Pierre-Marie Paoli was born on the 31st of December 1921 in the small town of Aubigny-sur-Nère, located about 50 kilometres from the city of Bourges in central France. The Second World War started on the 1st of September 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. The Battle of France began on the 10th of May 1940 and on the 22nd of June of the same year, the Armistice at Compiègne was signed by France and Germany. After the fall of France, Paoli decided to change the course of his life. He returned briefly to his hometown of Aubigny before settling in Paris, where he took on small jobs, including a short stint as a cyclist messenger for the German Navy. In January 1942, he returned to his previous post at the local tax office. Fluent in German and strongly anti-communist, Paoli soon caught the attention of the SD, the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party under Hitler’s regime.On the 31st of March 1943, he joined the Gestapo, the Nazi secret police, in Bourges as an interpreter. Stationed at 12 Michel de Bourges Street, he quickly became a trusted figure within the organization. Initially serving as an assistant to a German officer, he was soon placed in charge of Section 4A, which focused on combating communist activity. Thanks to his eagerness and loyalty, the Germans granted him broad autonomy and significant operational freedom.In his postwar trial, held in 1946, Paoli defended his actions by claiming that he believed he was not betraying France but rather protecting it. According to his own words, he saw himself as someone who was helping to rid the country of chaos and disorder. He claimed that the Resistance’s looting and defiance of authority violated his deeply held principles, and for that, he felt justified in targeting them.
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