Jean Joseph Catelas (6 May 1894 – 24 September 1941) was a French

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician who was a deputy for the Somme from 1936 to 1940. He was arrested by the Vichy government 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 ...

(1939–1945), sentenced to death for his underground activities and executed.

Early years

Jean Joseph Catelas was born on 6 May 1894 in Puisieux, Pas-de-Calais, the seventh of nine children in a poor family. He obtained his school certificate when he was aged 12, and became a worker in hosiery, working in this occupation until 1914. With the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(1914–18) he was assigned to the infantry. Catalas spent most of the war at the front, and took part in the

Battle of Verdun The Battle of Verdun ( ; ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in French Third Republic, France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north ...

. He earned several citations and the Military Medal. He took part in the great strike of 1920. After being demobilized Catelas joined the French Northern Railway (''Compagnie des chemins de fer du Nord'') as a brakeman. He 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 ...

(''Parti communiste français'', PCF) after the

Tours Congress The Tours Congress was the 18th National Congress of the French Section of the Workers' International, or SFIO, which took place in Tours on 25–30 December 1920. During the Congress, the majority voted to join the Third International and create ...

of 25–30 December 1920. From 1922 to 1932 he was secretary to the ''

Confédération générale du travail unitaire The Confédération générale du travail unitaire, or CGTU (), was a trade union confederation in France that at first included anarcho-syndicalists and soon became aligned with the French Communist Party. It was founded in 1922 as a confederat ...

'' (CGTU) railway workers' union. In 1924 he became a train conductor.

Politician

In the general elections of 1/8 May 1932 Catelas was the PCF candidate for the first district of Amiens, but was not successful. In 1935 he was elected to the municipal council of

Longueau Longueau (; ) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Longueau is situated southeast of Amiens, a suburb just by the airport, on the N29 road. Longueau station has rail connections to Amiens, Crei ...

. He ran again for the first district of Amiens in the elections of April/May 1936 and this time was elected. He was a member in turn of committees on hygiene, public health, customs, and commerce and industry. In December 1937 he was appointed to the PCF Central Committee at the Congress of Arles. Catelas was an active supporter of the Republican side 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 ...

(1936–39) and made frequent visits to Spain to see how they could be helped. On 14 July 1938 he joined the French volunteers in the brigade called "La Marseillaise" in preparation for an attack in the

Battle of the Ebro The Battle of the Ebro (, ) was the longest and largest battle of the Spanish Civil War and the greatest, in terms of manpower, logistics and material ever fought on Spanish soil. It took place between July and November 1938, with fighting mainly ...

that was launched eleven days later. He was one of the last of the communists to leave Spain, in the company of

Dolores Ibárruri Isidora Dolores Ibárruri Gómez (; 9 December 189512 November 1989), also known as ("the passionate one" or Passion flower"), was a Spanish Republican politician during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) and a communist. She is renowned for ...

("La Pasionaria").

World War II

After the outbreak of

(1939–45) Catelas remained a PCF member, and under the law of 20 January 1940 lost his seat in the Chamber of Deputies. Catelas, Benoît Frachon,

Arthur Dallidet Arthur Dallidet (12 October 1906 – 30 May 1942) was a French metal worker, Communist and trade union leader in the Renault factories, who became a leader of the French Resistance during World War II (1939–45). Dallidet was born into a working- ...

Gabriel Péri Gabriel Péri (; 9 February 1902 — 15 December 1941) was a prominent French communist journalist and politician who served in the Chamber of Deputies from 1932 to 1940 for Seine-et-Oise. A member of the French Resistance in World War II, he ...

and

Georges Politzer Georges Politzer (; born Politzer György; 3 May 190323 May 1942) was a Hungarian-born French philosopher and Marxist theoretician of Hungarian Jewish origin, affectionately referred to by some as the "red-headed philosopher" (''philosophe roux ...

met in Paris early in June 1940, and decided to send Frachon and Dallidet to the

Limousin Limousin (; ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. Named after the old province of Limousin, the administrative region was founded in 1960. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienne. On 1 Jan ...

region to start reorganizing communist activity. After the

armistice of 22 June 1940 The Armistice of 22 June 1940, sometimes referred to as the Second Armistice at Compiègne, was an agreement signed at 18:36 on 22 June 1940 near Compiègne, France by officials of Nazi Germany and the French Third Republic. It became effective a ...

the PCF leaders denounced the imperialist war, called for peace and concentrated on opposition to the

Vichy government Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...

. Catelas and

Maurice Tréand Maurice Tréand (21 September 1900 – 26 January 1949) was a French communist leader who was responsible for vetting party members in the period leading up to World War II (1939–45). During the early part of the war, before the German invasion o ...

began negotiations with the German ambassador for permission to resume open publication of the communist journal ''

l'Humanité (; ) is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organisation of the SFIO, ''de facto'', and thereafter of the French Communist Party (PCF), and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, would not exist." History ...

''. Tréand and Catelas met with

Otto Abetz Otto Friedrich Abetz (26 March 1903 – 5 May 1958) was a German diplomat, a Nazi official and a convicted war criminal during World War II. Abetz joined the Nazi Party and the SA in the early 1930s later becoming a member of the SS. Abetz pla ...

on 26 June 1940 to discuss the arrangement, and followed up with a letter spelling out their request. They promised that ''l'Humanité'' would "pursue a policy of European pacification" and would "denounce the activities of the agents of British imperialism." The negotiations fell through, and the Soviet Union changed tack and condemned the attempt. A confidential police report on a clandestine meeting of communist militants on 24 July 1940 gave the attendees as Catelas, Eugène Hénaff and others. Catelas opened by saying the purpose was to lay the foundations of a "new unionism", which would be based on popular committees in factories. Militants should be extremely careful to avoid stimulating repressive counter moves. He obtained full agreement from the attendees. Catelas was arrested in Asnières on 13 May 1941. He was condemned by the ''Tribunal d'Etat'' (State Tribunal) of the

in a session of 20–21 September 1941, along with J. Woog and A. Guyot. He was guillotined in the courtyard of

La Santé Prison La Santé Prison (named after its location on the Rue de la Santé) ( or ) is a prison operated by the French Prison Service of the Ministry of Justice (France), Ministry of Justice located in the east of the Montparnasse district of the 14th arr ...

on 24 September 1941, aged 47. The execution took place at the demand of the Germans in retaliation for an act of resistance by Pierre Georges ("Colonel Fabien"). The Catelas dossier at the ''Tribunal d'Etat'' is empty.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Catelas, Jean Joseph 1894 births 1941 deaths French Communist Party politicians Communist members of the French Resistance Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany French military personnel of World War I 20th-century French politicians French people of the Spanish Civil War Executed French people Communists executed by Nazi Germany Communists executed by Vichy France People executed by Vichy France by guillotine