Rue Auguste Poullain

Hidden in Saint-Denis, Rue Auguste Poullain whispers a story of courage and loss. This street, named after Auguste Poullain, bears witness to the life of Marcel Poullain, a resident of this very street. Marcel, a communist and union activist, was arrested on June 24, 1941, during a large-scale round-up targeting communists and union members. This was a dark time, just a day after Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union. The arrest was part of “Aktion Theoderich,” a terrifying wave of arrests sweeping across occupied France. Marcel was initially held at the Hôtel Matignon, then transferred to the German-administered camp at Royallieu in Compiègne. Rue Auguste Poullain, then, became a silent observer to the unfolding tragedy. On July 6, 1942, Marcel was deported to Auschwitz on a train carrying 1,175 men, mostly communists and unionists, labeled as hostages. He was assigned the number 46,005, a chilling reduction of a man to a mere statistic. His photograph, taken upon arrival at Auschwitz, survives as a stark reminder of the human cost of war. Marcel died in Auschwitz on October 16, 1942, leaving behind a wife and daughter who also disappeared during the war. Their fate remains a mystery, another tragic echo in the story of Rue Auguste Poullain. In a poignant tribute, a local branch of the French Communist Party in Pierrefitte was named after Marcel in 1946. His name also graces the communal holiday camp in Cuzy. Rue Auguste Poullain stands not just as a street, but as a memorial to Marcel, a symbol of the resistance and the devastating impact of war on ordinary lives.