Ahmadiyya Jabrayilov

According to the Azerbaijani media, in June 2016 in front of the Mausoleum of Cabertat, close to Montauban (50 km from Toulouse, where the remains of the Resistance heroes, including those from Azerbaijan lay) Ahmadiyya Jabrayilov (aka Akmed Michel) and other Azerbaijani members of the French Resistance who participated in the Maquis de Cabertat and the Third Hussars Regiment during the Second World War were commemorated. The commemoration also included the unveiling of a plaque with the portrait of Jabrayilov.

In the summer of 2015, the article about Jabrayilov was marked for removal in the Russian Wikipedia due to total "absence of traces in French reliable sources". Military documents of Jabrayilov in the French language in Sheki museum were composed with gross grammatical mistakes and did not include any details about the military operations with his participation. The awards on the photo of Jabrayilov exhibited in the museum included a medal for the First World War. During the discussions, French military archives were requested in the suggested locations of his participation in the resistance movement, however they knew nothing about a man under the name "Ahmadiyya Jabrayilov" and "Michel Akmed" or "Armed". The only archive that confirmed Jabrayilov's participation in the Resistance movement, Caserne Bernadotte, replied that Jabrayilov participated in the resistance movement since August 1944 and mentioned a single medal – jubilee "Medaille commemorative de la Guerre 1939–1945", which had been awarded to anyone having whatever relation to the resistance movement.

In November 2007, the French embassy in Azerbaijan, Baku French Cultural Centre and Sheki museum organized the exhibition He was called Armed Michele in France on the life of Ahmadiyya Jabrailov. Photos, original of documents and a documentary film about Jabrayilov were presented at the exhibition.

Jabrayilov is said to have died in Shaki, Azerbaijan on 11 October 1994. The telephone box he was using was hit by a truck with failed brakes.

In 1990, a man claimed to be Ahmadiyya Jabrayilov's son, major of Militsiya (police) Mikayil Jabrayilov was killed in Nagorno-Karabakh and honored with the name of the National Hero of Azerbaijan.

In 1985, Ahmadiyya Jabrayilov was awarded with the Order of the Patriotic War (second class). He also was awarded with the Order of the Red Banner of Labour, Order of the October Revolution and medals.

According to the captain B. Karpov (Soviet Military Review, 1975), Jabrayilov was placed in a camp near Montauban under the number 4167. A French woman, Jeanne, saved dying Jabrayilov by burying an empty coffin instead of his body. Jabrayilov joined the French partisans, with whom he carried out numerous dangerous combat operations. With the "Poppies squad" he liberated the city of Toulon, making his way through the sewers to the center of the city and striking behind the lines of the enemy. Jabrayilov also took part in the liberation of Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse and Paris. In 1945, Maurice Thorez invited Jabrayilov to his home and awarded him with orders and medals on behalf of the French government.

According to the French newspaper «Sud Ouest» (1975), maqui Jabrayilov was saved from a prison in Montauban while he was the prisoner of the Germans during the war. Later with the maquis of the region, he had to participate in the liberation of Montauban, Toulouse and Rodez.

There are several Soviet plays, stories and documentary films about Ahmadiyya Jabrayilov. In 1975 the film Hero of France (in Azerbaijani) was shot by Azerbaijani director Khamiz Muradov (in Azerbaijani).

In the book Against the Common Enemy (1972), Jabrayilov describes his own biography the following way:

According to Rugiya Aliyeva, in 1972, 1975, and 1980 Jabrayilov visited Rodez, Montauban, Toulouse, Albi and Paris, and met with his fighting comrades. In Paris, Jabrayilov was admitted by a member of the French Senate, Jacques Duclos, who gave him a memorable icon.

In 1970, Jabrayilov graduated from Azerbaijan State Agricultural University, worked as an agronom at kolkhoz named after Nariman Narimanov in Shaki Rayon. Jabrayilov took part in the 29th and 30th Congresses of Communist Party of Azerbaijan.

According to the article of Azerbaijani historian H. Mehtiyev (published in Ever Living Traditions in 1968), Jabrayilov fought in France within "the first Soviet partisan division". While he was with them, the division liberated Paris. In total, Jabrayilov was awarded 8 highest orders and medals of France.

In the newspaper Bakinskiy Rabochiy (Baku Worker) of 1966, the biography of Jabrayilov is presented the following way:

According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, de Gaulle met with Jabrayilov three times. Arriving in Moscow in 1966, de Gaulle included a meeting with Jabrayilov in his agenda. Jabrayilov was awarded the title of the "National Hero of France". He was also awarded the Legion of Honor and a number of other French decorations, including the Cross of Military Valour, which entitled him to march in parades ahead of the French generals.

In 1960, the Soviet newspaper Nedelya (1960) published the following version of the biography of Jabrayilov by Soviet journalist Nikolay Paniyev and Azerbaijani historian Garash Madatov:.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}

From 1960, Jabrayilov was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

According to Azerbaijani historian Ilgam Abbasov, who made a researches related to Azerbaijani partizans, Jabrayilov served at the 1st French Army till 13 March 1945. Archive documents prove that Jabrayilov fought valiantly at that period.

According to the Azerbaijani Soviet Encyclopedia, Jabrayilov was captured in May 1942 in course of the battle for Donbas, and was kept in Dachau and Alsace-Lorraine concentration camps. In November 1942, he fled to join the partisans in France, took part in battles for the liberation of France, received several French awards (including Médaille militaire for personal bravery) and was retired in 1946.

Ahmadiyya Mikayil oghlu Jabrayilov (Azerbaijani: Əhmədiyyə Mikayıl oğlu Cəbrayılov, Russian: Ахмедия Микаил оглы Джебраилов; French: Akmed Michel; 22 September 1920 – 11 October 1994) is said to have been a French Resistance member of Azerbaijani ethnicity. The factual existence of Jabrailov is in dispute, with allegations that his official wartime biography was entirely fabricated Soviet propaganda.

Jabrayilov was reportedly born in Okhud village, Shaki District, Azerbaijani SSR, on 22 September 1920. In 1941, he began his service in the Soviet Army.