In France, throughout 1943, large-scale waves of arrests were carried out against members of the Jewish section of the M.O.I.
In Paris, three major surveillance units tracked down Jews affiliated with the Main-d’Œuvre Immigrée from March to November 1943. The Special Brigades of the General Intelligence Service (Renseignements Généraux)—French police forces created in March 1940—were responsible for organizing these deadly manhunts.
The first surveillance operation, in March 1943, targeted the political and military organization of the Jewish Communist Youth, which had nearly 200 members in Paris and its suburbs. It led to the arrest and deportation of most of its activists. Of the 57 young people arrested and deported to Auschwitz, only seven survived, including Henri Krasucki, Paulette Szlifke (or Sliwka, later Sarcey), and Roger Trugnan.
From March to June 1943, the Special Brigades launched their second major surveillance operation. Of the 150 activists under surveillance, 77 were arrested, tortured, executed, or deported. This second surveillance operation culminated in the annihilation of the second FTP-M.O.I. detachment—composed exclusively of Jews—in June 1943. The political and military organization of the Jewish section of the M.O.I. was devastated.
The third surveillance operation focused primarily on highly active groups responsible for a series of actions against the Nazi occupiers. On March 17, 1943, a grenade attack targeted a group of German soldiers in Levallois-Perret. On September 28, 1943, Julius Ritter, an SS officer in charge of the STO in France, was executed in the heart of Paris. The operation, organized by Cristina Boïco, head of the FTP-M.O.I. intelligence service, was planned by Missak Manouchian and led by a team consisting of Léo Kneler, Marcel Rayman, and Celestino Alfonso. The latter two were arrested in November during this surveillance operation.
The manhunt also targeted Missak Manouchian, the FTP-M.O.I. military commissioner for the Paris region, who was arrested on November 16, 1943, along with Joseph Epstein, the head of all Parisian FTP units.
During November 1943, 68 members of the FTP-M.O.I. were arrested, 45 of whom were deported to Germany. Boris Holban resumed leadership of the FTP-M.O.I.’s armed wing in December.
In February 1944, Nazi propaganda hadthe “Red Poster”—the color of blood—posted on the walls of Paris. The resistance fighters targeted by the 3rd surveillance operation were portrayed by the Nazis and the Vichy government as activists of the “Army of Crime .” Manouchian was considered the leader of this group. In fact, the Resistance fighters surrounding him on the poster were members of several FTP-M.O.I. detachments. The Vichy regime and the German propaganda service selected, from among 23 FTP members in the group, photos of ten fighters. Of these 10 foreign resistance fighters, 7 are Jewish, originally from Eastern Europe, and labeled as murderers.
The three surveillance operations led to the arrest of 196 Resistance fighters, including 21 women, and to the deadly dismantling of the FTP-M.O.I. On February 21, 1944, 22 members of the Manouchian group were executed at Mont-Valérien near Paris following a sham trial.
“Why They Fight, Why They Die”: In a leaflet distributed in March 1944,the UJRE summarized the position of the Jews of the M.O.I.: to join the fight alongside the French people.
