Maurice Loebenberg, known by the

nom de guerre A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war. In Ancien régime, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...

of Maurice Cachoud (Zurich, June 29, 1916 - July 20, 1944 Paris; arrested 18 July 1944 and tortured to death) was a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

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 ...

. He founded a group that specialized in forging official papers for use by resistance fighters and escaping Jews.

Biography

Loebenberg was an engraver. He joined the resistance in 1940 and was responsible for circulating the clandestine newspaper ''

Combat Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent Conflict (process), conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not usin ...

'' in the

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

region in 1941. Starting in May 1943, and especially after the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

occupied the region around

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Italians Italians (, ) are a European peoples, European ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region. Italians share a common Italian culture, culture, History of Italy, history, Cultural heritage, ancestry and Italian language, language. ...

. Assisted by Raymond Heymann, Loebenberg put to use his skills as an engraver and began creating false papers on a large scale. He made contact with the

Armée juive The Armée Juive (Jewish Army), was a Zionist resistance movement in Nazi occupied Vichy France during World War II which was created during January 1942 in Toulouse. It was established and led by Abraham Polonski and his wife Eugénie, the so ...

(Jewish Army) and formed the Maurice Cachoud group (after his ''nom de guerre''). The group procured thousands of stamps from official French or German papers to help it create convincing forgeries. It created identity cards, birth certificates, marriage certificates, and ration cards, which it distributed to Jews in hiding and to members of the resistance and Maquisards. Author Pierre Piazza describes Loebenberg's work as a forger: “In 1944, the sophistication of this forgery service was such that it made packets of false papers intended to feed factories, groups of deserters, and Jews in hiding. As complete as they were varied, and easy to use (explanatory notes were attached), these packets from the perfect forger were almost small field laboratories.” Loebenberg's group produced an estimated 20,000 or more identity cards from September 1943 to March 1944. It also organized the flight of young people to

French colonies From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire existed mainly in the Americas and Asia. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the second French colonial empire existed mainly in Africa and Asia. France had about 80 colonie ...

, where they could enlist in the

Free French Forces __NOTOC__ The French Liberation Army ( ; AFL) was the reunified French Army that arose from the merging of the Armée d'Afrique with the prior Free French Forces (; FFL) during World War II. The military force of Free France, it participated ...

. Finally, it hunted down and executed French people who denounced their countrymen to the Germans. In May 1944, Loebenberg was called to

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 ...

, where he was to centralize the forgery service of the National Liberation Movement. Raymond Heymann took over his position in Nice. While he was in Paris, Jewish resistance leaders made contact with a man who claimed to be a representative of

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

. In fact, this was Karl Rehbein, a German agent responsible for the massacre of young members of the resistance who were shot in the

Bois de Boulogne The Bois de Boulogne (, "Boulogne woodland") is a large public park that is the western half of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, near the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine. The land was ceded to the city of Paris by the Em ...

. Rehbein had Loebenberg arrested on July 17, 1944, with other members of the Organisation Juive de Combat (a name used at this time by the Armée juive). Loebenberg was turned over to the French Gestapo, and tortured to death at 180

Rue de la Pompe The Rue de la Pompe is a street in Paris, France, which was named after the pump which served water to the castle of Muette. With a length of 1,690 metres, the Rue de la Pompe is one of the longest streets in the 16th arrondissement. It runs fro ...

in Paris. His body was found in a bush in the Verrières woods outside of Paris. He was buried in the

Montparnasse Cemetery Montparnasse Cemetery () is a cemetery in the Montparnasse quarter of Paris, in the city's 14th arrondissement of Paris, 14th arrondissement. The cemetery is roughly 47 acres and is the second largest cemetery in Paris. The cemetery has over 35,00 ...

on April 10, 1945, with military honors.

Bibliography

*(fr) Marc Fineltin
"Maurice Loebenberg"
on "Mémoire et espoirs de la Résistance" *(fr) David Diamant, ''250 combattants de la Résistance témoignent'', L'Harmattan, 1991 () pages 257-259 *(fr) Pierre Piazza, ''Histoire de la carte nationale d'identité,'' éditions Odile Jacob, 2004 () *Susan Zuccotti, ''The Holocaust, the French, and the Jews'', Harper Collins, 1999 () {{DEFAULTSORT:Loebenberg, Maurice French Resistance members 1916 births 1944 deaths Jews in the French resistance Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany