Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to resistance fighter Robert Birenbaum, who died aged 99

Robert Birenbaum had “the extraordinary honor of climbing the steps of the Pantheon at the hands of the President of the Republic,” when Missak Manouchian entered the Pantheon, his son recalled.

“An example for everyone.” Emmanuel Macron paid tribute, Sunday, November 23, to resistance fighter Robert Birenbaum, a “man from dedication”, died on Saturday at the age of 99. “Robert Birenbaum joined the Resistance at the age of 16, along with Missak Manouchian and Marcel Rajman. Thus, he took the struggle for Freedom, Equality and Fraternity to the highest level”says hello to the president at X network. “He was faithful to this initial commitment throughout his life. He was and will remain an example to everyone”he added.

Robert Birenbaum came, like Missak Manouchian, from the group Francs-tireurs et partisans – Immigrant labor (FTP-MOI). Eighty years after their execution by the Nazis, at Mont Valérien, near Paris, foreign communist resistance fighter Missak Manouchian and 23 of her comrades in arms entered the Pantheon on February 21, 2024.

Robert Birenbaum later did so “the extraordinary honor of climbing the steps of the Pantheon on the arm of the President of the Republic”, recalled his son in X. Born in Paris into a Jewish family of Polish origin, Robert Birenbaum joined the Resistance in July 1942. After the war, he ran a leather goods shop in Paris. “He will finally join his beloved Tauba”his wife he met “Day of the Liberation of Paris, August 25, 1944”also wrote Guy Birenbaum.