Madeleine Truel: The Peruvian Heroine of World War Two

Madeleine seated front, 3rd from right 

Madeleine Truel was a Peruvian woman of French parentage who fought in the French Resistance as a document forger.

She was captured in 1944 and was tortured to extract information without success, following which she was sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin 1945. She died in Stolpe, Germany on 3 May 1945, after being made to walk on a "death march" just a few hours before the Russian troops arrived.

Alexandre Léon Truel and Marguerite Larrabure, were French immigrants who had arrived in Peru in the second half of the 19th century. They had eight children of which Madeleine was the youngest daughter, born on 28 August 1904. Madeleine grew up in the family home located on the old 54 Arequipa street in Lima. Her father managed a hardware store located at 150 Jirón de la Unión. She came from an observant Catholic family and studied at the school San José de Cluny, located on the corner of the Boliva Street and Jiron Washington in downtown Lima. French was spoken in her home and this allowed her to perfect her command of French along with Spanish.

Both of Madeleine Truel's parents died before she was 20 years old. Her mother was the first to pass away from ill health. Then her father died on 6 May 1918, in the clinic Maison de Santé in Lima, due to an infected leg wound which he acquired whilst he was working for the fire brigade putting out a fire at the "El Pergamino" shop. Alexandre Truel was recognized as a hero of Fire Brigade Nº3 and was decorated with a gold medal.

The orphaned Truel children decided to return to France at the request of some family members in Paris in 1924. Madeleine decided to study philosophy at the Sorbonne University. She later found work as an administrative assistant in the first branch of the Spanish Bilbao bank, located on the Rue de Richelieu. She told her workmates anecdotes of her life in Peru, and explained the traditions as well as the current affairs. She also liked to cook traditional Peruvian dishes for her french friends.

In January 1942, Madeleine was knocked over by a Nazi army truck. She was diagnosed with multiple fractures to the cranium and legs and spent about a year in hospital recovering from her terrible injuries. Due to this accident she had a limp that stayed with her for the rest of her days.

The Book Madeleine Wrote

In 1943, she co-wrote the book L'Enfant du Metro  (The Boy of the Subway) along with her sister Lucha. The book narrates a story of a boy who travels through the stations of the Paris subway. The book was dedicated to Pascal, the son of a family of Jewish-Romanian origins who were friends of hers. Her sister Lucha drew the illustrations for the book and Madeleine wrote the text. The publishers were Editions du Chêne. The seemingly innocent story book was Madeleine's covert literary protest at the German occupation of Paris and the persecution of the Jews.

In June 1940 when the German forces had invaded Paris, a married couple - Pierre and Annie Hervé - who were friends of Madeleine introduced her to some members of The French Resistance and very soon she began working in order to help them. Madeleine´s job was to forge documents, especially passports, and travel papers which were delivered to many Jewish fugitives and allied soldiers that had parachuted over the French capital. She used the pseudonym "Marie" when carrying out her resistance work. All the papers, passports and travel documents were forged by hand and she was so good at it, her work was rarely spotted as fake by German soldiers, and subsequently she saved many hundreds of people's lives in this way. 

Documentary on Madeleine

On 19 June 1944, Truel was captured by three German agents when she was picking up ink in one of the resistance's hide-away houses. Days before, a resistance comrade called Annie had been captured and with the information they had gathered from her, the agents set a trap which led directly to Madeleine's capture.

After being arrested she was driven to the SS offices located on the Foch Avenue and then she was temporary transferred to the Fresnes prison.

She was tortured by force for many days by the SS in order  they could uncover more details about the plans and the people of the resistance she was working with - but she refused to co-operate and didn't give away any details. She kept telling them that she assumed all the responsibility for her acts. Her family visited her and the only thing they could leave her was a Bible.

She was transferred to Sachsenhausen concentration camp in 1945. In the concentration camp she lived in a very heroic and charitable manner. She re-distributed the small amount of food that she received, in order to help those who needed it most. 

Gates at Sachsenhausen

She maintained good spirits in spite of all the terrible hardships she suffered at Sachsenhausen  and liked to entertain her fellow prisoners with stories that she remembered about Peru. For this reason she received the affectionate name "Bird of the Isles" from her cell-mates.

As the end of the war drew near, the Soviet army was approaching from the east and the U.S. military from the west. German troops began to become very disorganized and started to flee.

Survivors of the concentration camps were moved in what was to become known as the "Death Marches" in late 1944 and early 1945.

Prisoners at Sachsenhausen

The Death March of prisoners from Sachsenhausen concentration camp to Lübeck, located just over 100 miles away, began on 22 April.

Many prisoners were exhausted by severe malnutrition and the bad living conditions and weather they had been forced to endure - most were not physically fit to march and many were dying along the way.

The purpose of these marches was to hide some of the evidence of the evil brutality suffered in the concentration camps. A German soldier who became impatient with the slowness of the marching prisoners began to beat some of them furiously with a steel rod. One of these victims was Madeleine.

A few hours later the Germans abandoned the marching prisoners and stripped off their uniforms in order to hide from the Russian troops that were now pursuing them. Madeleine lost consciousness and was carried on a stretcher by her fellow prisoners. In spite of her small stature it took six people to do the task because they were all so weak and malnourished themselves. Eventually the group of survivors arrived in a small German town called Stolpe. When she became consciousness again Madeleine complained of suffered a strong headache and a high fever, and then shortly afterwards, she died.

Women Prisoners at Sachsenhausen

The friends who accompanied her to her grave, dressed her in a red dress and sought a Catholic priest to pronounce the funeral prayers, in the confidence that Madeleine would have appreciated that gesture. Before being buried, one of the companions knotted her bracelet with the Star of David on Madeleine’s arm, so that she could later be identified as a victim of the Nazi concentration camp. Another, placed on her chest red and white geraniums in homage to her Peruvian flag and nationality and as a sign of gratitude for how much she had taught them about her country of birth.

In front of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, there is a memorial of homage to all the people who were deported from France during World War II, the great majority of names on it are Jewish - but in that long list also appears the name of Madeleine Blanche Pauline Truel Larrabure - one of the few Peruvian heroines of World War Two.

At the end of 1946, a survivor from the concentration camp of who knew Madeleine well, wrote a testimonial article in Le Figaro Newspaper . It is from this article that the story of Madeleine Truel's life and death was uncovered. Over the last 70 years Madeleine's name has almost been forgotten - even by her fellow Peruvians who have never honoured her in any way. 

In Peru, journalist Hugo Coya published the book “Final Station” in 2010, where he tells the story of the Peruvians who died in the Nazi concentration camps. The chapter on Madeleine is the first Peruvian text that claims the merits of this authentic heroine of the twentieth century. It shows us how it is possible to transcend adversity, overcome courageously, find fortitude in misfortune, and fully assume the defense of universal values ​​through solidarity and a faithful respect for human rights.

There has also been a short  Peruvian documentary film made about Madeliene. You can watch both a short English Language clip and a 30 minute documentary on her life below - the second one is narrated in Spanish but you can click on the YouTube subtitles on bottom right of the video player to get English subtitles.

 SHORT CLIP ABOUT MADELEINE

 30 MINUTE PERUVIAN DOCUMENTARY ON MADELEINE

Corrie Ten Boom & The Holocaust Hiding Place

Cornelia "Corrie" ten Boom was a Dutch Christian who, along with her father, sister and other family members, helped many Jews escapes the Nazi Holocaust during World War II. Her most famous book, The Hiding Place, was made into a film in 1971 and now a new film "Return To The Hiding Place" re-tells the story of her courageous family.

Born in Amsterdam, Holland, on 15 April 1892, Corrie ten Boom grew up in the nearby city of Haarlem, the youngest of four children born to Cornelia and Casper ten Boom. Corrie's three maternal aunts, Bep, Jans and Anna also lived with her family, and helped to bring Corrie up after her mother died suddenly from a brain haemorrhage in 1921.

CORRIE AND HER SISTERS BETSIE AND NOLLIE

Her father, Casper ten Boom, worked as a watchmaker, and in 1924 Corrie became the first licensed female watchmaker in the Netherlands. Corrie and her sister, Betsie never married, and until their arrest in 1944, they had lived their entire lives in their childhood home in Haarlem.

In May 1940, the Nazis invaded the Netherlands and the Ten Boom’s lives changed forever. They did not agree with the persecution of the Jews, nor did they support the invasion of their homeland by the Germany Army.  2 years later, in May 1942, a well-dressed woman came to the Ten Booms' with a suitcase in hand. She told them that she was a Jewish woman and that her husband had been arrested several months before.  Her son had gone into hiding, the Occupation authorities had recently visited her, and now she was too afraid to go back to her home. She had heard through friends that the Ten Booms had helped some of their Jewish neighbors, and asked if they might help her too. Casper ten Boom readily agreed that she could stay with them. A devoted reader of the Old Testament, he believed that the Jews were the 'chosen people', and he told the woman, "In this household, God's people are always welcome."

The family became active in the Dutch underground movement, hiding many refugees. Despite the difficulties they faced, they always provided kosher food for their Jewish guests and honored the Jewish Sabbath. By protecting these people, Casper and his daughters, Corrie and Betsie, risked their lives every day. This non-violent resistance against the Nazi-oppressors was the Ten Booms' way of living out their Christian faith. This faith led them to hide not just Jews, but also students who refused to cooperate with the Nazis, and other members of the Dutch underground resistance movement.

Every non-Jewish Dutch person had received a ration card, the requirement for obtaining weekly food coupons. Through her charitable work, Ten Boom knew many people in Haarlem and remembered a couple who had a disabled daughter. The father was a civil servant who by then was in charge of the local ration-card office. She went to his house one evening, and when he asked how many ration cards she needed, "I opened my mouth to say, 'Five,'" Ten Boom wrote in The Hiding Place. "But the number that unexpectedly and astonishingly came out instead was: 'One hundred.'" He gave them to her and she provided cards to every Jew she met.

Secret room

With so many people using their house, the family built a secret room in case a raid took place. They built it in Corrie ten Boom's bedroom because it was on the house's top floor, hopefully giving people the most time to hide and avoid detection -  most searches usually started on the ground or first floor. A member of the Dutch resistance designed the hidden room behind a false wall. Gradually, family and supporters brought building supplies into the house, hiding them in briefcases and rolled-up newspapers. When finished, the secret room was about 30 inches deep, the size of a medium wardrobe. A ventilation system allowed for breathing. To enter the secret room, a person had to open a sliding panel in the plastered brick wall under a bottom bookshelf and crawl in on hands and knees. In addition, the family installed an electric raid-warning buzzer.

During 1943 and into 1944, there were usually 6-7 people illegally living in this home: 4 Jews and 2 or 3 members of the Dutch underground.  Additional refugees would stay with the Ten Booms for a few hours or a few days until another "safe house" could be located for them.  Corrie became a ringleader within the network of the Haarlem underground. She and other members would search for courageous Dutch families who would take in refugees, and much of Corrie’s time was spent caring for these people once they were in hiding. Through these activities, the Ten Boom family and their many friends saved the lives of an estimated 800 Jews, and also protected many Dutch underground workers.

Arrest, detention, and release

On February 28, 1944 the family were betrayed and at 12pm Midday the Gestapo raided their home.  Although the soldiers systematically searched the house, they could not find what they sought most. Safely hidden behind a false wall in Corrie’s bedroom were two Jewish men, two Jewish women and two members of the Dutch underground. The Gestapo set a trap and waited throughout the day, seizing everyone who came to the house. By the evening about 30 people had been taken into custody. 

Although the house remained under armed guard, the Resistance were able to liberate all the refugees 47 hours later.  The six people had managed to stay quiet in their cramped, dark hiding place for all that time, even though they had no water and very little food. The four Jews were taken to new "safe houses," and three of them survived the war.  One of the underground workers was later killed, but the other survived.

Because underground materials and extra ration cards were found in their home, Casper, Corrie and Betsie were all arrested and sent to Scheveningen prison. Corrie’s brother Willem, her sister Nollie, and her nephew Peter were also imprisoned, but later released.

Corrie’s father Casper, who was 84 years old, died after only 10 days in Scheveningen Prison.  When Casper was asked if he knew he could die for helping Jews, he replied, "It would be an honour to give my life for God's ancient people.”

Corrie and her sister Betsie were sent from Scheveningen Prison, to Herzogenbusch, a political concentration camp (also known as Kamp Vught), and then  finally they were taken to the infamous Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany. 

FEMALE PRISONERS AT RAVENSBRUSCK CONCENTRATION CAMP

Life in the camp was almost unbearable, but Corrie and Betsie spent a lot of their time sharing their religious beliefs with their fellow prisoners.  Many women became Christians in that terrible place, just because they listened to the comforting and uplifting prayers of Corrie and Betsie.

Betsie died in Ravensbruck concentration Camp, on December 16, 1944 aged 59. Before she died, she told Corrie, "There is no pit so deep that He [God] is not deeper still."

Another of Corrie’s nephews, Christiaan (24), had been sent to Bergen Belsen for his work in the underground, and never returned.  Corrie’s brother, Willem (60), was also a ring leader in the Dutch underground.  While in prison he contracted spinal tuberculosis and died shortly after the war. All in All Four Ten Booms gave their lives to help others during the Nazi occupation of Holland.

Corrie ten Boom was released from Ravensbruck Concentration Camp on December 28, 1944. In The Hiding Place, she says that she later learned that it had actually been down to a clerical error. She said, "God does not have problems — only plans."

RELEASE OF CORRIE FROM RAVENSBRUCK- FROM THE FILM "THE HIDDING PLACE"

Life after the war

After the war, Corrie Ten Boom returned to The Netherlands to set up a rehabilitation centre. The refuge houses were founded primarily to help concentration-camp survivors, but in a typically Christian approach, they also sheltered many a jobless Dutch collaborator- the very same people who had help betray Corrie’s family's activities to the Gestapo.

At age 53, Corrie began a world-wide Christian ministry which took her into more than 60 countries in the next 33 years. She traveled the world as a public speaker and she also wrote many books during this time.

Corrie was knighted by the Queen of Holland and in 1968, the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem asked Corrie to plant a tree in the Garden of Righteousness, in honour of the many Jewish lives her family saved.  Corrie’s tree still stands there today.

Her book The Hiding Place (1971) was made into a World Wide Pictures film in 1975, starring Jeannette Clift as Corrie and Julie Harris as Betsie.

 In 1977, 85-year-old Corrie moved to Placentia, California. In 1978, she suffered two strokes, the first rendering her unable to speak, and the second resulting in paralysis. She died on her 91st birthday, 15 April 1983, after a third stroke. 

In the Jewish tradition, it is only very blessed people who are allowed the special privilege of dying on their birthday!

The Ten Boom Museum in Haarlem, which is situated in their former shop and home, is dedicated to Corrie and the Ten Boom family for their work.

 

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THE HIDING PLACE