Albrecht, Bertie (?–1943)

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Albrecht, Bertie (?–1943)

French partisan. Born of Swiss parents in Marseille; died at Fresnes prison on May 29, 1943.

Sought out Henri Frenay in Vichy (1940), whose group would eventually be known as Combat; typed and distributed their underground newspaper, "Petites Ailes"; moving to Lyon, took a cover job as regional director for unemployed women at the Ministry of Labor; arrested, was transferred to a concentration camp by Vichy government (1942); feigned insanity and was taken to an asylum at Bron, where fellow Combat regulars helped her escape; plunged once more into underground work, even replacing Frenay when he was away; arrested by the Gestapo, hung herself in the cell she was occupying at Fresnes prison.

See also Women in World History.