(1887-1941)
There are no known photographs of Rudolf Zeiler
Rudolf Zeiler was born in Kletscheding, a Czech village in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, on March 10, 1887.
In Paris, he ran a printing shop in the 11th arrondissement and began working for the PCF in 1930. He secretly printed leaflets, appeals, and flyers for labor organizations.
From the very beginning of the Occupation, he began working for the Jewish underground press, notably *Unzer Wort* (Our Word). Thousands of leaflets in French and Yiddish were also printed at his press.
After the Nazi armies attacked the Soviet Union, Soviet Jewish intellectuals formed a Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee. On August 24, 1941, on Radio Moscow, the poet David Bergelson issued a passionate appeal, which was reproduced in Yiddish by the underground Jewish section of the M.O.I. It was titled: “The Great Moscow Rally. An Appeal to All Jews Throughout the World. We must fight against fascism and be partisans who never surrender.”
About a thousand leaflets, bearing this text and ready for distribution, were discovered in Rudolf Zeiler’s workshop, along with a printing plate intended for the production of *Unzer Wort*. The police arrested Zeiler on October 29, 1941. The workshop was placed at the disposal of the Nazis.
After being handed over to the German authorities, Rudolf Zeiler was sentenced to death by the German court in Greater Paris on December 16, 1941, for “activities in support of the enemy.”
He was executed by firing squad at Mont-Valérien on December 19, 1941.
On December 25, the collaborationist newspaper *Le Matin* published a notice announcing the execution of three men, including Rudolf Zeiler.
After the Liberation, he was posthumously promoted to second lieutenant in the FFI by the Ministry of Veterans and War Victims.
References:
– *Le Maitron*, by Daniel Grason and Marie-Cécile Bouju.
– Diamant David, 1984, Fighters, Heroes, and Martyrs of the Resistance: Biographies, Last Letters, Testimonies, and Documents: Published by Renouveau.
