WOLF WAJSBROT
Wolf Wajsbrot was born in 1925 in Krasnik, Poland. He moved to France when he was a young boy to avoid Poland’s growing anti-Semitism, and begun elementary school there. He received his school certificate at age 14, and began an apprenticeship as a mechanic.
By June 1940, Germans had crossed into France and occupied Paris. Wolf and his family escaped many of the early round-ups of Jews, but his parents were arrested and deported in 1942.
Wolf joined and armed resistance group, Franc-Tireurs et Partisans, at the age of 17 to fight against the German armies. Six days after his 18th birthday, he threw a grenade into a train carriage reserved for German soldiers, causing incredible damage. Wolf's photo was one of ten used in Nazi propaganda, describing the Franc-Tireurs et Partisans as an 'army of crime'. He helped set two bombs in Paris that killed many German officers and soldiers, but was arrested in 1943. He was interrogated and tortured, and tried the next year. Wajsbrot was sentenced to die by firing squad.
He was executed on February 21, 1944, at the age of 18. He was buried in Paris, under the words Mort pour la France (died for France).
By June 1940, Germans had crossed into France and occupied Paris. Wolf and his family escaped many of the early round-ups of Jews, but his parents were arrested and deported in 1942.
Wolf joined and armed resistance group, Franc-Tireurs et Partisans, at the age of 17 to fight against the German armies. Six days after his 18th birthday, he threw a grenade into a train carriage reserved for German soldiers, causing incredible damage. Wolf's photo was one of ten used in Nazi propaganda, describing the Franc-Tireurs et Partisans as an 'army of crime'. He helped set two bombs in Paris that killed many German officers and soldiers, but was arrested in 1943. He was interrogated and tortured, and tried the next year. Wajsbrot was sentenced to die by firing squad.
He was executed on February 21, 1944, at the age of 18. He was buried in Paris, under the words Mort pour la France (died for France).
1 Photograph conserved in the German Federal Archives