Place Joseph Epstein

Place Joseph Epstein honors a man whose life was defined by extreme courage during the Second World War. Joseph Epstein was a Polish-born lawyer and a dedicated communist activist who became a pivotal leader of the French Resistance. Known by his clandestine pseudonym, Colonel Gilles, he served as the operations commander for the Paris region within the resistance group Francs-Tireurs et Partisans. He fundamentally changed how the French Resistance fought the occupation. Before his command, resistance fighters largely operated in small, three-person cells to minimize risk. Epstein introduced a more aggressive strategy by organizing units of fifteen to twenty fighters. This allowed for larger-scale guerrilla operations against the German military, forcing the occupiers to contend with a more coordinated and effective shadow army in the capital. Epstein was arrested in late 1943 during a meeting with fellow resistance leader Missak Manouchian. Despite enduring months of brutal interrogation and torture, he steadfastly refused to reveal his real identity or his true role in the resistance. Because he hid his background so effectively, he remained a mysterious figure to his captors even as they executed him by firing squad at the Fort Mont-Valérien on April 11, 1944. Today, this location stands as a tribute to his legacy as a key figure in the struggle for liberation.