The Resistance

by Matthew Cobb

  There was some kind of official closure to the troubled period of collaboration when, in 1995, recently-elected President Jacques Chirac went to the site of the Vel’ d’Hiv round-up and publicly apologized for the role of the Parisian police in the persecution of the Jews. This was a radical break with the Gaullist view of Vichy as ‘null and void’, as it accepted that the collaborationist state was part of the history of France. Chirac was able to make this gesture, which was widely applauded, precisely because he had not been part of the Resistance, and because the passionate debates it aroused had begun to fade.900

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  Despite these changes, the French remain culturally obsessed with the war. Barely a month goes by without French television broadcasting a new play or documentary dealing with the Occupation, which continues to be a favoured period in novels, cinema and comics. The Resistance and its evil twin, collaboration, are still very much alive in France. This is hardly surprising: the events of 1940 to 1944 raise some of the most important human characteristics – courage, self-sacrifice, betrayal and struggle. To explore these questions, the world-weary visions of the 1970s and 1980s that supplanted the heroic accounts of the post-war world have in turn been replaced by measured, human descriptions of how people of all kinds resisted – or not – in different ways. In a world in which we have lost our taste for uncomplicated heroes, these new representations of the Resistance speak more clearly to contemporary views. This version of the Resistance is not a Gaullist myth to be in awe of or to be sneered at, but a genuine piece of history that resonates down to the present day.

  In recent years long-forgotten figures of the Resistance, like Frenay, Brossolette or Berty Albrecht, have been rediscovered, and their contributions acknowledged through the media and, in the case of Frenay, the naming of a Parisian square after him.901 Through the indefatigable work of Lucie Aubrac, who continued to visit schools and give interviews until her death in 2008, new generations have been introduced to the human reality of the Resistance. Academic and popular historians have continued to produce re-examinations of what we thought we knew902 and novel investigations of hitherto unexplored parts of the period, such as the Musée de l’Homme group, the Carte affair or the activities of the Bataillons de la Jeunesse.903 As a key part of twentieth-century French history, the study of the Resistance is very much alive.

  Despite the very French nature of the Resistance, it soon became a powerful symbol all around the world. In the 1950s and 1960s films, books and then TV in Britain and America told and retold the story, often with a local spin. British culture initially tended to emphasize the role of SOE agents and RAF pilots – for example, in the feature film Carve Her Name with Pride (1958) or the TV drama series Moonstrike (1963) and Secret Army (1977), before eventually parodying such programmes, in the shape of the ludicrous television comedy ’Allo ’Allo. In the USA science fiction programmes such as Star Trek or films such as Star Wars projected the Resistance into outer space, portraying groups of brave rebels fighting against evil, thereby fusing the Resistance with the American national myth, the rebellion against the British.904

  But the Resistance is too serious a moment in humanity’s history to be left to belly-laughs or to a fantasy world of wookies and starships. Its lessons are for the here and now. Over sixty years later, the Resistance still retains its power to inspire. These were ordinary people who made extraordinary sacrifices, and many of them paid a terrible price. They fought for a variety of reasons, with different means. But the main point was that they did fight, they did not accept what appeared to be inevitable. And in so doing they discovered things about themselves.

  In the 1950s, when the collaborationists were being amnestied and the whole meaning of the Resistance was being forgotten, Jean Cassou, founder of the Musée de l’Homme group and a Resistance leader in Toulouse, tried to explain what exactly the Resistance was. His words905 cast a powerful light on the way in which the Resistance was experienced by those brave men and women:

  For each résistant the Resistance was a way of living, a style of life, a life that we invented. It lives in our memory as a unique period, different from all others, unsayable, like a dream. We see ourselves, naked and free, a strange and unknowable version of ourselves, one of those people that you can never find again. That version existed only because of the unique and terrible conditions, things that have since disappeared, become ghosts, or simply died. If each of us who went through that experience had to define it, we would give it a surprising name that we would not give to the ordinary aspects of our lives. We would say the word quietly, to ourselves. Some would say ‘adventure’. I would call that moment of my life ‘happiness’.

  Glossary

  2nd DB – 2nd Division Blindée. Free French armoured division commanded by General Leclerc.

  ALLIANCE – intelligence circuit led by Marie-Madeleine Fourcade and run by MI6.

  Armée Secrète (Secret Army) – umbrella term for the armed groups of the main Resistance organizations (the MUR).

  BCRA (Bureau Central de Renseignements et d’Action) – Free French intelligence service. Had several different titles.

  Ceux de la Libération – small Resistance group in the northern zone.

  Ceux de la Résistance – small Resistance group in the northern zone.

  CFLN (Comité Français de Libération Nationale) – De Gaulle’s organization, first in London, then in Algiers.

  CGE (Comité Général d’Études) – Resistance think tank.

  CGT (Conféderation Générale du Travail) – Trade union federation.

  Chantiers de la Jeunesse – Vichy labour camps for youth.

  Circuit – a group of intelligence or SOE agents.

  CND (Confrérie Notre-Dame) – BCRA intelligence circuit set up by Rémy.

  CNR (Conseil National de la Résistance) – Leadership of the Resistance, set up by Jean Moulin in May 1943.

  COMAC (Comité d’Action Militaire) – Military leadership of the Resistance, set up by the CNR in 1944.

  Combat – newspaper published by Henri Frenay’s organization.

  Combat – the most widely-used name for the Resistance organization set up by Henri Frenay, based on the name of the newspaper. The organization (like the newspaper) went through several name changes.

  Comité Allemagne Libre pour l’Ouest (CALPO) – Group set up by German Communist exiles to work in Nazi Germany.

  Comité Parisien de Libération – Parisian liberation committee, set up in spring 1944.

  Comités de la Libération – local liberation committees, set up by the Resistance to act as local government during the Liberation.

  Comités Départementaux de la Libération – departmental liberation committees, set up by the Free French to take over after the collapse of Vichy.

  Commissaire de la République – representative of the Free French inside France. A kind of Resistance Prefect.

  Défense de la France – mass-circulation Resistance newspaper.

  Deuxième Bureau – French Intelligence.

  DM (Délégués Militaires) – Liaison officers sent by BCRA to work with the Resistance in 1944.

  DRAGOON – code name for Allied landings on French Mediterranean coast, August 1944. Also known as ANVIL.

  Escape line – a group that helped Allied servicemen evade arrest in Occupied Europe and return to Britain.

  FFI (Forces Françaises de l’Intérieur) – Umbrella title for all armed forces inside France, from 1944.

  FN (Front National) – Broad organization set up by Communists in 1941–2 to group opposition to the Occupation.

  Forbidden Zone – areas of Occupied France along Atlantic coast or in the far north of France that non-residents could visit only with a special pass.

  Franc-Tireur – Lyons-based left-wing Resistance group and newspaper of the same name.

  FTP (Francs Tireurs et Partisans) – Communist-led armed Resistance group.

  GMR (Gardes Mobiles de Réserve) – Vichy reserve police
force. Hated by the Resistance.

  Groupes Francs – Resistance hit squads.

  Libération – Title of separate newspapers published by Libération-Nord and by Libération-Sud.

  Libération-Nord – Resistance group set up in northern zone by Christian Pineau.

  Libération-Sud – Resistance group set up in southern zone by Emmanuel d’Astier de la Vigerie.

  Luftwaffe – German air force.

  Maquis – Resistance fighters in the hills.

  MI5 – British counter-intelligence service.

  MI6 – British intelligence service.

  MI9 – British organization for exfiltrating agents and members of the Allied armed forces from Occupied Europe.

  Milice – ultra-violent and anti-Semitic armed group created by Vichy.

  Milices Patriotiques – acted as police force after the Liberation. Set up on Communist initiative. Also called Gardes Patriotiques or Civiques.

  MLN (Mouvement de Libération Nationale) – Frenay’s Resistance group; published Combat.

  MOI (Main d’Oeuvre Immigrée) – Communist-led armed Resistance group composed of immigrants and Jews.

  MUR (Mouvements Unis de la Résistance) – Umbrella title for Resistance groups in southern zone after 1943.

  Musée de l’Homme – early Resistance group, based in the Paris museum of the same name, led by Boris Vildé.

  NAP (Noyautage des Administrations Publiques) – Resistance organization of public sector workers and of civil servants.

  Northern zone – area of France to the north of the demarcation line. Synonymous with ‘Occupied Zone’.

  OCM (Organisation Civile et Militaire) – Right-wing Resistance organization based in northern zone.

  OSE (Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants) – Jewish children’s charity.

  ORA (Organisation de Résistance de l’Armée) – Resistance group based on Vichy army.

  OS (Organisation Spéciale) – Communist Party armed group.

  OSS (Office of Strategic Services) – US intelligence services; forerunner of the CIA.

  OVERLORD – Code name for D-Day landings in Normandy, June 1944.

  OVRA – Italian secret service.

  PCF (Parti Communiste Français) – Communist Party.

  Prefect – French state administrator of a département.

  Préfecture de Police – police headquarters in Paris, opposite Notre-Dame cathedral.

  Réfractaires – young men who refused to go on STO.

  SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force) – General Eisenhower’s headquarters, in charge of all matters relating to OVERLORD.

  Sicherheitsdienst (SD) – SS intelligence service.

  SOE (Special Operations Executive) – British military and intelligence organization set up in 1940, which used unorthodox methods. Its circuits in France were run by three sections: F (SOE only), RF (linked to the Resistance) and D/F (escape lines).

  Southern zone – area of France to the south of the demarcation line. Synonymous with ‘Non-Occupied Zone’ or (more rarely) ‘Free Zone’.

  STO (Servive du Travail Obligatoire) – Obligatory labour conscription imposed by Vichy in 1943.

  TORCH – Code name for Allied invasion of North Africa in autumn 1942.

  TR (Travaux Ruraux) – Clandestine group in Vichy Intelligence devoted to hunting down Nazi spies in Vichy France. Led by Paul Paillole.

  TA (Travail Allemand) – Communist Party Resistance group producing propaganda for German rank-and-file soldiers.

  Turma-Vengeance – Resistance group in northern zone. Specialized in armed actions and intelligence work.

  UGIF (Union Générale des Israélites de France) – Organization of French Jews set up by Vichy.

  USC (Unitarian Service Committee) – US Protestant charity used as cover for various operations to support the Resistance.

  Valmy (détachement) – Communist Party hit squad that punished Party ‘traitors’. No connection with the newspaper of the same name.

  Valmy (newspaper) – Parisian Resistance paper edited first by Paulin Bertrand (‘Paul Simon’), then by Raymond Burgard. No connection with Communist Party group of the same name.

  What Happened to Them?

  BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ON THOSE

  WHO SURVIVED THE WAR

  Marcel Abraham worked for UNESCO and the French education ministry. Died in 1955.

  Philip André continued to be an active socialist politician. Died in 1970.

  Emmanuel d’Astier de la Vigerie was a deputy until 1958, was close to the Communist Party. Wrote a number of docu-fiction books about the Resistance. Died in 1969.

  Lucie Aubrac went back to teaching, later worked tirelessly to explain the events of the Occupation. For many French children she was the living face of the Resistance. Her memoirs were turned into a successful feature film (1997), Lucie Aubrac. Died in 2008.

  Raymond Aubrac directed the urban renewal programme in France in 1950s, then worked for UNO in Rome.

  Claude Aveline continued writing novels, detective stories and poetry until his death in 1991.

  René Balbaud became a journalist specializing in Africa. He died in the 1990s.

  Jacques Baumel was a lifelong member of the Gaullist movement; he was also a French mayor, deputy and senator. He published his memoirs in 1999 and died in 2006.

  Pierre de Bénouville was a Gaullist Deputy for Paris. He died in 2001.

  Georges Bidault was a right-wing politician, opposed to Algerian independence. He was in contact with ultra-right OAS terrorists, in exile 1962 to 1968. He died in 1983.

  Maxime Blocq-Mascart became a company director, and opposed de Gaulle over Algerian independence. He died in 1965.

  Claude Hettier de Boislambert was a deputy in the 1950s, then became ambassador to Senegal. He died in 1986.

  Emile Bollaert returned from the camps and became high commissioner for Indo-China in 1947, then a company director. He died in 1978.

  Micheline Bood became a writer and journalist.

  Claude Bouchinet-Serreulles worked at UNO and the OECD, before becoming a company director. He died in 2000.

  Claude Bourdet was a journalist who was deeply opposed to the use of torture in Algeria. He continued as a left-wing activist, and died in 1996.

  Howard L. Brooks continued to do missionary work around the world.

  Gilbert Brustlein returned from Britain after the war. Acted as rank-and-file member of the Communist Party before finally resigning in 1952.

  André Calvès fought as a French soldier in Indo-China. Maintained his Trotskyist beliefs until his death in 1996.

  Jean Cassou recovered from his wounds during the Liberation of Toulouse. Became conservator of the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris. Continued to write poetry. Died in 1986.

  Jacques Chaban-Delmas was a loyal Gaullist, became mayor of Bordeaux and was Prime Minister of France from 1969 to 1972. He died in 2000.

  Gilberte Champion survived the camps, and was still alive in 2008.

  Maurice Chevance became a socialist deputy for French Guinea, and maintained commercial and political interest in Africa. Supported de Gaulle’s return to power in 1958. Died in 1996.

  Pascal Copeau had a brief political career, then turned to journalism in Africa and in Burgundy. Died in 1982.

  Daniel Cordier had a long career as an art dealer, before deciding to write the biography of Jean Moulin, transforming himself into a historian.

  René Creston continued his ethnological research, focusing on his native Brittany. Died in 1964.

  André Dewavrin (‘Passy’) continued as French spymaster but was soon forced to resign because of a financial scandal. Became a businessman. Died in 1998.

  Louis Dolivet became a Hollywood film producer; worked with Orson Welles and Jacques Tati. Died in 1989.

  Victor ‘Vic’ Dupont returned to medicine. Was a witness at the Nuremberg trials. Died in 1976.

  Yves Farge had a brief period as a deputy �
� he was close to the Communist Party – then became a journalist. Died in 1953 in a car accident in Georgia.

  Marie-Madeleine Fourcade continued her intelligence activities in Nazi Germany. After the war became a Gaullist deputy. Died in 1989.

  Henri Frenay became disillusioned with politics, but remained a convinced European; went into business. Died in 1988.

  Varian Fry returned to academia. Died in 1967.

  André Girard (‘Carte’) pursued a successful career in the United States until his death in 1968. Remained ferociously hostile to de Gaulle.

  Henri Giraud was elected as a deputy in 1946. Died in 1949.

  Fernand Grenier remained a leading member of the Communist Party and deputy. He was an unrepentant Stalinist right up until his death in 1992.

  Jean Guéhenno became a famous French writer; elected to the Académie Française. Died in 1978.

  Georges Guingouin became mayor of Limoges, and was thrown into jail on a trumped-up charge before being acquitted. Returned to teaching. Left the Communist Party in 1952. Died in 2005.

  Léo Hamon was elected as a left-wing Gaullist deputy and then senator; also worked as a university professor. Died in 1993.

  Boris Holban became a general in the Romanian army before returning to France in 1986.

  Agnès Humbert was liberated from the camps by the Americans, she then participated in the Nazi hunts in Germany. Returned to France and died in 1963.