Obituary Serge Wourgaft (1917-2024)

2. Dezember 2024

At the beginning of December, we learned from our comrades of FNDIRP that Serge Wourgaft had passed away at the age of 108. This news fills us with deep sadness, as he was a comrade who was active for many decades of his life for the common anti-fascist idea.
Serge Wourgaft was born in Odessa on August 31, 1917. His family came to France in the 1920s. As a young man, he took part in the Resistance’s fight against the German occupation, was arrested and deported to Buchenwald concentration camp. As a member of the French inmate group, he contributed to the self-liberation of the camp on April 11, 1945. Even after the liberation, he was responsible for the medical service in the camp.
After his return to France, he was press attache to the Minister of Food Supply, editor at the Reuters news agency and member of the cabinet of the Minister of Public Works and Transport.
In 1957, on behalf of his organization FNDIRP, he began working for the World Federation of Veterans (FMAC/WVF), of which he became Secretary General in 1979. In this function, he worked closely with the FIR, which was expressed, for example, in the war veterans‘ “Rome Appeal” on company policy. When he gave up this function in 1997, he was elected President of the FMAC/WVF for another three years. In 2000, he relinquished this function and became Honorary President.
He also held other social functions, e.g. as Chairman of the Special Committee of NGOs for Disarmament in Geneva or as Chairman of the Liaison Committee for the Transportation of the Disabled (COLITRAH).
Serge WOURGAFT was highly honored as a Resistance fighter, Commander of the Legion of Honor, Grand Officer in the National Order of Merit and recipient of the War Cross, the Resistance Medal and numerous foreign awards.
He was associated with his organization FNDIRP until his last breath. In May 1998, he was elected a member of the FNDIRP’s Honorary Committee. Since 2013, he was editor of the FNDIRP’s monthly newspaper “Le Patriote Résistant”. He was also actively involved in the “Concours National de la Résistance et de la Déportation” and in other contexts.
Our condolences go out to his family and his French comrades. We will keep Serge Wourgaft in honorable memory.