# Valentin Feldman

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**Valentin Feldman** (23 June 1909 – 27 July 1942) was a [French philosopher](/source/French_philosopher) and [Marxist](/source/Marxism) of Jewish-Russian origin. In 1942, he was murdered by the [Nazis](/source/Nazi) during the [Occupation of France](/source/German_military_administration_in_occupied_France_during_World_War_II).

Born in [Saint Petersburg](/source/Saint_Petersburg), he left the [USSR](/source/USSR) in 1922 at the end of the Civil War. He settled in Paris and studied at the [Lycée Henri IV](/source/Lyc%C3%A9e_Henri_IV) and the [Sorbonne](/source/University_of_Paris) University. A pupil of French philosopher [Victor Basch](/source/Victor_Basch), he worked on [aesthetics](/source/Aesthetics) and wrote an essay, *L'Esthétique française contemporaine* (*French contemporan aesthetic*), Félix Alcan, 1936.

Involved in public activities as a teacher of philosophy, he supported as an antifascist the [Front populaire](/source/Front_populaire) and the [Spanish Republic](/source/Second_Spanish_Republic) during the [Spanish Civil War](/source/Spanish_Civil_War). He joined the [French Communist Party](/source/French_Communist_Party) in 1937. Among his friends were [Jean-Paul Sartre](/source/Jean-Paul_Sartre), [Simone de Beauvoir](/source/Simone_de_Beauvoir), [Gaston Bachelard](/source/Gaston_Bachelard) and [Georges Politzer](/source/Georges_Politzer). In September 1939, he volunteered for the [French Army](/source/French_Army) despite suffering from a heart condition. Mobilized as a soldier in [Rethel](/source/Rethel), he began to write his *Journal de guerre* in January 1940 in the middle of the [Phoney War](/source/Phoney_War). He survived several air attacks and bombardments during the [Fall of France](/source/Fall_of_France) (May–June 1940).[1]

Under the [German Occupation](/source/German_Occupation) he was a teacher in [Dieppe](/source/Dieppe) but suffered from the first [law on the status of Jews](/source/Law_on_the_status_of_Jews) (October 1940). He was finally excluded from teaching in July 1941. By that time, he was already active in the [French Resistance](/source/French_Resistance). From 1940, he was liaison officer between Dieppe, [Rouen](/source/Rouen) and [Paris](/source/Paris). After a year, he wrote the texts against the collaborationist [Vichy regime](/source/Vichy_regime) and the Germans in the clandestine newspaper *L'Avenir normand* in Dieppe, and wrote several texts for the clandestine Parisian review *[La Pensée libre](/source/La_Pens%C3%A9e_libre)*, supervised by [Georges Politzer](/source/Georges_Politzer), [Jacques Decour](/source/Jacques_Decour) and [Jacques Solomon](/source/Jacques_Solomon). Becoming part of the underground, he joined a group of communist Resistance in Rouen, where he participated in actions against the German occupiers.

Arrested in February 1942 after the sabotage of a factory, he was imprisoned and tortured. Judged in Paris, he was condemned to death by a German military tribunal. He refused to sign his appeal for a reprieve. Feldman was executed by a firing squad on 27 July 1942. Addressing the German soldiers just before the salvo, he called out to them: "Imbeciles, it is for you that I die!"[2]

His last words inspired numerous French writers: [Jean-Paul Sartre](/source/Jean-Paul_Sartre) and [Louis Aragon](/source/Louis_Aragon) were among them.[3] French-Swiss film-maker [Jean-Luc Godard](/source/Jean-Luc_Godard) dedicated a short film to him, *The Last Word* (1988).

## Works

Essays :

- *L'Esthétique française contemporaine*, Paris, Félix Alcan, 1936. (fr.)
- *Journal de guerre. 1940-1941*, Tours, Farrago, 2006. (fr.)

Translations (from Russian to French) :

- I.K. Luppol, *Diderot. Ses idées philosophiques*, Paris, Éditions sociales internationales, 1936. (fr.)
- [Nicolas Ostrovski](/source/Nikolai_Ostrovsky), *Et l’acier fut trempé...*, préface de Romain Rolland, Paris, Éditions sociales internationales, 1937. (fr.)

## Further reading

- Pierre-Frédéric Charpentier, *"Imbéciles, c'est pour vous que je meurs!..." : Valentin Feldman (1909-1942)*, Paris : CNRS Éditions, 2021

## References

1. Valentin Feldman, *Journal de guerre, 1940-1941*, Farrago, 2006, p. 175.

1. Valentin Feldman, *Journal de guerre, 1940-1941*, Farrago, 2006, p. 7.

1. Jean-Paul Sartre, *Cahiers pour une morale*, Gallimard, 1983, p. 212; Louis Aragon, *L'Homme communiste*, Gallimard, 1946, p. 42.

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