Madeleine Riffaud

​​Madeleine Riffaud, born on August 23, 1924, in Arvillers, France, grew up surrounded by the lingering scars of World War I. The daughter of teachers, she moved to Paris as a young woman, drawn to literature and poetry. In 1942, at only 18, she joined the French Resistance, taking the code name "Rainer" after her favorite poet, Rainer Maria Rilke. Aligned with the FTP (Francs-Tireurs et Partisans), Riffaud embraced a life of risk and commitment to the fight against Nazi occupation. 

​In 1944, after the massacre of Oradour-sur-Glane, Riffaud took a pivotal action that would define her legacy. On July 23, she shot and killed a German officer in broad daylight on the Solférino footbridge in Paris. She later reflected that this act, performed "with the weapons of pain," was a grim duty, free of personal hatred. Shortly after the attack, Riffaud was captured by the Gestapo, who subjected her to weeks of relentless torture to extract information about her network. Despite the brutal interrogation, she remained silent, even as she was sentenced to death and imprisoned in Fresnes, narrowly avoiding execution multiple times. Her life was ultimately spared during a prisoner exchange organized by the Swedish consul, Raoul Nordling. 

​Upon her release, Riffaud returned immediately to the Resistance. On August 23, 1944—her 20th birthday—she led an assault on a German armored train in the Buttes-Chaumont tunnel, capturing over 80 enemy soldiers. Her bravery in this mission earned her the rank of lieutenant in the French Forces of the Interior, a rare honor for someone so young. 

​After the war, Riffaud confronted the trauma of her experiences with the support of poet Paul Éluard. She went on to become a journalist, covering the Vietnam and Algerian wars with the same dedication to truth and justice that defined her wartime actions. 

​Madeleine Riffaud passed away on November 6, 2024, at 100 years old.​