Madeleine Weis-Bauler is a notable figure in Luxembourg's cultural scene, recognised for her contributions as a writer, painter and resistance fighter.
Born on 13 February 1921 in Esch-sur-Alzette, she trained as a nursery nurse in Brussels shortly before the start of the Second World War. During the war, she lived with her parents in Linster. Refusing to join the Volksdeutsche Bewegung movement, she had difficulty finding a job and eventually turned to temporary work.
She joined the Lëtzeburger Fräiheetskämpfer resistance movement, which forced her to flee to France in 1941. Denounced by a fellow countrywoman, she was arrested at Easter 1944. She was then sent to the Compulsory Labour Service, where she worked in vineyards, horticultural farms, a sawmill and then in an underground munitions factory in Allendorf. Finally, she was imprisoned in the Ravensbrück and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps.
After the war, this woman of character sought to return to a normal life. In 1947, she married Robert Weis and became the mother of three children. In 1977, the family moved to Echternach. At the age of 60, she discovered a passion for painting. In 2009, the Abbaye de Neumünster Cultural Centre exhibited her watercolours and oil paintings, subsequently dedicating a room to her in tribute to her involvement in the Luxembourg resistance.
At the age of 78, Madeleine Weis-Bauler finally decided to write her memoirs, perhaps realising that she would no longer have the opportunity to explain to her grandchildren the reasons for her internment. In the book, entitled ‘Aus einem anderen Leben’ (From Another Life), originally published in Les Cahiers luxembourgeois, Madeleine Weis-Bauler recounts, in simple and modest language, the circumstances that led her to join the resistance networks, her arrest, and the various stages of her journey that ended in the concentration camps.
Madeleine Weis-Bauler passed away on 10 April 2014 in Echternach, leaving behind a precious legacy of courage and creativity.
Sources:
- https://www.autorenlexikon.lu/page/author/564/564/FRE/index.html
- https://www.neimenster.lu/
- https://lb.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_Weis-Bauler
- http://www.ons-jongen-a-meedercher.lu/archives/personnes/bauler-ep-weis-madelaine/documents
- d'Lëtzebuerger Land, 19 April 2002