Last letters of The Manouchian Group February 21, 1944
Source: Philippe Ganier Raymond. L'Affiche Rouge, Fayard, Paris. 1975;
Translated: for marxists.org by Mitch Abidor
Robert Wichitz, son of Polish miners in the north of France, who the Nazis mistakenly took for a Jew when putting him on The Red Poster, wrote to his parents.
My dear parents,
Just a few words to tell you of my death sentence, and that I'll be executed this afternoon at 3:00.
Aside from that, and despite it all, my morale is good, and, more than that, don’t worry too much about it.
I swear to you that I'm not at all scared, for I believe I deserved it, and I've been expecting it for three months. So I've gotten used to it. I hope you've heard something in the newspapers. I'm counting on you, I beg you to be reasonable, for everything is forgotten with time, and all you have to do is carry on as if I wasn’t condemned, and soon life will be beautiful.
I'm going to fall, but sorrow mustn’t crush you; you must be as strong as I am at this moment. My death isn’t extraordinary, and no one should feel sorry for me, for thousands fall every day, on the front or otherwise.
I know it will be tough for you who love me to never see me again, but it has to be accepted and one has to know how to pay.
I implore you, be brave, and tell yourselves that I die like a man, and that death doesn’t frighten me. I thought of you much, during my captivity, and I didn’t have one moment of weakness.
I hope that you will be able to prove yourselves courageous too; I end this, dear parents, kissing you with all my heart, with the regret of not being able to hold you one more time in my arms.
Farewell Papa, farewell my little Maman, courage...
Robert