Frantxia Haltzuet

Francisca Romana Halzuet Alzate
BornAugust 29, 1908
Bera, Navarre, Spain
DiedApril 12, 1945 (aged 36)
Ravensbrück concentration camp
Cause of deathBeating
AllegianceComet Line
Battles / warsWorld War II 
Spouse(s)Filipe Usandizaga

Frantxia Haltzuet (Francia Usandizanga) was a Basque resistance fighter and member of the Comet line.[1]

Life before the war

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Frantxia was born in Bera, Navarre, Spain on August 29, 1908 she married her husband, Filipe Usandizaga in 1930 and had three children. Her husband Filipe died in 1939.[2]

World War 2

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During World War 2 Frantxia joined the Comet Line, a Resistance organization that help smuggle allied troops from France and Belgium to Spain.[3] Frantxia used her farmhouse in Urrugne where her three children lived and a Spanish refugee Juan Larburu.[2] On January 13 1943 Frantxia was arrested alongside three British airmen in her farmhouse by the Gestapo she was deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp.[4][2] She died on April, 12, 1945 from a beating by Nazi guards.[5][1]

Legacy

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On April 12 2025, the 80th anniversary of her death, a school in Bera and the mayor of the town payed tribute to her and placed a plaque on lectern in honer of her and renamed Altzate square after her.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Frantxia Haltzuet Altzate omenduko dute larunbatean Beran - Bortziriak". Erran.eus (in Basque). Retrieved 2025-06-01.
  2. ^ a b c "Juan Larburu mugalaria eta Kometa Sarea – Independentea.eus". independentea.eus (in Basque). 2023-09-30. Retrieved 2025-06-01.
  3. ^ BPSGM (2017-03-10). "LAULHE Benoit. Réseaux. Passages. Passeurs.20: L'ÉCHEC DU RÉSEAU COMÈTE A BIDEGAIN-BERRI". BPSGM (in French). Retrieved 2025-06-01.
  4. ^ Celaya, Diego Gaspar (2019-05-01). "Au combat sans armes". Cahiers d'histoire. Revue d'histoire critique (in French) (141): 37–55. doi:10.4000/chrhc.9721. ISSN 1271-6669.
  5. ^ Celaya, Diego Gaspar (2021-12-01). "Le rôle des femmes espagnoles dans les évasions clandestines à travers les Pyrénées". Guerres Mondiales et Conflits Contemporains (in French). 284 (4): 53–65. doi:10.3917/gmcc.284.0053. ISSN 0984-2292.