In memory of Yvonne dite Catherine ROUX

23.03.2024

At the initiative of the Chamelet Ensemble association and under the patronage of the Comité International de Ravensbrück, an event was held on March 9 to pay tribute to the memory of Yvonne dite Catherine ROUX, who lived at 7 rue de la Concorde in Chamelet from 1963 to 1974.

Born in Lyon in 1918, she was a member of the local branch of the Combat network from 1942 to September 1943, then joined its main office in Paris, from October 1, 1943 to February 22, 1944, the date of her arrest. There, she was in charge of the secretariat of the NAP network (Noyautage des Administrations Publiques) and liaison with agents in Paris and the provinces. Arrested and tortured, she gave no information. She was deported to Ravensbrück (serial number 35.282) on April 18, 1944, then transferred to Kommando Holleschein on June 5, 1944, which was attached to Flössenburg on September 1 (serial number 50.747).

She was liberated on May 5, 1945 by Czech and Polish resistance fighters. She left Holleschein on May 18

and arrived in Paris on May 23.

Mentioned in the army order with the assimilation rank of second lieutenant, she was awarded the Croix de Guerre. She was also named in the Order of the Legion of Honor, where she was promoted to the rank of officer. She is one of 349 women to be awarded the highest grade of the Resistance medal, with rosette.

On Saturday March 9, a commemorative plaque on the façade of her former home was unveiled in the presence of Françoise Marchelidon, Deputy Treasurer of the Comité International de Ravensbrück, representatives of the Association des Déportés Internés Résistants et Patriotes du Rhône and the Délégation territoriale Rhône DT 69T des Amis de la Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Déportation.

Despite very strong gusts of wind, some sixty participants then gathered in the exhibition room of the Pavillon Ca'Lucia for the inauguration of an exhibition dedicated to Catherine Roux and her comrades, in the presence of Rhône Senator Catherine di Folco and Geneviève Jacquet, first deputy mayor of the Commune of Chamelet.

Françoise Marchelidon reading her testimony

The official speeches were followed by emotional testimonials from Françoise Marchelidon, Catherine Roux's daughter Isabelle Tremblay-Roux, and a resident of Chamelet to whom Catherine Roux, "a great lady", had given a taste for reading, and who had given her autographed book "Triangle Rouge" when she was a child.

The Ravensbrück testament was then at the heart of the audience: "We express the wish that our children will consider the free existence of human beings as a supreme value, that the right to life, the right to personal dignity and the right to freedom can never again be violated. In the coexistence of peoples, social existence and justice must replace all aspirations to dominance".

The following have lent their support to the exhibition:

Isabelle Tremblay-Roux, Michel Lhopital, Lucile Chartain in charge of documentary studies at the Archives nationales - Département de l'Exécutif et du législatif- Pôle Guerres mondiales,

Ambra Lorenzi - President of the Comité International de Ravensbrück, Marie-France Cabeza Marnet Co-President of the Amicale and Treasurer of the Comité International de Ravensbrück with Mme Marie Jo Chombart de Lauwe, Françoise Marchelidon, Deputy Treasurer of the Comité International de Ravensbrück, Michal Bordne - Flossenbürg Memorial Archives, Karine Perrissin-Faber- Head of the Public Department-Documentary Research Division and Caroline Bouchez-Service historique de la Défense-Centre historique des archives- Château de Vincennes.