Irene Bernard
Irene Bernard (born May 2, 1908 in Bischmisheim as Irene Altpeter , † July 11, 2002 ) was a German resistance fighter in the Resistance .
Life
After attending primary school , she completed an apprenticeship as an office clerk and worked for a company in Saarbrücken.
In 1932 she married Leander Bernard , with whom she had three children. Both were active in the socialist youth workers and from 1933 onwards organized solidarity campaigns for so-called Reich emigrants , as the refugees from Nazi Germany in Saarland were called, through International Red Aid and Red Aid Germany . They also provided overnight accommodation in their own apartment.
After the Saarland became part of the German Reich in January 1935, the Bernards had to flee to France in order to get themselves to safety from persecution by the Gestapo . From 1936 on they continued their solidarity work in Agen / southern France, where they helped the volunteers who were on their way to the interbrigades to support the Spanish Republic .
After the Wehrmacht occupied southern France in 1942 , Irene Bernard worked in Travail allemand , a specific group of the French resistance movement formed by German emigrants. She took over courier services there, organized the transport of leaflets and food for resistance fighters living “illegally”.
In 1944 Irene Bernard also had to go underground and she became involved in the armed groups of the Movement Free Germany for the West (CALPO), which fought within the Resistance and collected militarily important information for them.
After the end of the war she became involved in the care of wounded German soldiers who had been captured. In 1946 she returned to Saarland, where she became active in the women's and peace movement, especially in the Democratic Women's Association of Saar, and later also in the VVN and in conducting anti-fascist city tours.
Honors
- In 1988 she was awarded the Saarland Order of Merit for her political commitment by Saarland Prime Minister Oskar Lafontaine (official announcement on June 27, 1989).
Web links
- DRAFD-Info 12_ / 2002 p. 15 (PDF; 1.0 MB)
- Historical falsifications counteract Establishing the IEDW and later the DRAFD eV
Individual evidence
- ^ Announcement of awards of the Saarland Order of Merit . In: Head of the State Chancellery (Ed.): Official Gazette of the Saarland . No. 35 . Saarbrücker Zeitung Verlag und Druckerei GmbH, Saarbrücken July 13, 1989, p. 995 ( uni-saarland.de [PDF; 206 kB ; accessed on June 2, 2017]).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bernard, Irene |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Old Peter, Irene |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German resistance fighter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 2, 1908 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bischmisheim |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 11, 2002 |