Albert Ouzoulias

His father was killed during World War I (1914–18).

He failed the Entrance examination for the Normal School at Bourg-en-Bresse, and got a job at a postal sorting station.

He was committed to pacifism and a follower of Henri Barbusse and Romain Rolland.

Albert Ouzoulias (20 January 1915 – 27 November 1995) was a French politician and a Communist leader of the French Resistance during World War II (1939–45) using the name of "Colonel André".

Albert Georges Ouzoulias was born in Contrevoz, Ain on 20 January 1915.

Ouzoulias went to Paris to attend the European Anti-Fascist Workers' Congress at the Salle Pleyel in June 1933.

From then on he was committed to this organization, which became the World Committee Against War and Fascism.

In 1933 he joined the French Communist Party (Parti communiste français, PCF).

In 1934 Ouzoulias became in turn secretary of the World Committee in his commune of Virieu-le-Grand, Ain, departmental secretary of the Jeunes contre le fascisme (Youth Against Fascism), then member of the national committee of the movement.

He joined the Jeunesse communiste (JC, Communist Youth) where he showed great energy.

In 1935 he was called to Paris as a permanent member of the PCF and appointed to the JC national committee in charge of propaganda.

He met Robert Deloche and the two men became friends.

He accompanied a delegation led by Danielle Casanova to the International Communist Youth Congress in Moscow in 1935.

Back in France he organized the founding congress of the French Union of Agricultural Youth and the Popular Front in the Ain.

After his military service in 1936–38 he was elected JC secretary-general in the Rhône-Ain-Isère region.

In 1939 Ouzoulias met Cécile Romagon, a young activist, at a JC party.

He was enlisted in the army when the war broke out, was captured in 1940 and interned by the Germans, but escaped and made his way back to France in July 1941.

There he took charge of fighting units organized from the Communist youth.

He was assigned to various senior positions in the Communist resistance organization.

Ouzoulias was called up in March 1939, but remained in touch with Romagon whom he married on 11 May 1940.

He was captured on 10 June 1940 and interned at Stalag XVIIB in Krems, Carinthia, Austria.

In September 1940 he was transferred to Linz to undertake excavation and construction work.

He escaped but was quickly recaptured.

After hearing of the German attack on Russia, on the night of 25–26 July 1941 Ouzoulias and two companions escaped and hid on a train bound for France.

He found his wife living under an assumed name in Reims with their son, Maurice, who had been born during his detention.

He at once resumed contact with the party leadership.

On 2 August 1941 Ouzoulias met Danielle Casanova in Montparnasse and was put in charge of the Bataillons de la Jeunesse, fighting groups that were being created by the Jeunesse Communiste.

He took the name of "Colonel André".

Pierre Georges was made his second-in-command.

Soon after Arthur Dallidet introduced him to Eugène Hénaff, who was responsible for the armed struggle under the direction of Charles Tillon.

At this time the JC was mainly involved in propaganda, publishing tracts and clandestine newspapers, with minimal armed action.

At a session in 15–17 August it was agreed that members of the JC should receive weapons training and should increase sabotage and attacks on occupation troops.

There was some resistance, but with news of the execution of Henri Gautherot and Samuel Tyszelman the meeting agreed to take a more active role.

In the weeks that followed Pierre Georges became primarily involved in military operations in the Paris region, while Ouzoulias was more concerned with recruitment and liaison between the regions.

He played a major role in the 1944 liberation of Paris.

Ouzoulias was active in the youth organization of the French Communist Party before the war.

He was in charge of all resistance forces in the Paris region at the time of the liberation of Paris by the Allied forces in August 1944.

After this he was given responsibility for integrating the resistance fighters into the regular army.

Despite his role in the Resistance, Ouzoulias did not play an important role in politics after the war, but was involved in municipal politics and veterans' organizations.

Immediately after the ceremony Ouzoulias went into action with the 12th Colonial Infantry Regiment of Agen, where he was an artillery observer.