Mélanie Berger-Volle

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Mélanie Berger-Volle, June 2019
Signature of Mélanie Berger-Volle

Mélanie Berger-Full (* 8. October 1921 in Vienna as Melanie Berger ) is an Austro - French dressmaker , Trotskyist resistance fighter against the Austro-fascism and Nazism and contemporary witness .

Live and act

Mélanie Berger with a man's hairstyle at the time she crossed the border from Belgium to France, 1939
Signature Mélanie Berger, code name "Nelly"
Mélanie Berger on Canebière , the main shopping street in Marseilles, April 1946

Melanie Berger grew up in a Jewish family in Vienna-Leopoldstadt . She graduated from secondary school and then learned the profession of corsetry as part of her training as a tailor . According to her own statements, she began to think politically at the age of 13 . Politically socialized in the labor movement , she already took part in illegal work during the Austro-Fascist era and joined the Revolutionary Socialists of Austria as a student . The meeting point for supporters of the forbidden party was a nudist beach in Vienna's Lobau . In an interview she once said that she probably started her first political discussions there naked . A little later she joined the anti- Stalinist , internationalist organization of the " Revolutionary Communists Austria " (RKÖ), whose founders were Georg Scheuer (1915–1996), Josef Hindels (1916–1990), Karl Fischer (1918–1963) and Ernst Counting springs (1914–2007).

In May 1938 emigrated it, after the "annexation" of Austria as a Jew and a Communist of arrest threatened, along with two older comrades , including Arthur Streicher (1917-1942), through Germany to Belgium . She then lived as an illegal foreigner in Antwerp . Together with Georg Scheuer, who at that time, like Karl Fischer, was also in Antwerp, she went to France in the spring of 1939, disguising herself as a frontier worker with a man's hairstyle when crossing the border. In Paris she initially protected her name Melanie Berger , which could be understood and used in both German and French. She even received one of the coveted residence permits. After the outbreak of World War II , however, like other anti-fascists , she was persecuted as an enemy foreigner and expelled to Clermont-Ferrand . From here she was to be taken by train to Camp de Gurs and detained there. However, she managed to evade this imprisonment and to find a job as a maid for a doctor in Clermont-Ferrand . This enabled her to avoid detention for the time being.

While her friends Georg Scheuer and Gustav Gronich (1916–2003) were imprisoned in Les Milles , she managed to maintain the connections of the RKÖ group between the bases in Antwerp, Les Milles, London , Zurich and New York . In search of the group and to escape the German armed forces , she moved to the south of France in 1940 and settled in Montauban . There she met Georg Scheuer again.

On 26 January 1942 she was by the French police arrested and in the Women's Prison St. Michel in Toulouse transferred. On December 18, 1942, the local military tribunal sentenced her to 15 years in prison for “ communist and anarchist activity” . Shortly afterwards she was deported to Les Baumettes women's prison in Marseille . The situation of "Anna" or "Nelly", so the code names of Melanie Berger in the resistance (see code name signature "Nelly" in the picture on the right), became precarious because the Gestapo had been searching for political prisoners in the prisons of the Vichy regime since 1943 researched. After she was admitted to the prison hospital in October 1943 with acute jaundice , she was able to go from there on October 15, 1943 in a spectacular action by a command of the RKÖ, consisting of Ignaz Duhl (1918-1943), Gustav Gronich, Lotte Israel and Georg Scheuer, to be released. Members of RKÖ, among whom was an unnamed known, for desertion ready Wehrmacht soldier in uniform who could be won for participation was, shook it with fake papers as Gestapo - Officials , which had come to them for interrogation to pick up. Before that, Berger was able to explain to the RKÖ group from the hospital in conspiratorial ways what had to be done in order to be able to free them.

“We were an Austrian group, but Germans were also there. We published writings in German that explained to soldiers what National Socialism actually is. It was of course not an easy job because it meant we lost a lot of friends, but we also made a few. Among them was a soldier who helped me get me out of prison. "

- Mélanie Berger-Volle in an interview from 2013.

The liberated then made contact with the French resistance movement and continued her involvement in the Resistance with false papers and under changing names.

After the end of the Second World War she was initially stateless in Paris and became a French citizen in 1947 . During a visit to her parents in Austria, she met the French journalist Lucien Volle , who would later become her husband. Volle was a leader in the Resistance and was known as "Capitaine Lulu" of the "Lafayette" resistance group in the "Résistance en Haute-Loire ". After 10 years in Vienna, the couple went back to France, to Drancy .

Mélanie Berger-Volle worked there in the municipal office , she and her husband were involved in various organizations of former resistance fighters such as the ANACR ("Association nationale des anciens combattants de la Résistance"). After retiring, the couple moved to the Haute-Loire in 1982 and dedicated themselves to memory work until Lucien Volles died on August 4, 2012 . She is still active in his old age as a time of honor in schools, as well as YouTube - video is track.

For her tireless memory work as a contemporary witness, she was awarded the highest French Order of Merit , the Order of the Legion of Honor ( French Légion d'honneur , completely L'ordre national de la Légion d'honneur ) by the French President François Hollande on July 13, 2013 . On June 19, 2015, the Austrian Ambassador Ursula Plassnik presented her with the Gold Medal of Merit of the Republic of Austria, awarded by the Austrian Federal President Heinz Fischer , at a ceremony at the Austrian Embassy in Paris .

Mélanie Berger-Volle lives in Saint-Étienne .

“I was a bit rebellious as a child. I couldn't understand why there are rich and poor. I couldn't understand that there are people who believe that they are better because they have a different skin color or a different religion. I never wanted to understand that. I always wanted to change the world. I still want to change it, but unfortunately I can't do it anymore. "

- Mélanie Berger-Volle in an interview from 2013.

honors and awards

French miniature medal clasp - Mélanie Berger-Volle
Gold Medal of Merit of the Republic of Austria (miniature) - Mélanie Berger-Volle

and various other honors and awards (see picture of the French miniature medal clasp by Mélanie Berger-Volle).

See also

literature

  • Berger Melanie, code name Anna; Seamstress and resistance fighter. In: Ilse Korotin (ed.): BiografıA. Lexicon of Austrian Women. Volume 1: A-H. Böhlau, Vienna / Cologne / Weimar 2016, ISBN 978-3-205-79590-2 , p. 267f.
  • Cécile Denis: Continuités et divergences dans la presse clandestine de résistants allemands et autrichiens en France pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale: KPD, KPÖ, Revolutionary Communists et trotskystes . Thèse de doctorat réalisée sous la direction d'Hélène Camarade, soutenue publiquement le 10 December 2018 à l'université Bordeaux-Montaigne (dissertation at the University of Bordeaux-Montaigne ), Bordeaux 2018. (French)
  • Fritz Keller : To the Gulag from East and West. Karl Fischer. Worker and revolutionary. ISP-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1980, ISBN 3-88332-046-3 , pp. 57-76.
  • Fritz Keller: Le Trotskysme en Autriche de 1934 a 1945 . In: Cahier Leon Trotsky No. 5, Paris Janvier-Mars 1980, p. 115ff. (French).
  • Fritz Keller: Quelques biographies de militants de l'Opposition autrichienne . In: Cahier Leon Trotsky No. 5, Paris Janvier-Mars 1980, p. 108. (French).
  • Nils Klawitter : On the run . In: Der Spiegel Geschichte, issue 2/2019, March 2019, pp. 84–89.
  • Georg Scheuer: Only fools fear nothing. Scenes from the Thirty Years War, 1915–1945 . Publishing house for social criticism, Vienna 1991, ISBN 3-85115-133-X .
  • Georg Scheuer: Seuls les fous n'ont pas peur. Scènes de la guerre de trente ans, 1915–1945 . (= Collection Utopie critique. ) Syllepse, Paris 2002, ISBN 2-913165-62-1 , translation of the book Nur fools fear nothing. Scenes from the Thirty Years War, 1915–1945. Into French by Geneviève Hess, Christa Scheuer-Weyl .

Web links

Commons : Mélanie Berger-Volle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Karin Nusko: BERGER, Melanie (married Volle), seamstress, in the resistance of the workers' movement (KPÖ) / resistance in exile . In: “biografiA” module project Austrian women in resistance at the Institute for Science and Art , Vienna, accessed on March 1, 2019.
  2. ↑ a b Nils Klawitter: On the run . In: magazin.spiegel.de, accessed on April 4, 2019.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Nils Klawitter: On the run . In: Der Spiegel Geschichte, issue 2/2019, March 2019, pp. 84–89.
  4. ↑ a b c "I don't agree with that". The resistance fighter Mélanie Volle-Berger . In: wuppertaler- resistance.de, flyer on the interview with contemporary witnesses in the CityKirche Wuppertal-Elberfeld, June 25, 2015, accessed on March 1, 2019 (pdf)
  5. ↑ a b “I don't agree with that” - Resistance fighter Melanie Volle-Berger in a contemporary witness interview. . In: Bewegungs.taz.de, accessed on March 1, 2019.
  6. ↑ enough asked: She is now 97 . In: rainerrosenberg.at, October 9, 2018, accessed on March 1, 2019.
  7. ↑ a b c d e f I wanted to change the world , interview by Alexander U. Mathé with Mélanie Volle-Berger. In: wienerzeitung.at , November 11, 2013, accessed on March 1, 2019.
  8. ^ Fritz Keller: Quelques biographies de militants de l'Opposition autrichienne . In: Cahier Leon Trotsky No. 5, Paris Janvier-Mars 1980, p. 114. (French): Arthur Streicher was arrested, deported and sent to by the Gestapo in 1942 on the demarcation line between the northern zone of France occupied by the Wehrmacht and the unoccupied southern zone murdered in an unknown location.
  9. ^ Fritz Keller: In the Gulag from East and West. Karl Fischer. Worker and revolutionary. ISP-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1980, ISBN 3-88332-046-3 , p. 43f.
  10. ↑ Gustav Gronich (1916–2003) . In: findagrave.com, accessed March 2, 2019.
  11. ^ Robert Mencherini: Musée de la Résistance en ligne: Mélanie Berger lors de son passage de Belgique en France . In: museedelaresistanceenligne.org, accessed on March 1, 2019. (French)
  12. ^ Fritz Keller: Quelques biographies de militants de l'Opposition autrichienne . In: Cahier Leon Trotsky No. 5, Paris Janvier-Mars 1980, p. 109. (French): Ignaz Duhl was arrested and murdered by the Gestapo in 1943 in Marseille.
  13. ↑ Les fusillés 1940-1944: Duhl Ignaz . In: maitron-fusilles-40-44.univ-paris1.fr, accessed on April 4, 2019.
  14. ^ Fritz Keller: Quelques biographies de militants de l'Opposition autrichienne . In: Cahier Leon Trotsky No. 5, Paris Janvier-Mars 1980, p. 110. (French): Gustav Gronich was interned in the Dachau and Buchenwald concentration camps from 1938–1939 . From there he fled to France.
  15. ↑ Georg Scheuer: Only fools fear nothing. Scenes from the Thirty Years War, 1915–1945. Verlag für Gesellschaftskritik, Vienna 1991, ISBN 3-85115-133-X , p. 178.
  16. ^ Fritz Keller: Quelques biographies de militants de l'Opposition autrichienne . In: Cahier Leon Trotsky No. 5, Paris Janvier-Mars 1980, p. 113. (French)
  17. ↑ Georg Scheuer: Only fools fear nothing. Scenes from the Thirty Years War, 1915–1945. Verlag für Gesellschaftskritik, Vienna 1991, ISBN 3-85115-133-X , p. 178.
  18. ^ Fritz Keller : Trotskyism in Austria ( Memento from August 16, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) (English).
  19. ^ Fritz Keller: In the Gulag from East and West. Karl Fischer. Worker and revolutionary. ISP-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1980, ISBN 3-88332-046-3 , pp. 70f.
  20. ↑ Georg Scheuer: Only fools fear nothing. Scenes from the Thirty Years War, 1915–1945. Verlag für Gesellschaftskritik, Vienna 1991, ISBN 3-85115-133-X , p. 172ff.
  21. ↑ Georg Scheuer: Only fools fear nothing. Scenes from the Thirty Years War, 1915–1945. Verlag für Gesellschaftskritik, Vienna 1991, ISBN 3-85115-133-X , p. 177ff.
  22. ^ Fritz Keller: Quelques biographies de militants de l'Opposition autrichienne . In: Cahier Leon Trotsky No. 5, Paris Janvier-Mars 1980, p. 108. (French)
  23. ↑ Wolfgang Neugebauer : Armed Resistance - Resistance in the Military: An Overview . In: Christine Schindler (Red.): Focus: Armed Resistance - Resistance in the Military. Yearbook of the Documentation Archive of the Austrian Resistance 2009, published by the Documentation Archive of the Austrian Resistance, LIT, Vienna Berlin Münster 2009, ISBN 978-3-643-50010-6 , p. 21.
  24. ↑ a b c d Images of man: “I don't agree with that” - Resistance fighter Melanie Volle-Berger In: oe1. orf.at , October 7, 2018, accessed on March 1, 2019.
  25. ↑ Lucien Volle "Capitaine Lulu" - Resistance en Haute-Loire . In: culture43.fr, accessed on March 1, 2019 (French)
  26. ^ Christian Robert: Lucien Volle . In: histoiresdauvergnats.com, February 23, 2018, accessed on March 4, 2019. (French)
  27. ^ A b Necrology: Lucien Volle, ancien Resistant de Haute-Loire . In: laruche.fr, August 7, 2012, accessed March 1, 2019 (French)
  28. ↑ Louis Brun (Ed.): Mélanie Berger-Volle: résister à tout prix . In: lecafuron.fr, January 11, 2017, accessed on March 13, 2019. (French)
  29. ^ Marina Käfer: Mélanie Berger-Volle . In: linkswende.org, June 11, 2019, accessed October 6, 2019.
  30. ↑ a b Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur . In: france-phaleristique.com: Publication of the award ceremony by the French President François Hollande, section CONTINGENT DES DÉPORTÉS ET INTERNÉS DE LA RÉSISTANCE , July 13, 2012, accessed on March 1, 2019. (French)
  31. ↑ a b Visit of the Austrian resistance fighter Mélanie Berger-Volle . In: www.bmeia.gv.at/oeb-paris, website of the Austrian Embassy in Paris, November 8, 2016, accessed on March 1, 2019.
  32. ↑ a b Congratulations . In: doew.at: Communications from the Documentation Archive of Austrian Resistance , Volume 224, December 2015, p. 6, accessed on March 2, 2019 (pdf)
  33. ^ Henry Destour: BERGER-VOLLE Mélanie (Méla) . In: maitron-en-ligne.univ-paris1.fr, March 11, 2019, accessed on September 12, 2019. (French)
personal data
SURNAME Berger-Volle, Mélanie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Berger, Melanie (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austro-French tailor, Trotskyist resistance fighter against Austrofascism and National Socialism, and contemporary witness
DATE OF BIRTH October 8, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna