:''see also Charles Michels (Paris Métro)'' Charles Michels (6 March 1903, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

– 22 October 1941, in

Châteaubriant Châteaubriant (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Châtiaoberiant'') is a town in western France, about southwest of Paris, and one of the three Subprefectures in France, sous-préfectures of the Loire-Atlantique departments of France, department. C ...

) was a trade unionist and communist activist. He was député of the 15th arrondissement in

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Michels was one of the 48 hostages shot in Chateaubriant,

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

and Paris in retaliation for the

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

of Karl Hotz, Feldkommandant of Nazi occupied Nantes.

Childhood and youth

Michels was born of an unknown father, in 1906, he was adopted by Jean Michels, a boilermaker who married his mother Louise Lecoq, a labourer.Nathalie Viet-Depaule, article « Charles Michels » dans ''Dictionnaire biographique du mouvement ouvrier'', éditions ouvrières, 2000. He was raised in the

13th arrondissement of Paris The 13th arrondissement of Paris (''XIIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of Paris. In spoken French, the arrondissement is referred to as ''le treizième'' ("the thirteenth"). The arrondissement is ...

and had to start working very young: he was hired at eleven years in a shoe factory.Jean Jolly (dir.),
Dictionnaire biographique des parlementaires français
',

Presses universitaires de France Presses universitaires de France (PUF; ), founded in 1921 by Paul Angoulvent (1899–1976), is a French publishing house. Recent company history The financial and legal structure of the Presses Universitaires de France was completely restruc ...

, 1960.

Union activist

In 1920, Charles Michels was fired from his then workplace where he was a delegate of the CGT union. With a solid constitution, he supplemented his salary by boxing at "Folies Belleville". After his military service, in 1923-1924, he became an instructor at the FSGT (Fédération sportive et gymnique du travail), the sports organization of the CGT. Later, as head of the family, he tried to increase his level of education by himself. Charles Michels joined the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

in 1926. He gradually established himself as one of the union leaders of the CGTU Federation of Hides and Skins, of which he became secretary in 1929. As such, and also as leader of the FSGT (he was part of a football team), he went to the USSR. In 1931, he became permanent CGTU and will remain in the governing bodies of the CGTU or later of the CGT. An eloquent speaker, he helps support all the strikes in his sector. In 1935, he was active in the fusion of the two federations of hides and skins (CGTU and CGT) . He becomes assistant secretary of the Unified National Federation of Hides and Leather.

Communist Parliamentarian

On 26 April 1936 he ran for the legislative elections in the 3rd district of the 15th arrondissement of Paris, and was elected to the National Assembly on the following 3 May with 58.6% of the votes, against the outgoing

Independent Radicals The Independent Radicals () were a centrist or conservative-liberal political current during the French Third Republic. They were slightly to the right of the more famous Radical-Socialist Party, and shared much of its historical radicalism. ...

député, Georges Boucheron. In the first round, he had collected 3,258 votes against 2,353

Marceau Pivert Marceau Pivert (; 2 October 1895, Montmachoux, Seine-et-Marne – 3 June 1958, Paris) was a French schoolteacher, trade unionist, Socialism, socialist militant, and journalist. He was an alumnus of the École normale supérieure de Saint-Cloud ...

and 1,059 Duteil ( Proletarian Unity Party) out of 11,816 voters. Although the PCF was dissolved in September 1939 for activity tending to "propagate the slogans emanating from or pertaining to the Third International ", Michels surrendered on 9 January 1940 at the opening session of the Chamber of Deputies where he met André Mercier, Raymond Guyot and Fernand Grenier. Their presence provoked a fight and their expulsion. He was stripped of his parliamentary mandate on 20 February, like all Communist deputies.

Second World War

Michels joined the army in September 1939 and was demobilized on 20 July 1940. He returned to Paris and made contact with Jean Catelas, clandestine communist leader in the Paris region, investing in the reorganization of the CGTU, Federation of Hides and Skins. At the beginning of October 1940, while preparing to go into hiding, he was arrested and interned at

Aincourt Aincourt () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located in the . Population See also *Communes of the Val-d'Oise department The following is a list of the 183 Communes of France, communes o ...

, then at Fontevrault and at Clairvaux on 21 February 1941. In May, he arrived at the Choisel camp at Châteaubriant, Loire-Inférieure. He was a member of the underground committee of the camp, and, in June 1941, prepared the escape of four communist leaders: Fernand Grenier, Henri Raynaud, Leon Mauvais and Eugene Hénaff. Following an attack on Karl Hotz, head of the Kommandantur de Nantes, he was shot by the Nazis on 22 October 1941, at the Carrière des Rifles alongside 26 other hostages in the camp of Châteaubriant, including Guy Môquet and Jean-Pierre Timbaud, and 21 hostages in Nantes and Paris.

Tributes

There is a Plaque affixed to the facade of the building inhabited by Michels at 51, rue des Bois in the 19th Arrondissement. Since July 1945, in the

15th arrondissement of Paris The 15th arrondissement of Paris () is one of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ('the fifteenth'). The 15th arrondissement, called , is situated on the Rive ...

, the former Place Beaugrenelle bears his name (Place Charles-Michels). Likewise the nearby

Paris Métro The Paris Métro (, , or , ), short for Métropolitain (), is a rapid transit system serving the Paris metropolitan area in France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architectur ...

station is now known as Charles Michels. Michels is also mentioned in the 201st of 480 memories cited by

Georges Perec Georges Perec (; 7 March 1936 – 3 March 1982) was a French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist, and essayist. He was a member of the Oulipo group. His father died as a soldier early in the Second World War and his mother was killed in the Ho ...

, in his text ''Je me souviens'' ("Memories/I Remember").

Family

In 1923 he married Aimée Malagnoux, an old neighbour with whom he had two daughters. He is the great-uncle of Helno, singer of the band

Les Négresses Vertes Les Négresses Vertes ("The Green Negresses"), formed in 1987, is a French music group that combines world music and some aspects of alternative rock. Tracks often feature steel-string acoustic guitar, acoustic guitar and accordion, with some c ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michels, Charles 1903 births 1941 deaths People executed by Nazi Germany by firing squad French civilians killed in World War II 20th-century French politicians French Communist Party politicians Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany French people executed by Nazi Germany French Army personnel killed in World War II Communist members of the French Resistance Executed trade unionists Communists executed by Nazi Germany