- Robert Alesch
Robert Alesch (b.
Aspelt , Luxembourg, 1906, d. by firing squad at Fort de MontrougeArcueil , France, 1949, was apriest and collaborator withNazi Germany during theSecond World War .Biography
Priesthood
Alesch was ordained in 1933, and settled in
France in 1935. He was named vicar atLa Varenne-Saint-Hilaire , parish ofSaint-Maur , in theParis region. From the beginning of the Nazi occupation he passed himself off as an opponent of the Germans, particularly during his Sundaysermon s.Collaboration with the Nazis
Alesch was in reality a agent in the service of the "
Abwehr " German intelligence organization. He gained entry into resistance circles and won the confidence of the ethnologistGermaine Tillion , who put him in touch withJacques Legrand , the chief executive of the "Réseau Gloria " [The Réseau Gloria was in touch with the BritishSecret Intelligence Service (SIS) and with theSpecial Operations Executive (SOE) britannique.] and with Picabia (whose "nom de guerre" was "Gloria", founder and head of the network. Alesch was payed for his information by the Germans and lived a double life. Priest during the day, he lived with two mistresses on "rue Spontini" in the16th arrondissement . On the 13th August 1942, Legrand, Tillion and the main leaders of the network were arrested. Around 80 people found themselves imprisoned over the month of August. Detained inFresnes prison andPrison de la Santé , they were subjected to longinterrogations and in some cases,torture , by the German police. After being moved to the camp atFort de Romainville they were mostly deported to theconcentration camp s of Buchenwald, Mauthausen and Ravensbrück. Jacques Legrand, his second, Thomasson and a number of others did not return from deportation.Robert Alesch pursued his activities as double agent for the Nazis, encouraging young people to resist then delivering them to the occupiers. He was paid 12,000 Francs monthly, about the salary of a high-ranking officer at the time, and earned a bonus for each person he informed on.
The end
After the war, Alesch fled to
Brussels . He was handed over to the French authorities and tried by the "Cour de Justice " of theSeine department . The surving members of the network, Tillion (who invoked the memory of her motherÉmilie Tillion , murdered at Ravensbrück), Picabia and Pierre Weydert were also there to witness at the trial.Alesch was sentenced to be executed by
firing squad on the 25 January 1949 atFort de Montrouge (Arcueil ).ources
*Archives Nationales (French).
*"Beckett", James Knowlson, éditions Solin, Actes Sud (French).
*"Le témoignage est un combat", Jean Lacouture (a biography of Germaine Tillion), éditions du Seuil.Notes and references
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