Fernand Pauriol

Fernand Pauriol (13 September 1913 in Mallemort – 12 August 1944 in Fresnes) was a French communist, journalist and resistance fighter, who became the director of radio communications for the French Communist Party during World War II.[1][2]

Fernand Pauriol when he was a young man

Life

Pauriol was born into a poor family of working class trades people. His father was a carpenter. As a child, he attended a upper primary school for boys in Aix-en-Provence[1] As a young man, Pauriol enrolled in the hydrography school in Marseille as a merchant marine cadet to train as a student sailing officer, with the aim of becoming a long distance captain. However, he had to leave his studies due to the cost.[2] After leaving the school, Pauriol found a job as an accountant at the Marseille based shipping company Compagnie Fraissinet.[1] In 1930, he resumed his studies at the hydrography school and was certified a radio telegraphist in 1931.[2]

Arrest

On orders from Giering, the Sonderkommando Rote Kapelle searched for Pauriol all over France, but several months went by and there was no sign of him.[3] Giering decided to adopt another approach and used the Funkspiel to request Soviet intelligence send them the name of a radio technician to repair Trepper's malfunctioning radio transmitter.[3] The plan worked as they received the name of a Saint-Denis, Paris based repair technician, named "JoJo".[3] JoJo was arrested and tortured, and he gave the name of Auguste, who gave the name of Michel, who gave the name of François who was hiding in Bordeaux who was arrested by the Sonderkommando on 13 August 1943 and taken to Fresnes Prison.[3] Pauriol was tortured for three weeks but choose to remain silent before eventually exposing his identity as Pauriol, but never exposed any information on the Rote Kapelle or the PCF.[3]

Death

On 19 January 1944, Pauriol was sentenced to death at a Luftwaffe court martial by Judge Advocate Manfred Roeder.[1] On 12 August 1944, he was shot in the yard of Fresnes Prison and buried in the Cimetière parisien de Bagneux in Bagneux, Paris, alongside Suzanne Spaak[1] who was shot on the same day by Gestapo officer, Heinz Pannwitz.[4]

References
  1. Lemarquis, René; Pennetier, Claude; Guillon, Jean-Marie. "PAURIOL Fernand. Pseudonymes in the Resistance: Fernand Duval, Maurice Rivière". Maitron Fusillés (in French). University of Paris, Centre for Social History. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  2. Bourgeois, Guillaume (2015). La Véritable Histoire de l'Orchestre rouge. Le Grand Jeu. Nouveau Monde. p. 381. ISBN 9782369420675.
  3. Perrault, Gilles (1969). The Red Orchestra. New York: Schocken Books. p. 363. ISBN 0-8052-0952-2.
  4. Léopold Trepper (1995). Die Wahrheit: Autobiographie des "Grand Chef" der Roten Kapelle. Ahriman-Verlag GmbH. p. 385. ISBN 978-3-89484-554-4.
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