Jose Aboulker

Jose Aboulker was born the March 5th 1920 in Algérie, with Algiers in an Jewish family. His/her father, Henri Aboulker was surgeon of the Hospitals and professor at the Medical college of Algiers. His/her mother, Berthe Aboulker, were woman of letters.

In April 1940, Jose Aboulker, medical student, was mobilized like E.O.R. (raise-officer of reserve) and was demobilized in February 1941.

Jose Aboulker, in of Algiers resistance

It had founded as of September 1940 a resistance network to Algiers, in connection with his cousin Roger Carcassonne who made in the same way with Oran, and became thereafter one of the principal leaders of Resistance in Algeria. The two cousins became acquainted with Henri d' Astier of Vigerie with which they prepared the French assistance with the future combined unloading, in connection with the colonel Germain Jousse and the consul Robert Murphy, representative of the President Roosevelt in Algiers.

The center of this preparation was the residence of the father of Jose, professor Henri Aboulker, to the 26 of the street Michelet.

In the night of the Unloading combined in North Africa, the November 8th 1942, Jose Aboulker ordered, with the Central police station, with its assistant Bernard Karsenty and the contests of Guy Calvet and of the Police chief Achiary, the occupation of Algiers by 400 resistant.

Those, directed by their team leaders, all except exception reserve officers, neutralized the command centres and of transmissions, occupied the strategic points and stopped the Vichyist military officials and civilians, to start with the general June, commander-in-chief, and the Admiral François Darlan.

When the XIXe Vichyist Army corps, finally conscious of the operation, tried to be mobilized, in the morning, it had to concentrate its efforts on the resistant ones instead of going against the unloaded allied forces. As at this hour, the unloadings around Algiers were completed, Jose Aboulker, concerned not to pour French blood, invited the team leaders, the ones after the others, to evacuate their positions after having negotiated their departure at greater length possible one. It also organized with the captain Pillafort, team leader, stoppings with the resistant ones made available by the evacuation of certain positions, in order to paralyze the mobilization. So that at the evening, the Vichyist forces had not dared to face the central police station, last fortified town of the insurrectionists. Thus, thanks to this “putsch” of November 8th, 1942, the Allies could unload without opposition, encircled then Algiers and obtained the evening even the capitulation of this city, with its intact port, and the rendering of the chiefs of the Army of Africa.

On the contrary in Oran and Morocco, where the putsch had failed, the Americans, accommodated with blows of gun, had to deliver three days of bloody and dubious combat, and ceased fire only after having received the order of June and Darlan, having given of it from Algiers, under the threat of the general Clark.

Thereafter Darlan, always with the capacity and which had maintained the mode of Vichy in the camp combined with the support of the general Giraud, was cut down by the young patriot Fernand Bonnier of the Vault this one had been indicated by drawing lot among the members of the group of November 8th. Giraud let it shoot with haste, before succeeding Darlan.

Jose Aboulker was then stopped, on the order of Giraud, as well as the majority of the chiefs of the resistance (of which his/her father, large mutilated First World War), without the least opposition of Robert Murphy, representative of the United States, and off-set in the Algerian South, in December 1942.

Jose Aboulker, in metropolitan resistance

Released after the Conference of Casablanca (1943) (known as also “Conference of Anfa”), it joined London in May 1943, and engaged in the free French Forces.

It was sent clandestinely, in October 1943, in occupied France, like “Delegated to the organization of the department of health of the Maquis and the F.F.I. ” and the civil medical organization for the Release prepared. It directed there the operations of parachuting of surgical equipment on France.

Of return to London in June 1944, it joined Algiers, where it supported its thesis of medicine.

In August 1944, it set out again for a new mission in the south of France in insurrection, in order to install the police chiefs of the Republic in Toulouse, Limoges and Clermont-Ferrand.

Jose Aboulker, for the independence of Algeria

Jose Aboulker was delegated Resistance of Algeria to the Provisional Consultative Assembly of Paris in 1944-1945, and deposited a draft amendment of the electoral law in Algeria, to allow the election of indigenous Moslem deputies, which had never been allowed there before. This proposal was adopted by the Consultative Assembly and recovery by the electoral law, which allowed the presence of such deputies the constituent Assembly.

After the war, Jose Aboulker entered to the Communist party and began again in 1946 her studies of medicine. It passed successively the contests of intern of Paris, then of assistant. He became finally professor of neurosurgery, and department head of the Hospitals of Paris.

He engaged for independence of Algeria and was opposed, in 1958, with the return of the general de Gaulle in the impetus of the plots of May 13rd. But then, taking into account the action of the general in the direction of the Decolonization, he voted in his favor in 1965. He belonged to the medical department urgently made up for the president of the Republic after the attack of the Petit-Clamart.

Jose Aboulker, in times of peace

Jose Aboulker is Compagnon of the Release, Commandeur of the Legion of honor and holder of the Military Cross 1939-1945 (with three quotations), as well as Medal off Freedom of the United States.

Jose Aboulker is member of the Council about the Release since June 1999.

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