After the executions, the Vichy government sought to discredit the resistance members, and widely distributed and posted thousands of copies of the Affiche Rouge.
The Elek family (Thomas, his father Sandor, his sister Marthe and his mother Hélène, then pregnant with his brother, Bela) emigrated to France in 1930.
Elek left the Lycée Louis-le-Grand at the age of 16, to become involved in the underground movement after Nazi German forces defeated France and occupied Paris.
He was promoted and named head of the group at the center of the 4th detachment of the FTP-MOI Paris region; they were known as des dérailleurs and commanded by Joseph Boczov.
All but the sole woman member of the Manouchian group were condemned to death in a show trial by military officers, and executed by firing squad three days later, 21 February 1944, at Mont Valérien.