Perriolat, Jean
Item
Name
Perriolat, Jean
Given name
Jean
Family name
Perriolat
Relation
French YCW leader
One-line bio
Jean Perriolat was a French YCW leader sent to Germany under the Compulsory Work Service regime where he continued to organise workers, leading to his arrest and deportation to Mauthausen Concentration where he died. He was beatified on 13 December 2025.
Biography
Born on 12 June, 1920, in Romans (Drôme). In August 1936, he worked at the Boutin wholesale grocery and drugstore in Romans. He then worked as a cutter at the Cuirs Meillon leather factory. In 1937, he joined the Young Christian Workers (JOC), becoming its federal leader. He became engaged on 4 October, 1942.
From 20-23 March, he was requisitioned for the STO (Forced Labor Service), in solidarity with the working class: "Should we have obeyed the requisition order or refused? We briefly considered the second option, staying put and waiting to be handcuffed and escorted away between two gendarmes. After a few minutes of reflection, Jean (Perriolat) said: 'No, for ten minutes of "stand-in duty," we can't abandon our comrades'" (testimony of Michel Lemonon, JOC chaplain in Romans at the time).
In Germany, he arrived in Breslau on 23 March, 1943. He was assigned to the Phrix complex in Hirschberg in the "maintenance and repairs" department. It was a synthetic chemical plant where about one hundred French people were employed out of 5,000 workers of all nationalities.
The forbidden activities he developed were a direct result of his solid background in the Young Christian Workers movement in France. He wasn't afraid to arrange special masses for the French, became responsible for Catholic Action in Lower Silesia, and made contact with prisoners and their chaplains. Together, they created Study Circles, many of which met at the convent in Hirschberg.
In accordance with the Nazi decree of 3 December, 1943, against French Catholic Action among French workers in Nazi Germany, he was arrested on 26 November, 1944, at the factory. Among the arrests at Hirschberg, which numbered over one hundred, were nearly 90 prisoners of war who had refused to join the "Pétain circles." The dozen or so forced laborers (STO) arrested were apprehended for their involvement in Catholic Action, betrayed by a French volunteer who reported on the group weekly. Interrogations took place at the prisons in Breslau and Hirschen.
He was sent on 18 December, 1944, to the nearby Gross-Rosen concentration camp. With the arrival of the Russian army, "tomb trains" were evacuated to other camps, from which few prisoners survived. He arrived at Mauthausen on February 15, 1945 (prisoner number 128885).
He died on 14 April, 1945 at the Mauthausen camp.
He was beatified on 13 December 2025.
From 20-23 March, he was requisitioned for the STO (Forced Labor Service), in solidarity with the working class: "Should we have obeyed the requisition order or refused? We briefly considered the second option, staying put and waiting to be handcuffed and escorted away between two gendarmes. After a few minutes of reflection, Jean (Perriolat) said: 'No, for ten minutes of "stand-in duty," we can't abandon our comrades'" (testimony of Michel Lemonon, JOC chaplain in Romans at the time).
In Germany, he arrived in Breslau on 23 March, 1943. He was assigned to the Phrix complex in Hirschberg in the "maintenance and repairs" department. It was a synthetic chemical plant where about one hundred French people were employed out of 5,000 workers of all nationalities.
The forbidden activities he developed were a direct result of his solid background in the Young Christian Workers movement in France. He wasn't afraid to arrange special masses for the French, became responsible for Catholic Action in Lower Silesia, and made contact with prisoners and their chaplains. Together, they created Study Circles, many of which met at the convent in Hirschberg.
In accordance with the Nazi decree of 3 December, 1943, against French Catholic Action among French workers in Nazi Germany, he was arrested on 26 November, 1944, at the factory. Among the arrests at Hirschberg, which numbered over one hundred, were nearly 90 prisoners of war who had refused to join the "Pétain circles." The dozen or so forced laborers (STO) arrested were apprehended for their involvement in Catholic Action, betrayed by a French volunteer who reported on the group weekly. Interrogations took place at the prisons in Breslau and Hirschen.
He was sent on 18 December, 1944, to the nearby Gross-Rosen concentration camp. With the arrival of the Russian army, "tomb trains" were evacuated to other camps, from which few prisoners survived. He arrived at Mauthausen on February 15, 1945 (prisoner number 128885).
He died on 14 April, 1945 at the Mauthausen camp.
He was beatified on 13 December 2025.
Country of origin
English
France
Geographic area
Drôme
Birth date
June 12, 1920
Birth place
Romans
Death date
April 14, 1945
Death place
Mauthausen Concentration Camp
Movement
French JOC
Affiliation
French JOC