Julia Pirotte (née Diament; 1908 – 25 July 2000) was a Polish photojournalist known for her work in
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
when she documented the
French Resistance
The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
, and for photographs taken in the aftermath of the
Kielce Pogrom
The Kielce pogrom was an outbreak of violence toward the Jewish community centre's gathering of refugees in the city of Kielce, Poland on 4 July 1946 by Polish soldiers, police officers, and civilians
Pirotte was born in
Końskowola
Końskowola is a village in southeastern Poland (historic Lesser Poland region), located between Puławy and Lublin, near Kurów on the Kurówka River. It is the seat of a separate commune ('' gmina'') within Puławy County in Lublin Voivodeshi ...
in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
. She emigrated to Belgium in 1934 where she married Jean Pirotte, a labor activist in Brussels, and studied photography. In May 1940, after the German occupation of Belgium and the deportation of her husband, Pirotte made her way to southern France, where she played an active role in Jewish and French resistance groups. Based in Marseille, she worked as a photojournalist for Dimanche Illustré and served as a courier for weapons, false papers and underground publications in a resistance group, the
FTP-MOI
The Francs-tireurs et partisans – main-d'œuvre immigrée (FTP-MOI) were a sub-group of the ''Francs-tireurs et partisans'' (FTP) organization, a component of the French Resistance. A wing composed mostly of foreigners, the MOI maintained an arm ...
. During this time she took numerous photographs documenting life under the
Vichy Regime
Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...
. As a member of the ''
Francs-Tireurs et Partisans
The ''Francs-tireurs et partisans français'' (FTPF), or commonly the ''Francs-tireurs et partisans'' (FTP), was an armed resistance organization created by leaders of the French Communist Party during World War II (1939–45). The communist par ...
'', she was able to photograph the activities of the Maquis resistance in the summer of 1944 and the liberation of Marseille.
After the war, Pirotte returned to Poland as a photojournalist for the Polish periodical ''Zolnierz Polski''. During that period she covered the aftermath of the
Kielce Pogrom
The Kielce pogrom was an outbreak of violence toward the Jewish community centre's gathering of refugees in the city of Kielce, Poland on 4 July 1946 by Polish soldiers, police officers, and civiliansWorld Congress of Intellectuals in Defense of Peace
The World Congress of Intellectuals in Defense of Peace ( pl, Światowy Kongres Intelektualistów w Obronie Pokoju) was an international conference held on 25 to 28 August 1948 at Wrocław University of Technology. It was organized in the afterma ...
of 1948 in Wrocław, taking portraits of
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
,
Irène Joliot-Curie
Irène Joliot-Curie (; ; 12 September 1897 – 17 March 1956) was a French chemist, physicist and politician, the elder daughter of Pierre and Marie Curie, and the wife of Frédéric Joliot-Curie. Jointly with her husband, Joliot-Curie was awar ...
and Dominique Desanti. Pirotte visited Israel in 1957. She later married Jefim Sokolski, a Polish economist who died in 1974.
In later years, Pirotte frequently traveled to Belgium, France, and the United States, where, in 1984, the
International Center of Photography
The International Center of Photography (ICP), at 79 Essex Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City, consists of a museum for photography and visual culture and a school offering an array of educational courses and programming. ...
in New York hosted an exhibition of her work.
After the war, she receives decorations : The Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 which distinguishes individuals (civilian and military), units, cities or institutions that received a commendation for acts of war during the Second World War and the Order of Arts and Letters in February 1996, whose rewards "persons who have distinguished themselves by their creation in the artistic or literary field or by the contribution they have made to the influence of the arts and letters in France and in the world"
Pirotte's sister Mindla Maria Diament (1911 – 24 August 1944) was a member of the
French Resistance
The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
, she was captured, tortured and executed by the
Vichy Regime
Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...
.
Photographs in the collections
She stopped her professional activities in March 1968. From 1980 her work aroused enthusiasm and brought her fame. Then she exhibited in Poland, London, Charleroi, Stockholm, New York... Her photographs are included in the permanent collections of several European and American museums.
* Bibliothèque nationale, Paris (F)
* Photography museum at Charleroi (B)
* Musée Nicéphore Niépce, Chalon-sur-Saône (F)
* Fotografiska Museet, Stockholm (S)
* National Museum, Katowice (Pl)
* Art Museum, Lodz (Pl)
* United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington (USA)
* International Center of Photography, New York (USA)
* Photographer’s Gallery, London (GB)
* Bibliothèque universitaire de Nanterre (F)
* Ministère des Anciens Combattants, Paris (F)
* Army Museume, Paris (F)
* National Association of Veterans and Friends of the Resistance, Marseille (F)
* Mémorial de la Shoah de Paris (F)
* Photography Museum à Anvers (B)
* Archives of Women Artists