Jean Burger, alias "Mario", was a member of the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

during

World War II 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 ...

. A member of 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 ...

, he was born in

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

on 16 February 1907 and died at the

Mittelbau-Dora Mittelbau-Dora (also Dora-Mittelbau and Nordhausen-Dora) was a Nazi concentration camp located near Nordhausen in Thuringia, Germany. It was established in late summer 1943 as a subcamp of Buchenwald concentration camp, supplying slave labour f ...

concentration camp on 3 April 1945.

Biography

Youth and political engagement

Born into a family of tradesmen, Jean Burger studied at the Ecole Normale de Montigny and became a teacher in the industrial basin of

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

.Pierre Schill, tribune libre, ''l'Humanité'', 15 février 2007 He rose rapidly in the Communist Party and became departmental secretary for the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

anti-fascist movement ''Paix et Liberté'' ("Peace and Liberty"). Burger became involved in recruitment for the

International Brigades The International Brigades () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front (Spain), Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Bri ...

during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. In September 1939, Burger was mobilized as part of the 460th Pioneer Regiment of the French Army and was stationed on the

Maginot Line The Maginot Line (; ), named after the Minister of War (France), French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by French Third Republic, France in the 1930s to deter invas ...

where he was taken prisoner on 17 June 1940. Burger and his brother escaped during

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spiri ...

in 1941. Jean Burger took the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

René Legrand at this time.

Resistance

Charles Hoeffel, a Communist Party militant and member of the CGT railway workers' union, put Burger into contact with Georges Wodli, a member of the Communist Party Central Committee. Wodli asked Burger to organize Communist resistance in the Moselle region.Bernard Le Marrec, Gérard Le Marrec, ''Les années noires, la Moselle annexée par Hitler'', Éditions Serpenoises, 1990, , p.252-253, language=French Burger organized the "Mario" resistance group, whose activities included the printing and distribution of leaflets, collection of arms, aid to prisoners and resisters, and sabotage. Three thousand men and women participated in the Mario group. The organization was integrated into the national resistance movement and had contacts in Paris and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. Activities included aid to German deserters and assistance for Soviet prisoners of war in camps in the Moselle region.

Arrest

Massive arrests of resisters began in August 1943. The arrests were aided by information seized by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

in 1940 from the

Direction centrale des renseignements généraux Direction may refer to: *Body relative direction, for instance left, right, forward, backwards, up, and down ** Anatomical terms of location for those used in anatomy ** List of ship directions *Cardinal direction *Bearing (navigation) Mathemat ...

, the intelligence service of the

French National Police The National Police (, ), formerly known as the , is one of two national police forces of France, the other being the National Gendarmerie. The National Police is the country's main civil law enforcement agency, with primary jurisdiction in cit ...

. Jean Burger was arrested in Metz on 21 September 1943 by the Germans, who had set a trap for resisters. As a result, by the time American troops arrived in the area in 1944, the Mario group had practically ceased to exist. After his arrest, Burger was tortured by the Gestapo, then moved to a military prison in Metz. From there he went to the Fort de Queuleu just outside Metz, which was used as a detention and interrogation center for members of the Resistance. In November 1944 he was sent to prisons in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

and

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

, then to

Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...

. as American forces were closing in on Metz. Not long after arriving at Dachau, he was moved to the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

. With the approach of Soviet forces, Burger and a few other Marios were marched to

Gleiwitz Gliwice (; , ) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder River, Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional capital ...

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

. Finally moved to an annex of the Dora concentration camp, he was mortally wounded while weakened by

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

during an American bombing raid on the

Mittelwerk Mittelwerk (; German for "Central Works") was a German World War II factory built underground in the Kohnstein to avoid Allied bombing. It used slave labor from the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp to produce V-2 ballistic missiles, V-1 flyin ...

complex.

Legacy

In memory of Burger, a number of streets and buildings in the Mosellle département bear his name, as well as the Jean-Burger-Straße in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

, Germany, where a commemorative monument was erected.

Bibliography

* Bernard Le Marrec, Gérard Le Marrec, ''Les années noires, la Moselle annexée par Hitler'', Éditions Serpenoises, 1990, * Léon Burger, ''Le groupe Mario, une page de la Résistance lorraine'', Hellenbrand, 1965 (Léon was Jean's brother) * Eugène Heiser, ''La Tragédie lorraine'', Tome I, Pierron, 1984 * Marcel Neigert, ''Internements et déportations en Lorraine''Université de Metz, 1978

References

External links

''L’itinéraire de Jean Burger, alias « Mario »''
by Pierre Schill, professor of history and geography at the University of Montpellier, ''l'Humanité'', 15 February 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Burger, Jean Communist members of the French Resistance French communists 1907 births 1945 deaths People who died in Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp French people who died in Nazi concentration camps Deaths by American airstrikes during World War II French civilians killed in World War II Resistance members who died in Nazi concentration camps