Samuel (Szmul) Tyszelman was born on January 21, 1921, in Pulawy, Poland. He was three years old when his parents emigrated to France, fleeing poverty and anti-Semitism. They settled in Paris. Samuel, a brilliant student, had to put his studies on hold and begin working alongside his father, a hatmaker, at the age of fifteen. He attended the secular youth club of the Yiddish Arbeiter Sport Club (YASK), part of the Jewish section of the M.O.I. (affiliated with the Fédération sportive et gymnique du travail, FSGT) and was active in the Communist Youth (JC) alongside Georges Ghertman, Charles Wolmark, and Élie Wallach, who affectionately nicknamed him “Titi.”
As early as 1940, Samuel Tyszelman joined the Organisation Spéciale (OS), created by the Communist Party to fight the Nazi occupiers. At the same time, along with other young activists, he distributed underground newspapers calling on people to join the Resistance.
In the summer of 1941, as a member of the Youth Battalions, he took over as leader of the Communist Youth in the 3rd, 4th, and 10th arrondissements.
On August 2, 1941, Samuel, Charles Wolmark, and Élie Wallach stole dynamite from a quarry in Clichy-sous-Bois in preparation for future attacks.
On July 14, 1941, the underground leadership of the Communist Party organized a demonstration on the Grands Boulevards by mobilizing the Communist Youth.
On August 13, 1941, during a parade, the young people standing on the sidewalks joined a small group of about forty demonstrators, chanting, “Down with the Occupation! Long live a free and independent France!” ” They began singing the first verse of “La Marseillaise.” Samuel was at the head of the procession. Henri Gautherot was one of the young communists tasked with protecting the demonstrators, who were scattering leaflets denouncing the German Occupation. German soldiers and sailors open fire on the demonstrators. Two sailors set off in pursuit of Samuel Tyszelman. He takes refuge in the basement of the building at 29 Boulevard Magenta.
The doorman reported him to the municipal police, who arrested him. Imprisoned at La Santé Prison, Samuel Tyszelman appeared on August 18, 1941, before the German court of Greater Paris, alongside Henri Gautherot, who was seriously injured.
Gautherot and Tyszelman were tried by the Nazis, sentenced to death, and shot on August 19, 1941.
That same day, a notice signed by the German military command in France was posted on the streets of Paris: “Szmul Tyszelman, a Jew from Paris, and Henry Gautherot of Paris have been sentenced to death for aiding the enemy by taking part in a communist demonstration directed against the German Occupation troops.”
Two days later, on the 21st, Pierre Georges shot and killed the German naval cadet Moser at the Barbès-Rochechouart metro station.
He tells his friends, “I’ve avenged Titi.”
References:
– Diamant David, 1984, Heroes and Martyrs of the Resistance, Renouveau Publishing
– *Le Maitron*, by Daniel Grason
– Photo: Alchetron (Courtesy of the artist)
