José dos Santos was a member of the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans Français (FTPF), the resistance organization created by the French Communist Party. In 1942 he was captured and executed by the Germans.

When the war started he was a miner and a member of the French Communist Party, and he soon joined the resistance movement, taking part in several sabotage acts.

He was arrested by the French police in Divion, along with other members of the resistance on 13 October 1942. Handed over to the Germans, he was sentenced to death on the 22nd of the same month. On 4 November he was executed by firing squad at the Citadel of Arras along with 28 fellow fighters, among them the Portuguese descendant Albert de Lima.

José dos Santos lived in the Divion area, was married to the Frenchwoman Juliette Herbert, and had two children.

During the years of the occupation of France, 218 people associated with the French resistance were executed at the Citadel of Arras alone.

Carlos Guerreiro

Note: We thank António Marrucho for his collaboration. He has been publishing stories of Portuguese people in the armed forces and the French resistance in Luso Jornal, a newspaper based in France.