Groupe Mario, la resistance oubliee

In Moselle, a French department annexed by the Third Reich in 1940, resistance was organized. The Mario group, a network from railway, mining and steel workers, is growing. Under the direction of Jean Burger known as "Mario", the group distributed leaflets then moved on to sabotage actions, soon becoming the number one enemy of the German authorities. To dismantle this network, the Gestapo created the "Sonderkommando Kappel" in 1943. a special unit made up of experienced police officers. Infiltrated, the Mario group was dismantled and more than 800 members were arrested in this vast dragnet and then interrogated at Fort de Queuleu in Metz in a secret prison. All-powerful leader of this secret place, Commander Georg Hempen terrorizes the prisoners. The members of the Mario group are joined by other resistance fighters who have also fallen. They are also young people resistant to incorporation and hostages taken from the families of those who managed to flee to the Free Zone. In total, more than 1,300 prisoners will pass through this fort before being sent to a concentration camp. Through unpublished archives, this documentary investigation reveals a dark side of the History of the Moselle and highlights the courage and commitment of these resistance fighters forgotten in national memory. Following in the footsteps of historian Cedric Neveu, at the heart of Michael Landolt's work of memory, we have reconstructed the painful journey of these resistance fighters, forgotten by History. The fall of the Mario group is part of the tragic destiny of the history of the annexed Moselle and its forcible "Germanization" leading to violent repression against the population and any form of resistance.