Sunday, September 13, 2015

Sylvette Roussel Leleu (1909-1989)

Sylvette Roussel, daughter of x and x, was born in Bruay,France on 1 February 1908.

Tall, brunette, with very expressive eyes. With the loss of her husband, Gilbert Leleu, in September 1939, she vowed to avenge his death. "I will avenge my husband's death, I will fight for the future of my children. I will make war on the Germans. God help me and have pity on them."

She answered De Gaulle's "call of June 18" and became a member of the Musee de l'Homme resistance group which was one of the first organized resistance movements in France. The group was infiltrated by a traitor and betrayed, causing most of the group to be arrested in the beginning of 1941. Sylvette was one of 19 members who were tried and convicted. She was deported to Ravensbruck where she was held until the liberation.

She died in Bethune, France on 3 October 1989.

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