Michel Thomas
Encyclopedia
Michel Thomas was a polyglot
linguist, language teacher and decorated war veteran. He survived imprisonment in several different Nazi concentration camps
after serving in the Maquis (World War II)
of the French Resistance
and worked with the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps
during World War II
. After the war, Thomas emigrated to the United States
, where he developed a language-teaching system known as the Michel Thomas Method
. In 2004 he was awarded the Silver Star
by the U.S. Army.
, to a wealthy Jewish family who owned textile
factories. When he was seven years old, his parents sent him to Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland), where he fitted in comfortably. The rise of the Nazis
drove him to leave for the University of Bordeaux
in France
in 1933, and subsequently the Sorbonne
and the University of Vienna.
, which was nominally neutral under the Vichy
government, changing his name to Michel Thomas so he could operate in the French Resistance
movement more easily. He was arrested several times, and sent to a series of Nazi concentration/slave-labour camps, finally being sent to Camp des Milles
, near Aix-en-Provence
. In August 1942, Thomas secured release from Les Milles using forged papers
and made his way to Lyon
, where his duties for the Resistance entailed recruiting Jewish refugees into the organisation. In January 1943, he was arrested and interrogated by Klaus Barbie
, only being released after convincing the Gestapo
officer that he was an apolitical French artist. He would later testify at the 1987 trial of Barbie in Lyon
, although the prosecutor "threw doubt" on Thomas' testimony with regard to the "difficulties of identification" after so much time had elapsed. In February 1943, after being arrested, tortured and subsequently released by the Milice
, the Vichy French paramilitary militia, Thomas joined a commando
group in Grenoble
, assisting the OSS
, then began working for the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps
.
When the Dachau concentration camp was liberated on April 29, 1945, Thomas learned the whereabouts of Emil Mahl (the "hangman of Dachau"), whom Thomas arrested two days later. Thomas, along with CIC colleague Ted Kraus, subsequently captured SS Major Gustav Knittel
(wanted for his role in the Malmedy massacre
). Mahl and Knittel were later convicted of war crimes. Mahl was sentenced to death and Knittel to life imprisonment, although both sentences were subsequently commuted. Thomas also engineered a post-war undercover sting operation that resulted in the arrest of several former S.S. officers. A 1950 Los Angeles Daily News article credits Thomas with the capture of 2,500 Nazi war criminals. In the final week of World War II, Thomas also played a part in the recovery of a cache of Nazi documents that had been shipped by the Nazi leadership to be pulped at a paper mill in Freimann, Germany. These included the worldwide membership card file of more than ten million members of the Nazi party.
After the end of the war, Thomas learned that his parents and most of his extended family had died at Auschwitz
.
, where an uncle and cousins resided. He opened a language school in Beverly Hills called the "Polyglot Institute" (later renamed "The Michel Thomas Language Center") and developed a language-teaching system known as the Michel Thomas Method
, which he claimed would allow students to become conversationally proficient after only a few days' study. His clients included diplomats, industrialists and celebrities. The success of the school led to tours and a second school in New York
, as well as a series of instructional books and tapes in French, Spanish, German and Italian. At the time of Thomas's death in 2005, his tapes, CDs and books were the leading method of recorded language-learning in the United Kingdom. In 1997, Thomas participated in a BBC television
science documentary, The Language Master, in which he taught French to a group of UK sixth form
students in five days, despite their having no previous experience with the language.
Thomas remained unmarried until late in life, when he wed Los Angeles schoolteacher Alice Burns. They had a son and daughter before the marriage ended in a divorce.
In 2001, when the Los Angeles Times
published a profile casting doubts about Thomas' war record, he unsuccessfully sued the newspaper for defamation. In 2004, after archival documents and recent testimonials of Thomas's surviving World War II comrades were submitted to the U.S. Army by Senator John McCain
and Representative
Carolyn Maloney
, Thomas was awarded the Silver Star
for "gallantry in action against the enemy in France from August to September 1944 while a Lieutenant in the French Forces of the Interior attached to the [U.S.] 1st Battalion, 180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division." The award was presented by former Senator Robert Dole
and Senator John Warner
at the National World War II Memorial
in Washington D.C. on May 25, 2004.
Polyglot (person)
A polyglot is someone with a high degree of proficiency in several languages. A bilingual person can speak two languages fluently, whereas a trilingual three; above that the term multilingual may be used.-Hyperpolyglot:...
linguist, language teacher and decorated war veteran. He survived imprisonment in several different Nazi concentration camps
Nazi concentration camps
Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps set up in Germany were greatly expanded after the Reichstag fire of 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime...
after serving in the Maquis (World War II)
Maquis (World War II)
The Maquis were the predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance. Initially they were composed of men who had escaped into the mountains to avoid conscription into Vichy France's Service du travail obligatoire to provide forced labour for Germany...
of the French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
and worked with the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps
Counter Intelligence Corps
The Counter Intelligence Corps was a World War II and early Cold War intelligence agency within the United States Army. Its role was taken over by the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps in 1961 and, in 1967, by the U.S. Army Intelligence Agency...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After the war, Thomas emigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where he developed a language-teaching system known as the Michel Thomas Method
Michel Thomas Method
The Michel Thomas Method is an original method developed by Michel Thomas for teaching languages. Thomas stated that his students would be conversationally proficient after a few days' study....
. In 2004 he was awarded the Silver Star
Silver Star
The Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....
by the U.S. Army.
Childhood
Thomas was born in Łódź, PolandPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, to a wealthy Jewish family who owned textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
factories. When he was seven years old, his parents sent him to Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland), where he fitted in comfortably. The rise of the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
drove him to leave for the University of Bordeaux
University of Bordeaux
University of Bordeaux is an association of higher education institutions in and around Bordeaux, France. Its current incarnation was established 21 March 2007. The group is the largest system of higher education schools in southwestern France. It is part of the Academy of Bordeaux.There are seven...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1933, and subsequently the Sorbonne
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
and the University of Vienna.
World War II
Thomas's biography gives an account of his war years. When France fell to the Nazis, he escaped to NiceNice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
, which was nominally neutral under the Vichy
Vichy
Vichy is a commune in the department of Allier in Auvergne in central France. It belongs to the historic province of Bourbonnais.It is known as a spa and resort town and was the de facto capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation from 1940 to 1944.The town's inhabitants...
government, changing his name to Michel Thomas so he could operate in the French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
movement more easily. He was arrested several times, and sent to a series of Nazi concentration/slave-labour camps, finally being sent to Camp des Milles
Camp des Milles
The Camp des Milles was a French internment camp, opened in September 1939, in a former tile factory near the village of Les Milles, part of the commune of Aix-en-Provence .-History:...
, near Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence
Aix , or Aix-en-Provence to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city-commune in southern France, some north of Marseille. It is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, in the département of Bouches-du-Rhône, of which it is a subprefecture. The population of Aix is...
. In August 1942, Thomas secured release from Les Milles using forged papers
Forgery
Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or...
and made his way to Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, where his duties for the Resistance entailed recruiting Jewish refugees into the organisation. In January 1943, he was arrested and interrogated by Klaus Barbie
Klaus Barbie
Nikolaus 'Klaus' Barbie was an SS-Hauptsturmführer , Gestapo member and war criminal. He was known as the Butcher of Lyon.- Early life :...
, only being released after convincing the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
officer that he was an apolitical French artist. He would later testify at the 1987 trial of Barbie in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, although the prosecutor "threw doubt" on Thomas' testimony with regard to the "difficulties of identification" after so much time had elapsed. In February 1943, after being arrested, tortured and subsequently released by the Milice
Milice
The Milice française , generally called simply Milice, was a paramilitary force created on January 30, 1943 by the Vichy Regime, with German aid, to help fight the French Resistance. The Milice's formal leader was Prime Minister Pierre Laval, though its chief of operations, and actual leader, was...
, the Vichy French paramilitary militia, Thomas joined a commando
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
group in Grenoble
Grenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
, assisting the OSS
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
, then began working for the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps
Counter Intelligence Corps
The Counter Intelligence Corps was a World War II and early Cold War intelligence agency within the United States Army. Its role was taken over by the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps in 1961 and, in 1967, by the U.S. Army Intelligence Agency...
.
When the Dachau concentration camp was liberated on April 29, 1945, Thomas learned the whereabouts of Emil Mahl (the "hangman of Dachau"), whom Thomas arrested two days later. Thomas, along with CIC colleague Ted Kraus, subsequently captured SS Major Gustav Knittel
Gustav Knittel
Gustav Knittel was an SS-Sturmbannführer in the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and a convicted war criminal.- Early life :...
(wanted for his role in the Malmedy massacre
Malmedy massacre
The Malmedy massacre was a war crime in which 84 American prisoners of war were murdered by their German captors during World War II. The massacre was committed on December 17, 1944, by members of Kampfgruppe Peiper , a German combat unit, during the Battle of the Bulge.The massacre, as well as...
). Mahl and Knittel were later convicted of war crimes. Mahl was sentenced to death and Knittel to life imprisonment, although both sentences were subsequently commuted. Thomas also engineered a post-war undercover sting operation that resulted in the arrest of several former S.S. officers. A 1950 Los Angeles Daily News article credits Thomas with the capture of 2,500 Nazi war criminals. In the final week of World War II, Thomas also played a part in the recovery of a cache of Nazi documents that had been shipped by the Nazi leadership to be pulped at a paper mill in Freimann, Germany. These included the worldwide membership card file of more than ten million members of the Nazi party.
After the end of the war, Thomas learned that his parents and most of his extended family had died at Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
.
Post-war years
In 1947, Thomas emigrated to Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where an uncle and cousins resided. He opened a language school in Beverly Hills called the "Polyglot Institute" (later renamed "The Michel Thomas Language Center") and developed a language-teaching system known as the Michel Thomas Method
Michel Thomas Method
The Michel Thomas Method is an original method developed by Michel Thomas for teaching languages. Thomas stated that his students would be conversationally proficient after a few days' study....
, which he claimed would allow students to become conversationally proficient after only a few days' study. His clients included diplomats, industrialists and celebrities. The success of the school led to tours and a second school in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, as well as a series of instructional books and tapes in French, Spanish, German and Italian. At the time of Thomas's death in 2005, his tapes, CDs and books were the leading method of recorded language-learning in the United Kingdom. In 1997, Thomas participated in a BBC television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
science documentary, The Language Master, in which he taught French to a group of UK sixth form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
students in five days, despite their having no previous experience with the language.
Thomas remained unmarried until late in life, when he wed Los Angeles schoolteacher Alice Burns. They had a son and daughter before the marriage ended in a divorce.
In 2001, when the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
published a profile casting doubts about Thomas' war record, he unsuccessfully sued the newspaper for defamation. In 2004, after archival documents and recent testimonials of Thomas's surviving World War II comrades were submitted to the U.S. Army by Senator John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
and Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Carolyn Maloney
Carolyn B. Maloney
Carolyn Bosher Maloney is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, popularly known as the "silk stocking district", includes most of Manhattan's East Side; Astoria and Long Island City in Queens; and Roosevelt Island.-Early life,...
, Thomas was awarded the Silver Star
Silver Star
The Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....
for "gallantry in action against the enemy in France from August to September 1944 while a Lieutenant in the French Forces of the Interior attached to the [U.S.] 1st Battalion, 180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division." The award was presented by former Senator Robert Dole
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
and Senator John Warner
John Warner
John William Warner, KBE is an American Republican politician who served as Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974 and as a five-term United States Senator from Virginia from January 2, 1979, to January 3, 2009...
at the National World War II Memorial
National World War II Memorial
The U.S. National World War II Memorial is a National Memorial dedicated to Americans who served in the armed forces and as civilians during World War II...
in Washington D.C. on May 25, 2004.
Death
Thomas died of heart failure at his home in New York City on 8 January 2005, the month before what would have been his ninety-first birthday.External links
- Official site
- Official Michel Thomas Method site
- Guardian Obituary by Christopher Robbins, author of Thomas's biography
- Washington Post Obituary by Adam Bernstein
- Website re: Michel Thomas v. LA Times & Roy Rivenburg, 2001 defamation case