Marie-Claude Valiant-Dressmaker

Biography

To be press photographer

Marie-Claude Valiant-Dressmaker is born on November 3rd, 1912 in Paris: his/her father, Lucien Vogel, editor, creates the magazine Considering in 1928; his/her mother, Cosette de Brunhoff, sister of the creative of Babar, is chroniqueuse of mode. His/her grandfather Hermann Vogel was a draftsman and illustrator.

Marie-Claude Valiant-Dressmaker chooses to be Reporter-photographe, at one time when this trade was male, which is worth the nickname of " to him; the lady with the Rollei flex". She adheres in 1934 to the Communist youth and founds, in 1936, the Union of the young girls of France. In 1934, she marries Paul Valiant-Dressmaker, founder of the republican Association of the war veterans, appointed communist and editor association of the Humanity , which disappears in 1937. She enters to the photo service of the Humanity , for which she takes then the responsability, and côtoie then Gabriel Péri and Georges Cogniot.

Attached to the team of " Considering " , photographer but also Germanist, it is indicated to take part, with others, with an investigation in Germany into the rise of the Nazisme. It is at the time of this voyage in 1933, two months after the accession of Hitler to the capacity, which it carries out clandestinely the stereotypes of the camps of Oranienburg and Dachau, published as of its return in France. It also carries out for " Glances " some reports, in particular on the international Brigades. The prohibition of Humanity , in September 1939, the constrained one to change activities.

Resistant and off-set

It engages in the Résistance and takes part in clandestine publications: leaflets, the Free University (1st number in November 1940); lampoon of Georges Politzer against " Blood and Or" , which presents the theses of the theorist Nazi Alfred Rosenberg (November 41); edition of clandestine Humanity at the sides of Pierre Ginsburger known as Villon (which she will marry in second wedding in 1949). It ensures the connection between civil resistance (Committee of the Intellectuals of the Front National of fight for the Independence of France) and soldier (OS, later FTPF), and transports even explosives.

This resistant activity is worth to him to be stopped in a trap by the police force of Pétain the February 9th 1942, with several of his/her companions, among whom Jacques Decour, Georges Politzer, Jacques Solomon, Arthur Dallidet: the latter, given to the German authorities, are shot by the Nazis. It is interned until the February 15th with the Deposit of the Prefecture, and the March 20th, is placed at the secrecy with Health: it remains there until August then is transferred at the height from Romainville, camp of internment under German authority. Like his/her partners, among whom Danielle Casanova and Heidi Hautval, it is off-set with Auschwitz-Birkenau via the camp of internment of Compiegne by the convoy of the January 24th 1943, said convoy of the " 31 000" (see the Memorial of the deportees of France to the title of repression , Foundation for the Memory of the Deportation, 2004 and the Convoy of January 24th , Chartotte Delbo, Editions of Midnight, 1965). Singular by its composition, this convoy of 230 women, resistant, communist, gaullists wives of resistant, is illustrated by entonnant the Marseillaise by crossing the entry of the camp of Birkenau; 49 of these 230 women only will return from the camps post-war period. It remains 18 months with Auschwitz, where it is eyewitness of the genocide of the Jews and the Tziganes and takes part in the international clandestine committee of resistance of the camp Then it is transferred to the concentration camp from Ravensbrück to the month from August 1944: first of all assigned to excavation work, it is transferred to Revier (infirmary of the camp) because of its knowledge of the German language. Ravenbrück is released the April 30th 1945 by the Red Army ; however, it returns to France only the June 25th 1945. During these weeks, it devotes to the patients repatriation on standby. Under the feather of Rémy Roure, in Le Monde of the June 16th 1945, one reads: " Each day, this splendid Frenchwoman traverses the blocks, records courages, gives hope which is often only of the illusion. The word of holiness comes to mind when one sees this big sister of charity near these men and these women who die each day ".

Political commitment and social

In 1945, it successively sits at the provisional Consultative Assembly and at the two Constituent Assemblies, is elected appointed PCF of the the Seine (1946 - 1958; 1962 - 1967), then the Valley-of-Marne until in 1973. She twice exerts (1956-1958 and 1967-1968) the function of vice-president of the National Assembly, of which she becomes honorary vice-president.

In 1946, she is elected General secretary of the international democratic Fédération of the women and, in 1979, Vice-Présidente of the Union of the French women (today Interdependent Femmes ). She files in particular bills for the equality of wages between the men and the women. She also militates with the Mouvement of Peace.

In 1951, at the time of the audiences of the lawsuit opposing the newspaper the French Letters (at the time close relation of PCF) to David Rousset after this last had been insulted of “trotskyste falsifier” by this newspaper (following the comparison by David Rousset of the Soviet Gulag with the system concentrationnaire), Marie-Claude Valiant-Dressmaker will declare “I indisputably regard the Soviet penitentiary system as most desirable in the whole world”, declaration discussed since glorifiant the impact of the Gulag.

Member leading of the National federation of the resistant deportees and internees and patriots since his creation in 1945, it becomes about it then Vice-Présidente, then Co-President in 1978. She is also one of the first stimulating ones of Friendly of Auschwitz. Witness of the charge to the Lawsuit of Nuremberg, it will say later: " by telling the sufferings of those which could not speak any more, I had the feeling that, by my mouth, those which they had tortured, exterminated, showed their torturers ". It returns however from this lawsuit " shocked, inquiète" , " exasperated by the procédure" , dissatisfied, in particular deploring the absence, on the dock, leader of the firms Krupp, Siemens, IG Farben, firms which had largely taken part in the economic exploitation of the deportees. But in spite of these insufficiencies, it will underline later how much the definition the Crime against humanity was " a progress for the conscience humaine".

In 1964, Paul Rassinier, father of the negationnists, disputing the verdict of the lawsuit, shows it by name to have survived by stripping his/her partners. Marie-Claude Valiant-Dressmaker constitutes civil part against these calumnies and the lawsuit against Rassinier makes justice of these charges: Genevieve of Gaulle-Anthonioz declares with the bar of the witnesses " I known it in the buildings of the infirmary where had made we enter it, not for the planquer, but because we had need for courageous comrades and speaking German ". " … When we give this ration of bread taken on our own ration, this bulb, we knew that it would be well given to that which would need it most and without any appreciation politique" … " I know few women as courageous as Marie-Claude, who always gave the feeling which its own life was nothing if not to be with the service of his/her comrades " . The manager of Rivarol and Rassinier are condemned. During December of this same year 1964, it defends in front of the National Assembly the concept of imprescriptibility of the crimes against humanity, thus opening the way with the ratification, by France in 1968, of the Convention of UNO on the imprescriptibility of these crimes.

In 1987, it has by all the civil parts to testify against Klaus Barbie. During the creation of the Foundation for the Memory of the Deportation, in 1990, it is unanimously indicated by it President, then President d' Honneur until her death on December 11th, 1996.

Knight of the Legion of honor since December 20th, 1945 - Officer in 1981, Commander in 1995 -, it was also titular title of Fighting Voluntary foreign Resistance and decorations (Czechoslovakian Military Cross).

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