The resistant and deported was one of the final witnesses of the horrors committed at the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp in Alsace. He died on April 24, at the age of 99.
by
No one can forget his benevolent and bright smile. The smile of a man allergic to anger, “you have to know how to hold his rank,” he said simply. Pierre Rolinet, resistant and deported, one of the final witnesses of the horrors committed at the Natzweiler concentration camp, more commonly called the Struthof, died on Sunday April 24, at the age of 99.
The Franc-Comtois hoped to celebrate his 100th anniversary on June 4, surrounded by his family and friends, on the Place du Petit Village de Brognard, in Doubs. After the war, the survivor had settled there with his wife, Jacqueline, the love of a life, died in 2020. Always wearing his cap, he liked to walk there and answer the questions of the youngest, curious To discover more about him, this hero who we were talking about in newspapers and on television. Today, Brognard is in mourning.
Child of the country of Montbéliard, Pierre Rolinet was born on June 4, 1922 in a modest household. Henri, his father, is a peasant worker, his mother, Suzanne, aid on the farm. Both dream of a better future for their eldest son, whom they encourage to enter Peugeot, the plain employer in the territory installed in Sochaux. Pierre becomes a model employee there, gradually climbing the ladder. Hired as ajustor, he will end his career as an industrial designer. When he reports his first pay at home, Henri cries with joy, his 15 year old son wins more than him.
Spiritual heritage
The applied and serious adolescent is high in respect for Christian values. The Montbéliard region has been a Protestant land from the 16th century, Luther is taught. This spiritual heritage in which moral rigor makes law forges the character of Pierre Rolinet. Still, he will get up against the abject. His commitment to Nazism comes from there. As early as 1940, on the family farm of Allenjoie, his native village of Doubs, his parents, repulsed by collaboration and anti -Jewish measures, listened to Radio London. Pierre refuses to contribute to the enemy war effort in Germany. Refractory to the compulsory labor service established in February 1943, he went underground and took refuge at the Protestant Institute in Glay, three kilometers from Switzerland.
Member of the Civil and Military Organization (OCM), the young man, aged 21, receives the weapons parachuted by England and help refugees to pass the border. But in November 1943, the network was denounced. Pierre Rolinet, alias Pierre Georges, is arrested and sentenced to death. Accused of transporting weapons and detention of false papers, it must be shot, but Nazi Germany is asking for the workforce because the Soviets progress on the eastern front.
You have 42.06% of this article to read. The continuation is reserved for subscribers.