Testimony on the detention of Mother Marie

This article publishes the testimony of Rosane Lascroux, a fellow prisoner of Mother Marie Skobtsov (Marie of Paris), canonized by the Orthodox Church. The text, drawn from a speech delivered at a commemoration, retraces the conditions of Mother Marie's detention from the Fort de Romainville to the Ravensbrück camp, between 1943 and 1945. Through five concrete episodes — a remark addressed to a soldier, the consumption of an unpalatable soup, an icon drawn in charcoal, exchanges with young Soviet Russians, and the embroidery of a shawl inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry — the testimony illustrates Mother Marie's strength of character, faith, and artistic creativity during her detention. The historical contribution lies in the precise description of the convoy to Ravensbrück and in the presentation of the embroidered shawl, an object preserved and passed on to the Orthodox Church of Paris, a unique material testimony to the saint's captivity.