Hommage à Lucie Aubrac, French National Assembly, 29 June 2012.
  5. ^ Wieviorka 2013, pp. 1262–1278.
  6. ^ a b c Lichfield, John (12 April 2012). "Raymond Aubrac: French Resistance leader whose wife daringly freed him from captivity". The Independent. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  7. ^ Lloyd 2003, pp. 136–.
  8. ^ a b "French Resistance figure Raymond Aubrac dead at 97". Deseret News. Associated Press. 15 January 2018.
  9. ^ a b Bowles 2011, p. 197.
  10. ^ Chiaroni 2016, pp. 77–.
  11. ^ "Lucie Aubrac: A Resistance Hero". Voices Education. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  12. ^ a b Elley, Derek (2 March 1997). "Lucie Aubrac". Variety. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  13. ^ Martin, Douglas (11 April 2012). "Raymond Aubrac, a Leader of the French Resistance, Dies at 97". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  14. ^ Clinton 2002, p. 209.
  15. ^ Clinton 2002.
  16. ^ Clinton 2002, pp. 209–210.
  17. ^ Clinton 2002, p. 210.
  18. ^ Marnham 2001.
  19. ^ "Raymond Aubrac". The Daily Telegraph. London. 11 April 2012.
  20. ^ "Raymond Aubrac". The Herald. Scotland. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  21. ^ https://calgaryherald.com/news/Raymond+Aubrac+Former+leader+French+Resistance/6461742/story.html#ixzz1sA2Ukl5A[permanent dead link]
  22. ^ "French reisistance fighter Raymond Aubrac dies". Jewish Journal. Tribe Media Corp. 12 April 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  23. ^ AFP (16 April 2012). "Hommage républicain au résistant Raymond Aubrac, "flambeau de la justice et de l'espérance"". L'Obs (in French). AFP. Retrieved 12 March 2023.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Rees, Siân (2015). Lucie Aubrac: The French Resistance Heroine who Defied the Gestapo. Michael O'Mara Books.
  • Bowles, Brett (2011). "Historiography, Memory, and the Politics of Form in Mosco Boucault's Terrorists in Retirement". In Sandra Ott (ed.). War, Exile, Justice, and Everyday Life, 1936–1946. Reno: University of Nevada. pp. 191–224. ISBN 978-1-935709-09-1.
  • "Lucie Aubrac, une conscience s'est éteinte". Libération (in French). 16 March 2007. Retrieved 3 May 2007.
  • Douzou, Laurent (2009). Lucie Aubrac. Paris. ISBN 978-2-262-02746-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
  • Goldenstedt, Christiane, Lucie Aubrac – The Théroigne de Méricourt of the French Resistance, Spiral of time 7/2010, Journal of the House of Women's History Bonn