This is an unknown episode in the history of France. During World War II , 19,000 young French people (men and women), crossed the Pyrenees at the risk of their lives. They voluntarily joined the French Forces Combattantes after several months of internment in Spain in sordid jails. 4 to 5,000 of them enlisted in the 2nd Armored Division, the others joined all the corps of the French Army being trained in North Africa. Here is the forgotten story of the escaped from France .
The escape from France via the Pyrenees, its causes, its reasons, its actors
The period of occupation of French territory between the armistice requested by Marshal Pétain in June 1940 and the rout of the German armies following the Allied landings in 1944 caused in the population various reactions. We exclude from our discussion those that went in the direction of total acceptance of the situation. Nor do we want to write a history of the Resistance, which has been done with talent by recognized historians. Our ambition is to put the reader in the atmosphere that reigned from June 1940.
A period of general dejection was quite short in certain circles where a form of common reflection in opposition to the behavior of the new government sought a course of action. The term "resistance" was still unknown. One of the most representative examples of this situation is that of the "Musée de l'homme" in Paris.
The June 18 call made by General de Gaulle from the BBC studios in London may have triggered in many places vocations of regroupment. This concerned people in labor or sympathy relationships looking for ways to usefully oppose what was then being imposed. Was it still necessary to wait for this call to pass by word of mouth because not all households had a radio receiver and very few listeners were listening to the BBC precisely at the desired time. At the same time, many populations ran the roads in search of shelter. This acquaintance was very spread over time, being able to take place only with the required caution as to knowing the opinion of the interlocutor. Do not forget that from the end of the conflict in France, there were (at least) two camps, whose fervent "Pétainists" were ready to denounce the Gaullist "traitors".
Very quickly after the establishment of the zones, the southern zone was the site of isolated reactions in which former soldiers or agents of the "Services" found themselves mixed up, but also characters from the underworld who sought their ways on one side or the other (or even both). The conditions of the necessarily discreet presence of the German police left the possibility of the secret establishment of various resistance organizations and escape networks. For example, it was in Marseilles that Paul Paillole set up the T.R. service (for rural works) in July 1940, which included veterans of French counterintelligence.
Many were those who were not in intimate relationship with constituted groups, such as a political cell or, sometimes, a team of people practicing the same activity of profession or entertainment . They had to decide on their own, in conscience, in relation to our country. Some, many moreover, followed the movement accompanying Marshal Pétain.
If we highlight this need for individual reflection, it is because this was the case for a large majority of those who chose to leave France to be closer to the Forces Combattantes by rejecting the Marshal's collaborationist accompaniment.
A mistrust justified by certain misadventures in connection with attempts to enter into relations with "resistants", oriented many of the candidates to escape from France rather than to seek to join the guerrillas.
The Pétain requisition law of September 4, 1942 had already hit 250,000 workers forcibly recruited to work in Germany, often without even being able to return to their homes before departure. The Laval law of February 16, 1943 which instituted the Service du Travail Obligatoire (S.T.O.) affected young men in the 1920 to 1922 classes. have a work certificate; failing this, the person concerned could be required to work for the enemy. The closure of companies following the ordinance of February 25, 1942 (J.O. of the occupation authorities) aggravates the risks since the workers thus without work find themselves without a certificate and, because of the closure, are automatically required at the S.T.O..
These conditions caused the refractory to take a position, which therefore put themselves outside the law. Several hundred thousand workers, generally the youngest, were concerned. Among these refractory are the candidates to escape from France in order to join the regular armed French units of Free France. It only remained to find the best way to satisfy this desire. For the record, there were passages in Switzerland which excluded any fight, but without having an appropriate "open sesame", the amateurs were turned away. There were also a number of "hidden", those who found shelter with their country family or with friends, but the problem of their diet under the dietary restrictions that we knew could have been embarrassing for the protectors. All this was not very glorious!
The beginning of interior organization in France.
Unorganized does not mean useless. Although without thoughtful organization at their origin, certain sectors were quickly activated in the east, a particularly guarded zone, to allow the escape of Alsatians and French or British prisoners of war who had succeeded in their escape from the camps where they were. retained. Other channels allowed the illegal crossing of the demarcation line which separated the free zone from the occupied zone. In the beginning, it was often single people who acted as couriers. Should we add that these services were voluntary… with rare exceptions.
The risk incurred was not negligible, we will show it by the orders below.
Order of October 4, 1940 :by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Führer und Oberster Befehlshaber der Wehrmacht, I order the following:
- anyone who crosses the demarcation line without permission or transfers goods or means of payment into the unoccupied zone without the prescribed permission will be punished.
This already indicative beginning was repealed and replaced by a new reinforced ordinance of which we only give what concerns persons.
Order of April 28, 1941 ,concerning the illicit crossing of borders and prohibited military lines in occupied French territory, as well as the export, import and transit of goods.
By virtue of the full powers vested in me by the Führer und Oberster Befehlshaber der Wehrmacht, I order the following:
(1) Shall be punished with imprisonment or hard labor, unless under other provisions a greater penalty is incurred,
- anyone who will cross, without authorization, the borders of the occupied territory or the prohibited military lines marked in the said territory,
- whoever, without authorization from the Militärbefehlshaber in Frankreich or an authority designated by him, will export goods from the occupied territory or cause them to transit through the said territory.
(2) In less serious cases or offenses committed negligently, a prison sentence of up to six weeks or a fine may be imposed. pronounced.
(3) Attempt is punishable.
Very quickly, the necessary guards near the line that separated the zones supplemented the German police with French policemen and then Joseph Darnand's militiamen in 1943. The latter often accompanied gendarmes in checks everywhere.
Who were those who left France in those early days?
We mentioned above the state of mind of the candidates to escape from France. We can add a kind of unifying slogan:join de Gaulle. We didn't know it, but it was like a sort of “point of note” —sailors say:a bitter—which had a common meaning without an explanation to provide.
We will not talk about people who, for various reasons—political or important situation—benefited from transport organized by the French or British authorities in London after General de Gaulle would have been admitted by the British government and would have constituted the nucleus of Free France.
To attempt such a departure in a private capacity, you had to meet personal conditions, some of which were difficult to meet.
Even though we were no longer at open war, thanks —or because— of the armistice, our country was under the yoke of the Nazi occupiers. Its representatives in occupation (GESTAPO or SS) were perfectly trained by their regime to deal with any "appropriate" measure in any case suspected of discrepancy with the laws enacted on the spot.
The first condition related to the consequences, for his relatives, of the action that the person concerned wished to take. The parents could be very manhandled if the runaway was a minor. If he was an adult and the head of a family, the aggressiveness of the enemy police could have dramatic consequences for the members of his family.
A person with a family should take infinite precautions in this regard. Either the family could be brought to safety, sometimes in the free zone with also a change of identity if the "rebel" was a known person, or it was the person concerned who changed his name.
In the first case, as General de Gaulle did, his family was able to reach England. Second case:Philippe de Hautecloque who took the name of Leclerc and who was found at the head of Force L then 2 th DFL and 2 th DB. These two exemplary special cases obviously could not be reproduced by ordinary citizens!
It is certain that the division of our country into two zones facilitated many actions. The free zone was not beyond the occult surveillance of the Germans, but apart from coup de main, which it was difficult for them to operate because of the conditions of the armistice, people could be put there discreetly in safety.
The second condition was to find the right place and the right way to leave France with a chance of success.
Some taking advantage of the still poorly organized surveillance of the coasts, crossed the Channel in the first days of the occupation, and thus escaped from France joining the few Frenchmen who surrounded the General de Gaulle in London.
Some had an opportunity to reach North Africa by taking advantage of a short period of disorganization south of the metropolis. There were even canoeists who left France towards Cap Cerbère with the hope of going as far as possible by cabotage. They were arrested by the Spanish maritime police and experienced the Francoist prisons.
Cases are known of escape by the Pyrenees whose surveillance was ineffective. These were immediately imprisoned in Spain for a period ranging from a few weeks to a few months, then sent back to France and handed over to the gendarmes. For the anecdote, it is this fate that the humorist Pierre Dac experienced on his first attempt to pass.
The court would then summon the offender who was usually sentenced to a short sentence and fine as well as a warning from the judge with an injunction not to repeat his escapade. Pierre Laval hardened the regime in 1942 by strengthening border surveillance and withdrawing consular protection in Spain for illegal emigrants.
The rule generally applied was to send immigrants back to the place in France where they had crossed the border. As we have just seen, the penalty was light, but it was not the same for those who had passed to the forbidden part of the Basque Country near the ocean. They fell into the hands of the Germans and suffered exile in a concentration camp unless they were shot at the Souge camp after internment at Fort du Ha in Bordeaux.
Until then, those leaving were fugitive Allied prisoners, downed airmen who had escaped capture, Jews fleeing persecution, a few volunteers determined to reach England and also some intelligence agents. This last category no longer had any reason to use this means of transit as soon as radio communication equipment could be sent to persons accredited in France in 1941 and air transfers could be organized in 1942.
Ultimately, a few hundred people are affected. But when the Germans broke the armistice on November 10, 1942 after American troops landed in North Africa on November 8, the situation changed rapidly. The so-called free zone disappeared, France was occupied in the same way over the entire territory and SS and Gestapo cracked down where certain complicit relaxations of a few French policemen or gendarmes had until then allowed the exercise of forms of resistance. Among these:the maquis, the transport of information, help for refractory to the S.T.O. or at the Marshal's youth camps, assistance with the journey to the border, the reception of all those who were not in accordance with the Laws, the protection of Jews, etc.
A new population of escapees
In addition to the cases indicated above, Resistance fighters left France and the application of the Service du Travail Obligatoire (S.T .O.) forced many refractory young people to make the decision to disobey. Some will think of joining existing maquis, which was not always a good solution because these maquis were not necessarily able to arm and feed them. Moreover, too large a maquis, with naive elements, could be put in danger. Some were able to integrate by assimilation into politicized resistance organizations, particularly communists, which operated after June 22, 1941, the date of the invasion of the U.S.S.R. by Hitler's troops.
The others, generally non-politicized, will end up in the Pyrenees. The first half of 1943 was the period of the most numerous crossings and also, unfortunately, that of the most numerous arrests before the border, 600 on average monthly. It is that, faced with the tidal wave, the Germans understood that the French police were not in a position (?) to effectively monitor the Pyrenees and decided to erect a prohibited zone there from March 1943.
A well-supported assessment by historian Robert Belot counts 23,000 successful passages.
The age distribution in 1943 is as follows:15 to 19, 10.75%; 20 to 23 years old, 51.6%; 24 to 30 years old, 18.42%; 31 to 45 years old, 16.93%; over 45, 2.3%.
Robert Belot has established a socio-professional breakdown of the population who escaped from France, which is very interesting in the reference work.
What will be difficult to know is the number of candidates for this escape who were captured during their journey, in transport, in stations, at the crossing of the demarcation line (even after the invasion of the southern zone), at the foot of the Pyrenees, etc. It is not impossible that this number was double that of those who made it through. Of those captured in this way, only a few units returned.
General conditions for crossing the border
Very few would-be escapers have tried their luck on their own. As a general rule, it was wise to find out, if possible by connection (let's not forget that these are clandestine acts of wrongdoing) to find a safe route.
Those who perfectly know the mountain, its paths and its difficulties were the only ones able to achieve this feat. Many of these were guides before being forced to flee to escape arrest. It was still necessary to find a contact who could introduce the candidate for escape into a relational circuit that leads to the guide. Infinite precautions were essential because the mere fact of announcing his candidacy on the way was not a patent of loyalty. A candidate could be a traitor in the pay of the enemy or the French militia and could ruin an entire industry by having the participants arrested.
It happened that a "smuggler" turned out to be an enemy agent and denounced those who trusted him, for payment. We hasten to clarify that this case has arisen rarely.
Sectors for crossing the Pyrenees were formed very soon after July 1940. Initially, they were generally people from the southwest who, in family or sometimes professional relations, in any case with the best knowledge of the correspondent's opinion, formed a sort of chain of information and guidance to those who knew the mountain. Without wanting to generalize, because it would be excessive, a certain number of Pyrenean mountaineers of this period practiced smuggling. By habit, they knew the impracticable paths that ended in Spain. Some, but not all, asked for moderate sums of money for the passage (5 to 10,000 frs maximum)
Many of these networks, well documented after the war, suffered very heavy losses as a result of enemy search operations. Carelessness in one link in the chain leads to disaster. When we know that some of these organizations covered France from north to south, the risks incurred were immense. Risks aggravated by people seeking care, as we mentioned above. Despite the precautions, you could meet traitors there and without going so far, imprudent talkers or unconscious.
A certain form of organization of intelligence and networks could take shape from Madrid as surprising as it may seem. These services had to be ignored by the authorities and, at least partially, the organization of the French Red Cross in Spain of Bishop Boyer-Mas was able to act as a screen. But German agents and Spanish agents are hard to fool and reading Ippécourt's book who was involved in these services, we measure the difficulties. There could be no significant effect until the second quarter of 1943.
Traps
We can not hide that a certain underworld has interfered in the circuit of realization of false papers which are provided for strong finance. If good quality sectors exist, as said above, there are less recommendable ones in which everything and the worst can happen. Can the distant city dweller, Parisian, Lille resident, or Jew wishing to escape the horror, who has not had the opportunity to be put in touch with members of a “good” network, assess its reliability?
In order to show that the actions were not simple, here is an obstacle erected very cleverly by the Germans. In Perpignan, they had created a spy school receiving young trainees before crossing the border and going to North Africa under the pretext of joining relatives.
It is easy to imagine the harm that these "trainees" could do, mixed with other escapees. As soon as they were recovered in Spain by the German consular authorities, they could give precise information on the networks, on the guides and after their re-starting for North Africa, they could be in a position to provide, through interposed agents, a quantity of information. Unless an ad hoc welcoming committee prevented them by taking them as soon as they arrived!
On the other hand, in this fool's game, the Germans were deceived by French people whom they believed to be Germanophiles but who mystified them on first contact and only left on orders from their network resistance.
Second test
After having successfully crossed – which does not mean without difficulty – the first test consisting of starting from his residence and reaching the foot of the Pyrenees having escaped all the traps , at all controls on the roads or in transport; somehow after making himself transparent to the eyes of adversaries of all stripes, he had to wait for the right moment. Who knows the Pyrenean populations knows that the appearance of the people, the accent of speaking to them, their social behavior are very particular and specific to the region.
The same is true in all regions of our France, although the mixing of populations for half a century has greatly reduced these differences.
In the 1940s, a Parisian was easily identifiable in the Basque Country or Ariège if he did not take infinite precautions. Even more when there was a group of these candidates for escape. As a general rule, the inhabitants of the place were discreet or even protective, but it happened that exceptional cases of individuals committed to collaboration denounced to the Germans “foreign” people whom they had seen in town.
The mountain test
Before getting into the story, we must look back to life in the 1930s. Even when paid holidays allowed many to "get out of their homes", well few knew the mountain except the mountaineers themselves. Wealthy families who had not waited for paid holidays to go to the mountains for their holidays went there to ski in winter and walks in summer, but by roads or passable paths. As for the vast majority of city dwellers, the mountain was known to them by the photo of the PTT calendar. The peasants did not enter the game of paid holidays, the peasant workers who benefited from it did not participate in the crowds of cyclo-campers of the time.
Suffice to say that the young people (19 to 30 years old) who wanted to cross the Pyrenees did not expect what they were going to live. It was advisable not to distinguish yourself, or as little as possible from the crowd among which you would be called upon to move during the day. The people with whom the future escapee was in contact before the crossing advised him not to dress up as an "alpine hunter". In other words, it was good to stay in street clothes, like everyone else going about their daily business. We must have been perfectly aware of the state of clandestinity that we had adopted, just like a maquisard. But it shouldn't be displayed. Many who forgot these simple observations were caught, their journey south was over.
The ignorance of the path to be traveled and the conditions of this course was almost general. The conditions of suspicion and distrust towards each other experienced for many months, especially in town, could not be erased, on the contrary the position of outlaws experienced by all did not encourage conversation.
We can say today that the adventure experienced by each of the escapees from France is unique in the originality of their personal journey between their home and the mountains. We can also notice during the individual accounts that the same mountain route was not memorized in the same way by fellow travelers.
Before moving on to real stories, we will draw up a diagram that could apply to all escapees from any part of the Pyrenees mountains. We are only considering the case of escapees supported by an informed guide. It is indeed difficult to generalize the adventure of the few who crossed the mountain alone, sometimes with some prior knowledge, and who recounted it in memories of war. Unfortunately, this attempt was sometimes a failure, either because of the enemy or because of the mountain and its traps.
Gathered behind the guide, in the moonless night, the emigrants went towards the mountain, off the marked paths, through fields and forests, going up or down according to the relief. Depending on the season of passage, the ground could be snow-covered or not. Depending on the condition of the shoes, this could be a first test. Small mountain streams could be taken like paths covered with vegetation. After one to three hours of rapid but possible walking, the troop attacked the barely traced and stony paths usually traveled by goats or smugglers. We climbed endlessly along the mountains bordered by vertiginous cliffs that we could not see in the night and the mist but that we guessed by the long silence of the pebble coming out of the path and slamming on its arrival much more low.
Sometimes a pass would provide momentary alleviation of mountain hazards, but other hazards existed. It was necessary to rely on the knowledge of the guide because there were German patrols with dogs and only the shepherds living in these remote places could have informed the guide about the hours and the frequency of the patrols by the competition of young mountaineers making trips - returns to supply the isolated. The troop absolutely had to have reached certain resting points under cover in the forest to wait for the following night, the only period conducive to moving. City clothes could prove to be very insufficient to combat the cold of the mountains. The unexpected duration of the mountain crossing caused food problems.
Many escapees have crossed passages at two thousand meters, even two thousand five hundred meters before finding a way down. Many were then in difficulty to walk, the shoes having refused the service during these tests.
If the troop had escaped the dangers of the mountain, had not been targeted by enemies, had not been detected by dogs forcing flight by d'autres chemins connus des guides, n'avait pas alerté des postes de gardes allemands établis dans des cabanes en montagne où s'enfermaient les soldats pour dormir, on approchait enfin de la frontière.
Le guide laissait alors aller ses gens après leur avoir conseillé de détruire leurs papiers d’identité et leur indiquait le passage proche de la ligne frontière à atteindre aussi vite que possible. Cette ligne passée, le groupe ne tardait pas à se trouver face aux fusils des carabiniers espagnols, lesquels les capturaient généralement sans difficulté ni brutalité.
Tous pensaient que leur martyre était terminé. Tous comprenaient que ce soient des policiers qui les aient accueillis. Après tout, ils n’avaient pas de passeport ni de visa !
Certains petits groupes d’évadés ont pu atteindre un hameau ou une ferme espagnole et ont été agréablement reçus et même hébergés pour une nuit. Ils étaient étonnés, au matin, d’être face à des gardes civils. Ceux-ci avaient été informés de la présence d’étrangers par quelqu’un de la ferme, souvent un enfant envoyé exprès; il était prévu une prime en argent pour les délateurs.
L’accueil de l’Espagne « una, grande, libre »
Généralement conduits dans un petit village frontalier, les évadés pouvaient recevoir une collation en payant. A partir de ce moment, l’esprit de corps « évadé de France » a pu s’éveiller car, seuls quelque uns avaient un peu d’argent ou même une montre à vendre et payaient pour tous sans en tirer gloire, modestement parce qu’ils pouvaient le faire.
Par la suite, des policiers en civil interrogeaient séparément les immigrants et leur demandaient ce qu’ils avaient pu voir des armements allemands proches de la montagne, canons lourds ou régiments motorisés. Dans tous les cas, les espagnols considéraient les Français comme étant communistes pour la simple raison qu’ils étaient opposés à Pétain. Certains Français se déclaraient Belges mais nombreux se trouvaient soudain Canadiens généralement natifs de la province de Trois-Rivières.
Cette déclaration était destinée à se faire prendre en charge par un consulat anglais mais son abus a très vite été inutile car les Anglais ne pouvaient pas assurer la suite et les Espagnols s’en amusaient bien tellement la ficelle était grosse.
Après les déclarations à la police, tout le monde se retrouvait enfermé en prison dans une ville importante comme Pampelune ou Barcelone ou d’autres lieux où l’on entassait jusqu’à quatorze détenus dans une cellule pour un. D’autres lieux, anciennes casernes, anciens couvents, servirent aux détentions.
Un camp de concentration avait été construit par des ingénieurs nazis, durant la guerre civile d’Espagne sur les modèles tristement connus par les déportés en Allemagne. Il était destiné aux républicains espagnols, les « rouges », pris par les franquistes. Ce camp de Miranda de Ebro reçut jusqu’à 5.000 personnes ensemble et sa honteuse trace a aujourd’hui disparu. Seule une stèle érigée par des républicains survivants en perpétue la mémoire.
Outre les prisons de passage, vingt grands centres d’internement sont recensés.
Les conditions d’alimentation étaient à la limite de la survie et les conditions d’hygiène sous le niveau du moyen-âge. La sous-alimentation extrême par une nourriture souillée et l’endémie dysentérique aggravées par la vermine avec les séquelles infectieuses, conduisaient à des pertes de poids atteignant jusqu’à 30% pour des séjours ordinaires compris entre trois et douze mois. Les délabrements psychologiques étaient importants et n’était-ce la forte raison patriotique qui les conduisit à cette épreuve inattendue, beaucoup auraient perdu pied.
La vie carcérale était très pénible, nous étions vraiment maltraités par les gardiens. Nous avions l’impression d’être oubliés, abandonnés.
L’exemple des services religieux catholiques est significatif. Tout le monde était « invité » le dimanche à être présent à la messe. Le cœur n’y était pas toujours pour les chrétiens, mais les Israélites qui étaient présents parmi nous ne souhaitaient pas assister à cet office. Alors, on les y conduisait à coups de crosse et le canon du fusil dans le dos pendant l’office. En Espagne, fille aînée de l’Eglise, il devait rester un parfum d’inquisition !
Nous n’avons d’ailleurs jamais trouvé un ancien prisonnier qui puisse nous faire l’éloge d’un prêtre catholique espagnol. Ceux qui exerçaient leur ministère en prison étaient plutôt des voyous à la solde du régime ne se privant pas de faire du marché noir à l’encontre des prisonniers. Le secret de la confession n’était pas ce qu’il aurait du être et cela put valoir des jours de cellule isolée à quelque croyant trop confiant.
Dans les mêmes prisons, nous côtoyions aussi des « droit commun ». Parfois gibier de potence, on s’en méfiait d’autant plus qu’ils étaient généralement en bons termes avec les matons, servant aux distributions de soupe et autres services. Plus souvent pauvres types que la faim avait poussés à voler, qui un pain, qui un morceau de viande pour nourrir ses gosses, presque toujours en attente de jugement depuis des mois. Ceux là étaient employés à des tâches de nettoyage, peinture ou coupe de cheveux à la tondeuse. Par eux, quand on avait la possibilité de payer, on pouvait faire venir au travers de l’économat –qui retenait sa dîme au passage– quelques fruits ou pain de maïs de l’extérieur. Le C.F.L.N.
envoyait des pesetas aux prisonniers français. Mais nous avons tardivement reçu ces dons car les prisonniers français n’étaient pas portés à la connaissance des représentants de la France libre pour raison diplomatique. Ce ne fut que vers la fin de nos séjours que nous profitâmes de cette possibilité d’achat de nourriture.
La politique de Franco a été très ambiguë à cause de la présence de nombreux agents allemands qui renseignaient leur führer. Ils étaient parfaitement au courant de l’arrivée et de l’incarcération des évadés de France et il y eut sporadiquement le risque de reconduite à la frontière qui fut heureusement arrêté par un ordre supérieur empêchant un gouverneur local de faire ce plaisir à un de ses amis allemand . Par ailleurs, les représentants français de Pétain jouèrent d’abord la modération; ils tentaient les prisonniers de retourner en France en promettant le pardon. L’attitude de l’ambassadeur Piètri fut d’ailleurs assez fluctuante. Quand une représentation du C.F.L.N. fut enfin admise à Madrid, le nombre et la position des prisonniers français ne furent pas immédiatement portés à sa connaissance. Il y fallut l’énergie de Monseigneur Boyer-Mas qui fonda une organisation de Croix-Rouge à Madrid et qui s’efforça de mener à bien ce qu’il s’était donné pour tâche :la libération de tous ces garçons décidés à se battre.
Après la sortie de prison
Enfin libérés, ils s’engageront pour la durée de la guerre malgré les délabrements physiques consécutifs aux dures conditions du franchissement des Pyrénées :gelures et blessures de membres, notamment des pieds. Délabrements aggravés par l’emprisonnement :problèmes intestinaux ou gastriques qui se perpétuèrent et s’aggravèrent avec les infections transmises par les parasites, etc.
Les rares contacts avec des prisonniers « politiques » espagnols qui attendaient leur condamnation à mort suivie aussitôt de leur exécution avec un courage inouï furent aussi d’un grand secours moral. Peu à peu, par l’action des autorités françaises d’Alger et des Alliés, les prisonniers furent échangés contre du blé ou des phosphates et presque tous s’engagèrent. Ils étaient partis pour cela ! Quelques frontaliers ont pu trouver asile et caution dans la branche espagnole de leur famille. D’autres, âgés ou très affaiblis ne se sont pas engagés en A.F.N. . Ceci explique la différence entre le nombre de passages et le nombre d’engagés volontaires.
Quand nous sommes parvenus en Afrique Française du Nord, nous avons été confrontés, sans rien y comprendre, après notre long emprisonnement et notre isolement, à la farouche querelle entre les généraux de Gaulle et Giraud, entretenue et même aggravée par les tenants de l’un ou de l’autre. Pour nous, l’ennemi à chasser était le nazi, et non un général français !
La désinformation
Il s’est trouvé des gens pour s’étonner que nous soyons arrivés en Afrique du Nord et non à Londres. De là à penser que les évadés de France internés en Espagne étaient automatiquement partisans du général Giraud ou, beaucoup plus gravement, en accord avec le maréchal Pétain comme le furent de nombreux Français d’Algérie ou du Maroc, il n’y a qu’un petit pas que beaucoup n’hésitent pas à franchir.
Cette façon de penser relève d’un défaut de réflexion.
Prenons un millier d’individus qui viennent de subir une incarcération douloureuse, imméritée pendant 8 à 12 mois. Ils étaient pratiquement au secret. Nous les sortons enfin de prison et les conduisons, rayonnants de joie de la liberté retrouvée, malgré leur délabrement physique, à un navire en partance vers un territoire français où se trouvent des forces combattantes. On leur dit qu’ils vont atterrir à Casablanca. Croyez-vous qu’un seul de ces hommes –ou de ces femmes– va protester en disant qu’il voulait aller à Londres ? Pour quelle raison, dans l’état de son ignorance, sortant de prison, aurait-il une quelconque objection à prendre les armes en Afrique française plutôt qu’en Angleterre ? Il rejoint de Gaulle :« point » !
Comptons pour 19.000 ceux qui purent prendre les armes en A.F.N., (plus rarement à Londres, environ 3.400). Le total des engagés évadés de France et internés en Espagne peut représenter l’effectif d’une à deux divisions dont le personnel était très motivé.
130 sont morts en prison et 300 dans la montagne. 2.500 moururent des suites de l’internement.
Le Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny en a dit :
« Ils choisirent la périlleuse aventure du passage des Pyrénées pour l’Honneur de Servir ».
Nos engagés volontaires combattirent avec la 1ère Armée Française (Gal de Lattre de Tassigny), dont ils constituèrent une partie des effectifs (environ 9.000); avec la 1ère Division Française Libre (Gal Brosset); avec la 2ème Division Blindée (Gal Leclerc) (4.000 à 4.500); avec le Corps Expéditionnaire Français en Italie (C.E.F.I. sous les ordres du Gal Juin). D’autres se répartirent dans la marine, l'aviation, les commandos, les parachutistes (5 à 6.000). Ils participèrent à la marche sur Rome (Monte Cassino), aux débarquements en Normandie et en Provence, ils libérèrent Paris, l’Alsace et sa capitale régionale Strasbourg, traversèrent le Rhin et pénétrèrent jusqu'au cœur de l'Allemagne.
9.000 Évadés de France perdirent la vie en combattant
Pourquoi n’existe-t-il pas une qualification propre aux Évadés de France internés en Espagne ?
Des comparaisons nécessaires.
Nous n’en citerons que deux, une qui est justifiée et une qui nous étonne.
1°- Le statut des prisonniers de guerre.
Les prisonniers de guerre possèdent un statut ce qui est légitime, non seulement en raison de leur nombre, mais en raison de la nature de leur capture au combat et des dommages subis.
2°- Le statut des personnes contraintes au travail en pays ennemi.
Le site internet de l’O.N.A.C. (office national des anciens combattants) mentionne un statut des personnes contraintes au travail en pays ennemi, (parmi lesquelles sont compris les engagés du S.T.O.). Des appelés au S.T.O. ont répondu favorablement à cet appel lequel, rappelons-le, n’était pas l’objet d’une contrainte par corps, ils n’y ont pas été réfractaires et sont partis de leur plein gré travailler en Allemagne nazie. Ils ont pourtant été admis depuis 1951 et confirmés depuis le 16 octobre 2008 dans leur rattachement à l’O.N.A.C.V.G. (office national des anciens combattants et victimes de guerre). C’est difficile à admettre mais décret n’est pas loi.
Ce statut ne devrait, en toute justice, s’appliquer qu’aux travailleurs victimes d’une rafle qui les a envoyés par la force en Allemagne.
Quelle réflexion en résulte-t-il ?
Pourquoi la chape de plomb a-t-elle couvert l’action propre aux Évadés de France passés par l’Espagne ? Ils étaient Résistants-Combattants comme d’autres qui ont contribué aussi à la Libération de la France ! Une grande partie d’entre eux font partie des réfractaires au S.T.O. à l’opposé de ceux que nous avons cités plus haut.
Ils sont titulaires du statut de Combattant Volontaire de la Résistance,
Du statut des Déportés et Internés de la Résistance,
Et pour beaucoup d’entre eux du statut des Réfractaires.
Ils sont titulaires des décorations correspondantes et ils portent fièrement au moins celles-ci, la médaille des Évadés venant devant les autres. Cette qualité unique d’Évadé de France, interné en Espagne, engagé volontaire est, en elle seule, la manifestation d’un acte patriotique fort de Résistance non concerté commun à des jeunes de tous horizons. Elle n’a toujours pas donné lieu à la reconnaissance officielle d’une qualification particulière et nous le regrettons.
On constate par ailleurs avec amertume que, depuis la fin de la seconde guerre mondiale, tout a été fait pour que le public ignore que la France n’a pas été libérée seulement par le magnifique débarquement de Normandie et l’action de la Résistance intérieure.
Que fait-on de :
- La Libération de la Corse par des Français,
- le débarquement de Provence,
- les faits d’Armes des Divisions de la 1ère Armée française, - la poussée de nos troupes et de nos Alliés allant du Sud vers le Nord ?Tout cela ne compterait-il pas dans le reflux des ennemis ? Nombreux étaient les Évadés de France par l’Espagne qui ont participé à ces opérations.
Cet « oubli » est-il dû au fait que c’est (schématiquement pour simplifier) la 1 ère Armée du général de Lattre, parfois familièrement appelée Armée d’Afrique, qui a accompli beaucoup de ce trajet méridional ?
Les Français ont pu participer à ces combats grâce à l’armement des nouvelles unités air et terre en A.F.N. obtenu par les démarches du Général Giraud auprès du Président des États-Unis F. D. Roosevelt ?
Le mensonge et le maquillage d’informations ont un jour une fin. Heureusement, des historiens ont la parole, des survivants aussi !
Jean-Claude B. Montagné
Evadé de France, interné en Espagne. Ancien secrétaire puis président de l’Association des Hauts de Seine des Évadés de France. Membre du Conseil départemental de l’O.N.A.C., commission « mémoire ». Auteur des Lettres oubliées et du documentaire La filière espagnole.