The words thrown in a last breath would strike with lightning. On May 20, 1942, Paul Libermann was shot at Mont-Valérien, in Suresnes. At 8 a.m., he announced his imminent end to his wife and ten-year-old son in a letter. “This morning, the papers arrived and I was taken as a hostage, and we will be shot (…) I understand, my dear, your sad pain; but believe me, darling, that nothing can change. So, be courageous and raise our child well; be a good mother to him… my darling little Marcel. »
In retaliation for two attacks against German forces in Paris on May 10, the occupier executed five Jews, including Paul Libermann. During the Second World War, around 4,000 French Jews were killed without being deported: hostages, resistance fighters, victims of abuse, deaths in internment camps in France…