“The family friend we thought we knew” was a former French member of the SS, sentenced to death

Chat screwed on the head, impeccable polo shirt placed on broad shoulders, socks; we would have given the good Lord without confession to Paul Pradier, a smiling nonagenarian in the twilight of his life. In a photo kept by his friends in Vendée, we see him posing proudly in “his summer uniform”, immaculate white. The outfit gave him (almost) the appearance of a pope in residence at Castel Gandolfo, a sacred dimension. The blood that stained his hands could no longer stain him: decades after the end of the Second World War, it had had time to dry.

The Vendéen Frédéric Albert dedicated a book to Paul Pradier (1), whom he considered his great-uncle: “He was a radiant grandpa, a friend of the family. » He immediately continues: “Finally, the family friend we thought we knew. » Unlike the actors of the Splendid troupe, her grandpa infiltrated the Resistance. And he only learned that after his death, in 2018. “We called one of his nephews to tell him the news. He spoke to us briefly about the war and the prison for everything he had done,” relates Frédéric Albert. Intriguing remarks which pushed the Vendéen to investigate the past of this “brave little Paul”.

It’s not SD

Reading a passage from the work “1944 in Dordogne” by Jacques Lagrange (Pilot24, 1993) made him “fall out of the closet”. It says: “Militiaman, Paul Pradier, originally from Montagrier”. Through his research in the Bordeaux Archives and a meeting with the son of a former accomplice of Pradier, Frédéric Albert realized the evidence; the little man he liked, as helpful as he was falsely grumpy, was not a militiaman, but a member of the Sipo-SD, an intelligence service of the SS.

“Pradier is responsible for the deportation of several people. He participated in the attack on the Durestal maquis or the Piles massacre,” contextualizes the Périgord historian Patrice Rolli. His work supported the work of Frédéric Albert, and made it possible to link Paul Pradier to numerous misdeeds committed during the years 1943 and 1944. They were more and more numerous under the impetus of the North African brigade, formed by the Nazis in the spring of 1944. One of the leaders of this thug unit was Alexandre Villaplane, the “Platini or Zidane of the 1930s.”

“Lacombe Lucien”

Patrice Rolli continues: “Paul Pradier was unscrupulous, insolent. The circumstances of History allowed him to rise quickly. What emerges is a feeling of omnipotence. » It perhaps has its roots in a professional disappointment: the young roadman from Montagrier had long dreamed of becoming a mechanic. Frédéric Albert draws a parallel with a work of fiction, “Lacombe Lucien”. Louis Malle’s film, released in 1974, tells the story of a young man of modest origin, who, after being rejected by the Resistance, becomes a zealous member of the Gestapo. The similarity is uncanny.

Only the ending differs. Lucien Lacombe, a fictional character, is shot by resistance fighters at the end of the war. Paul Pradier, a flesh-and-blood collaborator, will end up in his nineties. A small feat, the roadman of Montagrier had been sentenced to death twice. The sentence will be commuted to life imprisonment; he will leave after ten years, the turn of the 1950s being favorable to amnesties.

The roadman of Montagrier had been sentenced to death twice

Right to be forgotten?

This is the start of Paul Pradier’s new life, far from Périgord. He will only return occasionally, notably to receive an inheritance. The little man settled in the Luberon, before settling in Vendée to end his days there. At Les Herbiers, he leaves the memory of a man “talkative, jovial, but discreet about his life”. “When we learned of his past, it was a huge shock,” says Frédéric Albert. He adds, with a smile: “Some people say to me: ‘Do you realize? I still have jars of jam that Pradier gave me!” I tell them to keep them carefully. »

A person asked Frédéric Albert the reasons which pushed him to stir up the past: what do the SS informer of 1944 and the grandpa in socks of 2010 have in common? “I asked myself the question,” breathes the Vendée author. This work is reparation for my family and for the victims of Paul Pradier. Legally, he has paid his debt to society. » The right to be forgotten? “It was valid during his lifetime. »

(1) “The Last Gestapo”, Frédéric Albert, Éditions RMP, €18. Available for sale on Amazon or to order by email to [email protected] (+ €4 shipping costs).