I am a writer and know I need to do loads more research, but I have a character in my novel who fought for the Commune and managed to (barely) survive and escape during the repression that followed. I know that many Communards fled abroad to avoid being executed or imprisoned. What I haven't come across yet in my research is the logistics of how they managed it. My character is in a similar situation to Elisabeth Dmitrieff (though French instead of Russian) in that she fought, was injured* and yet managed to escape. What are some good ways to make this plausible? *These wounds are fairly minor, can be concealed and she is mobile, however it is clear she was a combatant and would likely be executed if caught.
There is a bit of an issue with your premise I'm afraid.
The vast majority of the Communards were workers, they did not escape reprisals for the insurrection. The leaders of the Communards managed to escape unscathed, but all of them are case by case issues, often using personal contacts to get out of France.
Chances are, if your character fought for the Commune, in a non-leadership capacity, she would have died, or been caught afterwards. Estimates are that the Commune had between 11,000 to 37,000 people under arms during the Bloody Week. The Versaillais killed between 7,000 and 33,000 of them while retaking the city. Note that the lower numbers, 11,000 and 7,000 are probably closer to the truth as the higher numbers are all based on Socialist reconstructions of the events while the lower numbers are trumpeted by actual historian's having studied the events... The Versaillais shot anyone they caught who had powder burns after they retook the city, the low estimate is that they outright shot 1,400 people. But then the Versaillais took over 40,000 prisoners. 10,137 of them were condemned.
The one thing all the numbers have in common, regardless of the estimates, high or low, all of them point to the fact that the Communards were decimated by the reprisals. Especially in the ranks of the people who were merely fighting for the Commune rather than leading it.
The leaders, while all of them escaped using very varied means, all depended on the Socialist network in England to survive once they left France. So, that may be your only way of going about having your character survive. The only other way I can think of is having her sentenced and sent to New Caledonia.
Sources:
La Guerre contre Paris, 1871, Tombs La Commune de 1871, Rougerie
To piggyback off this question, does anyone have any good books about the events surrounding the Paris Commune? Your question has piqued my interest.