French World Cup Captain Who Became a Nazi Killer: Alexandre Villaplane
Athletes at War: Sports and World War II [collection]
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In 1930, he captained France at the first FIFA World Cup — a national football hero at the height of his fame.
After the German invasion of 1940, Alexandre Villaplane chose collaboration. He joined the French Gestapo and later became an SS-Untersturmführer commanding a section of the Brigade Nord-Africaine, a unit used to crush the French Resistance.
In southwestern France, he extorted Jewish families, tortured civilians, and took part in executions — including the killing of 52 people in Mussidan in June 1944. Known for brutality and greed, he became one of occupied France’s most notorious collaborators.
After the Liberation of Paris, Villaplane was arrested and eventually paid the highest price for treason, collaboration, and murder.
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