Marrannes, Henri
Item
Name
Marrannes, Henri
Given name
Henri
Family name
Marrannes
Relation
French YCW leader
One-line bio
French YCW leader sent to Germany under the Compulsory Work Service scheme, where he continued to organise workers, leading to his arrest and deportation to Gotha Concentration Camp where he died. He was beatified on 13 December 2025.
Biography
Henri was the fifth of seven children in a modest family of Belgian immigrants. Born on 27 June, 1923, in Ferrières-la-Verrerie (Orne), he became a member of the Young Christian Workers (JOC) in Paris, the Paris-South-West regional leader in 1940, and very quickly, the heart and soul of the Falguière section. He matured very early, his brothers and sisters say:
"At fifteen, he was the one we asked for advice... with him, there were no empty words; words were like commitments followed by action; not sectarian with non-Christians, but demanding for himself and others in the JOC."
He was the undisputed leader. He created (with the Secours Populaire charity) a mutual aid service for disadvantaged families, providing them with parcels of potatoes thanks to a former member of the Young Christian Workers (JOC) who had returned to Franche-Comté. Employed in a small mechanical workshop—repairing typewriters, cash drawers, etc.—at the Compagnie Real , he learned on 29 October, 1942, that there would be nine conscripts in the workshop, almost half of the able-bodied workforce between 18 and 50 years old.
"If there are too many defections due to health reasons, or if two or three of them take off without leaving an address, I'm as good as gold as a lamb to the slaughter... Those from the workshop are going to Gera, near Leipzig. [...] In any case, if I have to leave, I'll leave the matter of potatoes and parcels in good hands..."
He effectively took the place of a married comrade and father of two children and, on 6 November, he informed his correspondent in Franche-Comté, André Jacquinot, that he had entrusted the mutual aid service to a fellow JOC member:
"This is my last word from Paris, as I'm leaving at 10 o'clock from the Gare de l'Est [...] I'm leaving you now. More united than ever in Christ. A thousand thanks for all the trouble you caused me for potatoes or anything else."
In Gera (Thuringia), on 8 November, 1942, he sought to locate all the JOC members, JAC members, scouts in order to regroup them, visited the STO commandos Sunday after Sunday , while trying to help his imprisoned brother-in-law escape.
A member of the Young Christian Workers (JOC) federation in Nantes, Louis Bacle, described Henri in a letter dated 22 January, 1981: a leader, a coach, gathering everyone in a room at the rectory, then in a café in town, teaching him German and passing on his German language course : "You'll see, that way we'll be able to manage when we travel." Many of his comrades were seeing women of all nationalities, risking imprisonment and contracting the disease, and this immorality worried him.
"When you think that some are married, others engaged, what will happen when they go home?"
He was determined to go to Mass, taking the train without authorization or papers. Having arranged for the repatriation of a young JOCF (Young Christian Workers) from the North, who had left on a whim, he accompanied her to the train in September 1943:
"At least, that's one thing saved in every respect," he said.
He had convinced Father Yves Rabourdin (from Stalag IX C, Kommando 544 B in Gera) to "go civilian" in July 1943 in order to supervise them. Yves was reluctant, as those who had "converted" were considered "collaborators." And so began the countless meetings, every Sunday, with activists and groups in all the surrounding towns, until Christmas 1943, when surveillance tightened. At that point, three groups were allowed to remain independent, and the others were divided into smaller groups, with a maximum of five members, to avoid attracting attention in the cafés. The priest, for his part, brought together seminarians and religious to form " The Monastery ," and to support the Young Christian Workers' (JOC) movement through prayer.
Henri was preparing the investigations – See, judge, act – to make his prejudiced or totally ignorant comrades understand the beauty of the Mass, preparing for Christmas, Easter... Saint Paul was his model: he loved the risk of the apostolate in the difficult environment in which he lived, going to find the guys wherever they were:
"To be a redeemer with Christ, to pay for others as He had done," was his motto at that time.
But around mid-March, Father Rabourdin's home was searched. He warned Henri, but Henri was arrested the next day and taken to Gotha. According to the prosecution, a letter had been sent to a Young Christian Workers (JOC) member in Thuringia by a French Cardinal: "Form JOC groups and make contact with the German Catholic Action groups resisting the Nazi party." Whether true or false, this information at least proves that the boys were arrested for their JOC activities, therefore, for Catholic Action.
“Henri,” said Yves Rabourdin, “was of the same caliber as the first generation of Young Christian Workers (JOC) for whom love of the masses and love of Christ were intertwined: ‘ We will make our brothers Christians again… ’ The secret of his spiritual life shone through in his work… It was he who spurred me on to embark on the adventure of the Thuringia mission. … He, along with the others, forced me to reflect on my place as a priest in the Church. Trained as a Sulpician, I lived the life of a ‘religious priest of God.’ It was THEY who opened me up to the role of the ‘missionary priest in the Church’ and companion to those who were then called activists.”
Eugène Jean, a notoriously strong-willed guy at the Horch factory in Zwickau, recalls his memories of Riton :
“One of the striped ones told me: ‘We mustn’t let you be seen, because you’re in serious danger.’ When I pointed out that he was too, he replied: ‘But for me, it doesn’t matter. I’m a Christian, a member of the JOC, and the bullying and beatings I receive are nothing compared to the suffering Jesus endured for you and for me. Besides, it’s my offering for the good of my fellow JOC members; it’s my way of praying—for me and for all people, like Christ.’”
Suddenly, the tough guy reveals himself to be a Christian, a former member of the Young Christian Workers (JOC), living his faith and considering himself on a mission to French workers. Henri tells him of his desire and that of other imprisoned activists to have communion wafers for Christmas: Eugène, disguising himself as a prisoner, obtains them from the chaplain of Camp IV F, and places them on the toilet wall in a clean Lion Noir shoe polish tin.
They met again during an interrogation where Henri was severely beaten. Eugène was sentenced in turn, and they found themselves back at the striped prisoners' work detail: friends again procured communion wafers for them on the toilet wall. This time, in a round Gibbs toothpaste tin . In Henri's barracks, they received communion again from consecrated fragments provided by another "striped" prisoner, praying and murmuring the Young Christian Workers (JOC) song. Henri was very ill. Taken to the infirmary, he made the sign of the cross with his fingers to say " prayer ." Eugène thought back to his last words:
"Think of Heaven. This is already the path that leads there. Pray often and always for others, for me, and for you; the Lord knows what to do with us."
The next day, 4 April, 1945, he was dead:
“They killed him,” said the doctor (he had been beaten with a plank). “Since then, I have never stopped praying and living as a Christian,” added Eugène. “He is a good guardian angel for me, especially when I am in difficulty. It is impossible to forget Riton. When I met him, he was already in heaven.”
Source
Armand Duval, Missionaries and Martyrs, 51 Witnesses of Christ Facing Nazism , François-Xavier de Guibert, 2005.
"At fifteen, he was the one we asked for advice... with him, there were no empty words; words were like commitments followed by action; not sectarian with non-Christians, but demanding for himself and others in the JOC."
He was the undisputed leader. He created (with the Secours Populaire charity) a mutual aid service for disadvantaged families, providing them with parcels of potatoes thanks to a former member of the Young Christian Workers (JOC) who had returned to Franche-Comté. Employed in a small mechanical workshop—repairing typewriters, cash drawers, etc.—at the Compagnie Real , he learned on 29 October, 1942, that there would be nine conscripts in the workshop, almost half of the able-bodied workforce between 18 and 50 years old.
"If there are too many defections due to health reasons, or if two or three of them take off without leaving an address, I'm as good as gold as a lamb to the slaughter... Those from the workshop are going to Gera, near Leipzig. [...] In any case, if I have to leave, I'll leave the matter of potatoes and parcels in good hands..."
He effectively took the place of a married comrade and father of two children and, on 6 November, he informed his correspondent in Franche-Comté, André Jacquinot, that he had entrusted the mutual aid service to a fellow JOC member:
"This is my last word from Paris, as I'm leaving at 10 o'clock from the Gare de l'Est [...] I'm leaving you now. More united than ever in Christ. A thousand thanks for all the trouble you caused me for potatoes or anything else."
In Gera (Thuringia), on 8 November, 1942, he sought to locate all the JOC members, JAC members, scouts in order to regroup them, visited the STO commandos Sunday after Sunday , while trying to help his imprisoned brother-in-law escape.
A member of the Young Christian Workers (JOC) federation in Nantes, Louis Bacle, described Henri in a letter dated 22 January, 1981: a leader, a coach, gathering everyone in a room at the rectory, then in a café in town, teaching him German and passing on his German language course : "You'll see, that way we'll be able to manage when we travel." Many of his comrades were seeing women of all nationalities, risking imprisonment and contracting the disease, and this immorality worried him.
"When you think that some are married, others engaged, what will happen when they go home?"
He was determined to go to Mass, taking the train without authorization or papers. Having arranged for the repatriation of a young JOCF (Young Christian Workers) from the North, who had left on a whim, he accompanied her to the train in September 1943:
"At least, that's one thing saved in every respect," he said.
He had convinced Father Yves Rabourdin (from Stalag IX C, Kommando 544 B in Gera) to "go civilian" in July 1943 in order to supervise them. Yves was reluctant, as those who had "converted" were considered "collaborators." And so began the countless meetings, every Sunday, with activists and groups in all the surrounding towns, until Christmas 1943, when surveillance tightened. At that point, three groups were allowed to remain independent, and the others were divided into smaller groups, with a maximum of five members, to avoid attracting attention in the cafés. The priest, for his part, brought together seminarians and religious to form " The Monastery ," and to support the Young Christian Workers' (JOC) movement through prayer.
Henri was preparing the investigations – See, judge, act – to make his prejudiced or totally ignorant comrades understand the beauty of the Mass, preparing for Christmas, Easter... Saint Paul was his model: he loved the risk of the apostolate in the difficult environment in which he lived, going to find the guys wherever they were:
"To be a redeemer with Christ, to pay for others as He had done," was his motto at that time.
But around mid-March, Father Rabourdin's home was searched. He warned Henri, but Henri was arrested the next day and taken to Gotha. According to the prosecution, a letter had been sent to a Young Christian Workers (JOC) member in Thuringia by a French Cardinal: "Form JOC groups and make contact with the German Catholic Action groups resisting the Nazi party." Whether true or false, this information at least proves that the boys were arrested for their JOC activities, therefore, for Catholic Action.
“Henri,” said Yves Rabourdin, “was of the same caliber as the first generation of Young Christian Workers (JOC) for whom love of the masses and love of Christ were intertwined: ‘ We will make our brothers Christians again… ’ The secret of his spiritual life shone through in his work… It was he who spurred me on to embark on the adventure of the Thuringia mission. … He, along with the others, forced me to reflect on my place as a priest in the Church. Trained as a Sulpician, I lived the life of a ‘religious priest of God.’ It was THEY who opened me up to the role of the ‘missionary priest in the Church’ and companion to those who were then called activists.”
Eugène Jean, a notoriously strong-willed guy at the Horch factory in Zwickau, recalls his memories of Riton :
“One of the striped ones told me: ‘We mustn’t let you be seen, because you’re in serious danger.’ When I pointed out that he was too, he replied: ‘But for me, it doesn’t matter. I’m a Christian, a member of the JOC, and the bullying and beatings I receive are nothing compared to the suffering Jesus endured for you and for me. Besides, it’s my offering for the good of my fellow JOC members; it’s my way of praying—for me and for all people, like Christ.’”
Suddenly, the tough guy reveals himself to be a Christian, a former member of the Young Christian Workers (JOC), living his faith and considering himself on a mission to French workers. Henri tells him of his desire and that of other imprisoned activists to have communion wafers for Christmas: Eugène, disguising himself as a prisoner, obtains them from the chaplain of Camp IV F, and places them on the toilet wall in a clean Lion Noir shoe polish tin.
They met again during an interrogation where Henri was severely beaten. Eugène was sentenced in turn, and they found themselves back at the striped prisoners' work detail: friends again procured communion wafers for them on the toilet wall. This time, in a round Gibbs toothpaste tin . In Henri's barracks, they received communion again from consecrated fragments provided by another "striped" prisoner, praying and murmuring the Young Christian Workers (JOC) song. Henri was very ill. Taken to the infirmary, he made the sign of the cross with his fingers to say " prayer ." Eugène thought back to his last words:
"Think of Heaven. This is already the path that leads there. Pray often and always for others, for me, and for you; the Lord knows what to do with us."
The next day, 4 April, 1945, he was dead:
“They killed him,” said the doctor (he had been beaten with a plank). “Since then, I have never stopped praying and living as a Christian,” added Eugène. “He is a good guardian angel for me, especially when I am in difficulty. It is impossible to forget Riton. When I met him, he was already in heaven.”
Source
Armand Duval, Missionaries and Martyrs, 51 Witnesses of Christ Facing Nazism , François-Xavier de Guibert, 2005.
Country of origin
English
France
Geographic area
Orne
Birth date
June 27, 1923
Birth place
Ferrières-la-Verrerie
Death date
April 4, 1945
Death place
Gotha Concentration Camp
Movement
French JOC
Affiliation
French JOC