Resistance Youth

Michelle Corjon, a resistance fighter, was awarded France’s Croix de Guerre and the silver medal for French Resistance. She was the youngest member ever to serve in the French resistance beginning at age 11 in 1943.

Like Zosia in IW Episode 6, she was her father’s courier and liaison agent. Michelle Corjon was arrested with her parents and interrogated by the Gestapo about their resistance activities. When she did not disclose any information, she was imprisoned in Praslins prison. Her parents were sent to Germany. She would have been deported as well but her youthfulness saved her. The SS did not believe that a young woman could be a resistance fighter, nor did they believe her to be a significant threat. However, when released she continued on with her resistance work warning others of the Gestapo’s infiltration. Also, she destroyed important papers which documented the cell’s activities. For more information about other women who fought in France, search the IW Articles or listen to IW Episodes 4 and 7.

Special thanks to Martine Boucard for bringing the story of Michelle Corjon to my attention.