Thomas Elek, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetThomas Elek
French resistance member
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Budapest, Hungary
About Thomas Elek
- Thomas Elek, also known as Tamás Elek and KERPAL (born 7 December 1924, Budapest - d.
- 21 Feb 1944, Paris) was one of 22 members of the French resistance convicted and executed at the fort of Mont Valérien as one of the Manouchian Group, part of the French liberation army FTP-MOI.
- After the executions, the Vichy government sought to discredit the resistance members, and widely distributed and posted thousands of copies of the Affiche Rouge.
- Named for its red background, the poster featured ten of the Manouchian group, including Elek.
- It identified him as "Elek Juif Hongrois 8 déraillements" (Elek, Hungarian Jew, 8 derailments). Elek had immigrated as a child with his family from Hungary to France in 1930, when they settled in Paris.
- After France fell to Nazi Germany in 1940 and enemy forces occupied Paris, he dropped out of the lycée and became involved in underground resistance movements.
- He was credited with armed attacks on German soldiers, including a train derailment in July 1943 that resulted in the death of 600 men.
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