A young Communist activist executed under occupation
Before his execution, he wrote in his farewell letter, “What I wish with all my heart is that my death may serve some purpose.”
Guy Môquet was a French Communist youth activist from Paris who entered underground activity after his father was imprisoned. Arrested at sixteen in 1940, he passed through French imprisonment and administrative detention before being transferred to the Châteaubriant camp in 1941. The German occupation authorities selected him as a hostage in retaliation for the killing of Karl Hotz in Nantes and executed him on 22 October 1941; his death became a symbol of the cost imposed on young Communists by occupation and collaboration.
Career Timeline
- 1924Born in Paris
- 1930년대 후반Student at Lycée Carnot and activist in the Communist Youth
- 1940.10Arrested by French police and imprisoned at Fresnes
- 1941.01–02Held administratively after acquittal, then transferred through Santé and Clairvaux
- 1941.05Transferred to the Choisel camp at Châteaubriant
- 1941.10.22Executed as a hostage at Châteaubriant