Thomas Elek, also known as Tamás Elek and KERPAL (7 December 1924 – 21 February 1944) was one of 22 members 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 ...

convicted and executed at the fort of

Mont Valérien Mont may refer to: Places * Mont., an abbreviation for Montana, a U.S. state * Mont, Belgium (disambiguation), several places in Belgium * Mont, Hautes-Pyrénées, a commune in France * Mont, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a commune in France * Mont, Sa� ...

as one of the Manouchian Group, part of the French liberation army FTP-MOI. After the executions, 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 ...

sought to discredit the resistance members, and widely distributed and posted thousands of copies of the '' Affiche Rouge.'' Named for its red background, the poster featured ten of the Manouchian group, including Elek. It identified him as "Elek Juif Hongrois 8 déraillements" (Elek, Hungarian Jew, 8 derailments). Elek had immigrated as a child with his family from

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

to France in 1930, when they settled in Paris. After France fell to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

in 1940 and enemy forces occupied Paris, he dropped out of the

lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

and became involved in underground resistance movements. He was credited with armed attacks on German soldiers, including a train derailment in July 1943 that resulted in the death of 600 men.

Biography

Early years

Thomas Elek was born in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

on 7 December 1924 to a family of

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 ...

intellectuals. The Elek family (Thomas, his father Sandor, his sister Marthe and his mother Hélène, then pregnant with his brother, Bela) emigrated to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1930. They settled 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 ...

, where his mother, after various minor jobs, became a

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspe ...

in 1934.

Second World War

Elek left the

Lycée Louis-le-Grand The Lycée Louis-le-Grand (), also referred to simply as Louis-le-Grand or by its acronym LLG, is a public Lycée (French secondary school, also known as sixth form college) located on Rue Saint-Jacques (Paris), rue Saint-Jacques in central Par ...

at the age of 16, to become involved in the underground movement after Nazi German forces defeated France and occupied Paris. He joined a group of students at the Sorbonne who were linked to the ''

Groupe du musée de l'Homme The ''Groupe du musée de l'Homme'' (French language, French for 'Group of the Museum of Man') was a movement in the French resistance to the German occupation of France during World War II, German occupation during the Second World War. In July ...

'', wrote and distributed tracts, and stuck ''papillons'' (butterflies – flyers) to walls. In August 1942, sympathising with the '' Jeunesses Communistes'' (Communist Youth), he became involved with the FTP-MOI (Francs-tireurs et partisans – Main-d'œuvre immigrée) and took up the armed struggle of resistance. His ''

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 ...

'' was KERPAL. Shortly after, Elek was assigned a solo attack on the Rive Gauche German bookstore, in which he used a

booby-trap A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or an animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap may b ...

ped copy of Marx's ''

Capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

.'' In March 1943, along with the young

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

, Pavel Simo, he made a

grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

attack on a restaurant reserved for German officers at Asnières. Simo was arrested, and executed on 22 May 1943 at the Stand de tir de Balard. On 1 June 1943 in a spontaneous attack, Elek threw two grenades into a group of 70 Germans in front of the Jaurès metro station. He was promoted and named head of the group at the center of the 4th detachment of the FTP-MOI Paris region; they were known as ''des dérailleurs'' and commanded by Joseph Boczov. Elek participated in several

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

derailments, notably that of 28 July on the Paris-

Château-Thierry Château-Thierry (; Picard: ''Catieu-Thierry'') is a French commune situated in the department of the Aisne, in the administrative region of Hauts-de-France, and in the historic Province of Champagne. The origin of the name of the town is u ...

line. This derailment is said to have caused the death of 600 German soldiers. In 1943 Elek was arrested with others of the Manouchian Group and tortured by the Vichy '' Brigades Spéciales''. He was transferred to the Germans and detained in Fresnes Prison. All but the sole woman member of the Manouchian group were condemned to death in a

show trial A show trial is a public trial in which the guilt (law), guilt or innocence of the defendant has already been determined. The purpose of holding a show trial is to present both accusation and verdict to the public, serving as an example and a d ...

by military officers, and executed by firing squad three days later, 21 February 1944, at

. The woman was beheaded at another site.

Legacy

*Rather than acting as a deterrent, the ''Affiche Rouge'' inspired citizens to more actions with the Résistance. Residents wrote ''Morts pour La France'' (Died for France) across the posters of the Manouchian group. *Elek is portrayed by actor

Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet (born 4 December 1987) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter. Career Theatre Between 1998 and 2002, he was a member of the chorus at the Opéra National de Paris. Film Leprince-Ringuet has been nominated ...

in the 2009 French film '' The Army of Crime'', directed by

Robert Guédiguian Robert Jules Guédiguian (; born 3 December 1953) is a French film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Most of his films star Ariane Ascaride and Jean-Pierre Darroussin. Life and career Guédiguian is the son of a German mother and an Arm ...

Bibliography

* FFI – FTPF, ''Pages de gloire des vingt-trois'', Immigration, 1951. * ''La Mémoire d'Hélène'' (autobiographie d'Hélène Elek), éd François Maspéro, 1977 * ''Les Jeunes et la Résistance'', dir. Laurence Thibault, AERI/La Documentation Française, 2007 * ''L'Affiche rouge'', Adam Rayski, Mairie de Paris, 2003 * ''La Résistance'' en Ile-de-France, DVD-Rom, AERI, 2004 * ''Le Sang de l'étranger – Les immigrés de la M.O.I. dans la Résistance'', S. Courtois, D. Peschanski, A. Rayski, Fayard: 1989

References

External links

The daily life of a "Terrorist" (French)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elek, Thomas 1924 births 1944 deaths Members of the Francs-tireurs et partisans FTP-MOI French Resistance members Jews in the French resistance Hungarian Jews Hungarian emigrants to France Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany Hungarian people executed by Nazi Germany Affiche Rouge Jews executed by Nazi Germany People executed by Nazi Germany by firing squad Deaths by firearm in France People executed by Nazi Germany occupation forces