Gestapo in court
Jacques Maso, former member of the French Resistance in Perpignan, carried on his 73 year old legal battle against the Gestapo until his death in 2017 at the age of 93.
Son of an ambulance driver, he was able to get his hands on a valuable ‘laisser-passer’, a pass which allowed him to smuggle British airmen over the border into Spain.
Les Maso ont accueilli des aviateurs alliés, des Anglais, des Canadiens, qu’ils transportent dans leurs véhicules habilités à circuler, jusqu’à la frontière espagnole… (Mort de Jacques Maso)
In 1944, aged 20, he was denounced and he and his father were arrested, interrogated, tortured and imprisoned for ten days. On their release, their savings of 90,000 francs in cash and 40,000 francs in vouchers had been stolen, they believed, by the Gestapo agents who picked them up.
Jacques consequently filed a complaint against the Gestapo at the Prefecture of Perpignan in 1944 which he has continued to fight until his death.
Despite an official letter of gratitude from the British government, which he holds very dear, Jacques has been unable to gain recognition from the French as being an active resistance member.
However, his claim against the Gestapo, and the state of Germany continued to drive him, right up until his death, despite being turned down in several court cases.
