Morizot, Bernard
Item
Name
Morizot, Bernard
Given name
Bernard
Family name
Morizot
Relation
French YCW leader
One-line bio
Bernard Morizot was a French YCW leader sent to Germany under the Compulsory Work Service regime, where he continued to organise young workers, leading to his arrest and deportation to Buchenwald Concentration Camp. On 20 April 1945, he was shot on the evacuation route from the camp. He was beatified on 13 December 2025.
Biography
Born on 2 April, 1924 in Avallon (Yonne). He was a scout, employed at the Crédit Lyonnais in Avallon as a "salesman" from 1940. On March 20, 1943, he was required to go and work in Germany following the Vichy law of February 1943. Yet, he was only 19 years old.
In Germany, he was assigned to the Köln-Zundof rubber factory in Cologne, where he was reunited with his brother.
The forbidden activities he undertakes are those that allow him to cope with his "rotten" situation: study circles, close relationships with the priests in the area, a priest in prison, a priest in prison who has been transformed, discovery of the clandestine JOC…
Pursuant to the Nazi decree of December 3, 1943, against French Catholic Action among French workers in Nazi Germany, he was arrested on July 13, 1944, in Gemünd, by the Cologne State Police, on the same day as twelve Franciscans and Jean Lépicier. " Your brother was a monk ," a Gestapo officer replied to Michel Morizot when he asked him why his brother had been arrested. He was imprisoned in Brauweiler Prison.
He was deported to Buchenwald on 17 September, 1944 (No. 81750), then transferred to the Halberstadt-Zwieberge commando.
He died on 20 April, 1945, shot on the evacuation route from the camp near Jessen.
Testimony from his nephew (July 2021)
I was deeply moved to find my uncle's photo with just a few clicks. The very same photo I always saw hanging in my father's office.
My father had told me that in difficult times, simply looking at this photo was enough to give him the courage to carry on.
Bernard was the fifth of six boys in the family. My father was the youngest, born in 1928.
In the family, I often heard talk of Bernard's strong character. It was clearly his rebellious streak that led him to resist the pressure of the German system.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, my parents and I traveled to retrace Bernard's entire journey. From Buchenwald to the Langenstein-Zwieberge labor camp, we walked step by step along the road to death, guided by accounts written by survivors, including Father Gaben's book, who supported my uncle until the very end. The sound of the explosion that killed Bernard remained etched in his memory.
It's heartbreaking for this priest who called these young deportees his children.
In this difficult time of "health crisis," I think back to Bernard and all those who fought and resisted. Of course, there's no comparison between these tragic moments in history and the current crisis we're going through, but the implementation of the "pass" is strangely reminiscent of the abuses and controls inflicted on people during that era. Will we ever regain our full freedom? Certainly not.
The number 81750 will be my QR code in memory of Bernard, my father, and all the members of my family who suffered under this oppression.
Sincerely.
In Germany, he was assigned to the Köln-Zundof rubber factory in Cologne, where he was reunited with his brother.
The forbidden activities he undertakes are those that allow him to cope with his "rotten" situation: study circles, close relationships with the priests in the area, a priest in prison, a priest in prison who has been transformed, discovery of the clandestine JOC…
Pursuant to the Nazi decree of December 3, 1943, against French Catholic Action among French workers in Nazi Germany, he was arrested on July 13, 1944, in Gemünd, by the Cologne State Police, on the same day as twelve Franciscans and Jean Lépicier. " Your brother was a monk ," a Gestapo officer replied to Michel Morizot when he asked him why his brother had been arrested. He was imprisoned in Brauweiler Prison.
He was deported to Buchenwald on 17 September, 1944 (No. 81750), then transferred to the Halberstadt-Zwieberge commando.
He died on 20 April, 1945, shot on the evacuation route from the camp near Jessen.
Testimony from his nephew (July 2021)
I was deeply moved to find my uncle's photo with just a few clicks. The very same photo I always saw hanging in my father's office.
My father had told me that in difficult times, simply looking at this photo was enough to give him the courage to carry on.
Bernard was the fifth of six boys in the family. My father was the youngest, born in 1928.
In the family, I often heard talk of Bernard's strong character. It was clearly his rebellious streak that led him to resist the pressure of the German system.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, my parents and I traveled to retrace Bernard's entire journey. From Buchenwald to the Langenstein-Zwieberge labor camp, we walked step by step along the road to death, guided by accounts written by survivors, including Father Gaben's book, who supported my uncle until the very end. The sound of the explosion that killed Bernard remained etched in his memory.
It's heartbreaking for this priest who called these young deportees his children.
In this difficult time of "health crisis," I think back to Bernard and all those who fought and resisted. Of course, there's no comparison between these tragic moments in history and the current crisis we're going through, but the implementation of the "pass" is strangely reminiscent of the abuses and controls inflicted on people during that era. Will we ever regain our full freedom? Certainly not.
The number 81750 will be my QR code in memory of Bernard, my father, and all the members of my family who suffered under this oppression.
Sincerely.
Country of origin
English
France
Geographic area
Yonne
Birth date
April 2, 1924
Death date
April 20, 1945
Death place
Buchenwald Concentration Camp
Movement
French JOC
Affiliation
French JOC