Berty Albrecht

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Berty Albrecht was a French Resistance Fighter, born Berty Wild at Marseille, 15 February 1893. She died in 1943 at Fresnes.

Born into a middle-class Protestant family, she married the Dutch banker Frédéric Albrecht in 1918. They had two children, Frédéric and Mireille.

Separated from her husband, she moved to Paris, where she made friends with Victor Basch, a teacher at the Sorbonne and the president of the Human Rights League. She then created a feminist journal, “Le Problème Sexuel” (The Sexual Problem), in which she campaigned for the freedom of contraception and abortion.

Conscious of the reality of Nazism and hostile towards the Munich Accords, she founded a welcome centre for German refugees. There, she met Captain Henri Frenay, and participated in all of his Resistance initiatives, despite their political differences: Albrecht was close to the Communists whereas Frenay, although he was a visceral enemy of the Nazis and collaborators, he harboured doubts about Marshal Pétain, who he thought was secretly preparing the Liberation of France. Together, they successively produced three journals: “Bulletins d’informations et de propagande” (Information and Propaganda Bulletins), “Les Petites Ailes” (Little Wings) and then “Vérités” (Truths), before becoming directors of the “Combat” network.

Stopped and then released on several occasions, she committed suicide at Fresnes Prison and was buried in the crypt of Mount Valérien.

Berty Albecht is one of the six women nominated to the order of French Resistance Fighter.