Mélanie Berger-Volle, a centenarian French Resistance member who survived harsh interrogation and imprisonment during World War II, carried the Olympic flame in the 2024 Paris torch relay at the age of 102. Her life story spans decades of political activism, resistance against fascism, and enduring commitment to social justice.
Born in 1921 in Vienna to a Jewish family, Berger-Volle became politically active early on. At 14, she attended her first meeting of the banned Socialist Revolutionary Party of Austria. She witnessed firsthand the rise of Austro-fascism and the 1938 Anschluss, when Nazi Germany annexed Austria. Present among a huge crowd hearing Adolf Hitler announce the annexation, she later recalled the chilling scene as a moment that steeled her resolve against Nazism.
Following the Nazi takeover, Berger-Volle fled Austria, determined to reach France, which she regarded as a "land of liberty." Her journey included hitchhiking across Austria and Germany and crossing into Belgium with the aid of people smugglers—one of whom she confronted when he attempted to exploit her. She eventually entered France disguised as a boy to evade detection and settled in Paris.
With the outbreak of World War II, Berger-Volle was interned as an enemy alien but escaped custody by leaping from a train bound for an internment camp. Taking on the pseudonyms Anna and Nelly, she settled near Toulouse and became involved in the French Resistance, distributing anti-Nazi propaganda aimed at German soldiers and workers. She contributed to underground newspapers urging defection from the Nazi cause and actively opposed fascist forces.
Her resistance activities led to her arrest in January 1942. During her detention at Saint-Michel prison in Toulouse, she endured beatings but refused to betray her comrades. Convicted of spreading “anarchist and communist propaganda,” she was sentenced to 15 years’ hard labor and imprisoned at Baumettes women’s prison in Marseille, where she remained under threat from Klaus Barbie, the notorious Nazi officer known as the "Butcher of Lyon."
While gravely ill and hospitalized with jaundice, Berger-Volle orchestrated a daring escape with the help of Resistance allies posing as Gestapo and Red Cross personnel. After her escape, she continued clandestine operations across France, acting as a liaison between resistance networks.
After the war, Berger-Volle stayed in Paris but faced challenges as an undocumented immigrant. She eventually gained French citizenship through marriage, worked various jobs, and lived for periods in Madagascar and Vienna. In later years, she began sharing her experiences in schools across France and Austria, emphasizing the motivations behind her fight against fascism rather than the acts themselves.
A recipient of the Légion d’honneur and the Austrian gold medal of the Order of Merit, Berger-Volle revisited symbolic sites from her past, including a 2023 walk on the Hofburg Palace balcony where Hitler had proclaimed the Anschluss. She has expressed continued concern about the direction of contemporary French politics, particularly regarding the far-right National Rally.
On June 22, 2024, Berger-Volle participated in the Olympic torch relay in Saint-Étienne, symbolizing a lifetime commitment to resistance, memory, and political engagement. Her story reflects the enduring impact of the Resistance and the complex legacy of 20th-century European struggles against fascism.