La Haine - Part 6 of 7.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvr3TiXitVs&NR=1

Andrée Peel.

                               Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9e_Peel

Andrée Peel - War heroine.

• Born Andrée Marthe Viro on February 3rd 1905.
  
• Died March 5th 2010.
  
• Known as Agent Rose (A title she shared with Eileen Nearne.)
  
• She worked against German Occupation in France.
  
• Member of French resistance during World War II.
  
• When World War II broke out, she was running a beauty salon in the Breton port of Brest, France.
  
• After the German invasion, she joined the French resistance and was involved in distributing secret French newspapers.
  
• She was later appointed head of an under-section of the resistance.
  
• She and her team used torches to guide allied planes to improvised landing strips and helped airmen who had landed in France to escape onto submarines and gunboats.
  
• She saved the lives of more than one hundred soldiers and airmen, and aided more than 20,000 people.
  
• She was arrested in Paris in 1944 and sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp.
  
• She was later transferred to the concentration camp at Buchenwald before her eventual release.
  
• She also survived meningitis.
  
• After the war, she met her future husband, an English academic named John Peel (who was a student.)
  
• They settled in Long Ashton, near Bristol, several years later.
  
• They never had any children.
  
• Whilst living in Long Ashton, Andree received many visits from admirers and also managed to relieve the pain of visitors with injuries.
  
• Mrs. Peel received many awards from the French government for her resistance work.
  
• She was awarded the Medal of Freedom by the United States and the King’s Commendation for Brave Conduct by Britain.
  
• During the war she received a personal letter of appreciation from Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
  
•  She died peacefully at the age of 105 at the Lampton House nursing home on 5 March 2010.
  
• Her house was broken into somewhere between the 10th and 11 March 2010 and several items stolen, including copies of her autobiography. Police suspect that it was because of the widespread knowledge of her death after reporting in local and national newspapers.

My French comment:

Andrée Peel était une femme remarquable, elle a sauvé la France quand les allemagnes ont envahi. Aussi, elle a eu beaucoup de chance parce qu'elle était preque tué. Elle a mort très vielle, elle a eu 105 ans! 

Daniel Decourdemanche; better known as Jacques Decour.

                                     Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Decour

• Jacques Decour - real name: Daniel Decourdemanche.
  
• Born 21st February 1910 in Paris.
  
• Died  30th May 1942  in Fort Mont-Valérien.
  
• He was a French writer.
  
• Killed by the Nazis.
  
• He studied at Carnot and Pasteur school in Paris.
  
• Had a degree in German literature.
  
• In 1932, he was named professor of French in Prussia at a school in Magdeburg.
  
• He wrote a book called 'Philisterburg' which caused scandal in France.
  
• He then moved to a school in Reims and joined a movement of young Communists.
  
• He then moved to Tours and joined the Communist Party.
  
• In 1937, he became professor of German in Paris at the lycée Rollin.
  
•  Due to demobilisation, he joined the resistance.
  
•  He created the magazines L'université libre in 1940 and La Pensée libre in 1941 which became the most important publications in occupied France.
  
• He was arrested by French police on 17 February 1942.
  
• Taken by the Germans, he was killed on 30 May 1942.
  
• Resigned to his forthcoming death, he expressed the confidence of his youth, and hoped that his sacrifice would not have been in vain.

Jean Moulin.

                                          Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Moulin

How Jean Moulin is remembered today; he is remembered
wearing a scarf due to the scar he has on his neck caused by
a suicide attempt.

• Jean Moulin was born in Béziers (France) on June 20th 1899.
  
• He joined the French army in 1918.
  
• After world war I, he resumed study and obtained a degree in Law.
  
•  He then entered the prefectural administration as chef de cabinet to the deputy of Savoie in 1922, then as sous préfet of Albertville, from 1925 to 1930. He was France's youngest sous préfet at the time.
  
  
• He married Marguerite Cerruti in September 1926, but the couple divorced in 1928.
  
• He became France's youngest préfet in the Aveyron département, based in the commune of Rodez, in January 1937.
  
• He supplied French planes to the Republican forces from his position within the Aviation Ministry.
  
• The Germans arrested him in June 1940 because he refused to sign a German document that falsely blamed Senegalese French Army troops for civilian massacres.
• In prison, he attempted suicide by cutting his throat with a piece of broken glass.
  
  
• In November 1940, the Vichy government ordered all préfets to dismiss left-wing elected mayors of towns and villages. When Moulin refused, he was himself removed from office.
  
• Following the departure from Vichy government, Moulin joined the French resistance.
  
• He went to London under the name of Joseph Jean Mercier and met Charles de Gaulle who asked him to unify the various resistance groups.
  
• On June 21, 1943, Jean Moulin was arrested at a meeting with fellow Resistance leaders.
  
•  Moulin never revealed anything to his captors. He died near Metz while on a train in transit towards Germany.
  
• The cause of death was injuries, suffered either during the torture itself or in a suicide attempt.
  
• He died July 8th 1943.
  
• He was a high profile member of the French resistance during World War II.
  
• Remembered today as an emblem of the resistance due to his role in unifying the French under de Gaulle and his courage and death at the hands of the Germans.
  
  
  

French resistance groups & their leaders.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Moulin

• Henri Frenay (Combat)
• Emmanuel d'Astier (Libération)
• Jean-Pierre Lévy (Francs-tireurs)
• Pierre Villon (Front national, not to be confused with the present-day far-right French political party Front national)
• Pierre Brossolette (Comité d'action socialiste)

Charles de Gaulle.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Gaulle

• Charles de Gaulle was born on 22nd November 1890.
  
• De Gaulle was born in the industrial region of Lille in French Flanders, the third of five children.
  
• He and his family were all Roman Catholics.
  
• He died on 9th November 1970 (aged 79).
  
• He was a French general who led the French Free Forces during World War II.
  
• He escaped to Britain and gave a famous radio address, broadcast by the BBC on 18 June 1940, exhorting the French people to resist Nazi Germany and organised the Free French Forces with exiled French officers in Britain.
  
• He gradually obtained control of all French colonies except Indochina.
  
•  De Gaulle became prime minister in the French Provisional Government, resigning in 1946 due to political conflicts.
  
• He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969.
  
• As President, Charles de Gaulle ended the political chaos that preceded his return to power.
  
• In office from 8th January 1959 - 28th April 1969.
  
• While serving during World War I, he reached the rank of captain, commanding a company, and was wounded several times.
  
• While being held as a prisoner of war by the German Army, de Gaulle made five unsuccessful escape attempts and wrote his first book, co-written by Matthieu Butler, "L'Ennemi et le vrai ennemi" (The Enemy and the True Enemy).
  
• At the outbreak of World War II, de Gaulle was only a colonel.
  
• De Gaulle implemented many of his theories and tactics for armoured warfare against an enemy whose strategies resembled his own.
  
• On 17 May, de Gaulle attacked German tank forces at Montcornet with 200 tanks but no air support; on 28 May, de Gaulle's tanks forced the German infantry to retreat to Caumont—one of the few tactical successes the French enjoyed while suffering defeats across the country.
  
• De Gaulle was promoted to the rank of brigadier general, which he would hold for the rest of his life.
  

Philippe Pétain.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_P%C3%A9tain

              http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/petain_philippe.shtml

                                                                               

• Pétain was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France (Chef de l'État Français), from 1940 to 1944. Pétain, who was 84 years old in 1940, ranks as France's oldest head of state.
  
• Because of his outstanding military leadership in World War I,he was viewed as a national hero in France.
  
• After the defeat of France in World War II in June 1940,  Pétain was appointed Premier of France by President Lebrun at Bordeaux, and the Cabinet resolved to make peace with Germany.
  
• The government subsequently moved to central France (Vichy).
  
• His government voted to transform the discredited French Third Republic into the French State, an authoritarian regime.
  
• Petain's actions during World War II resulted in what many regard as a show-trial, with conviction and death sentence for treason, which was commuted to life imprisonment by his former protégé Charles de Gaulle.
  
• In modern France he is remembered as an ambiguous figure, while pétainisme is a derogatory term for certain reactionary policies.
  
• Born - 24th April 1856.
• Died - 23rd July 1951.
  
• Petain was a national hero in France for his role in the defence of Verdun in World War One, but was later discredited and sentenced to death as head of the French collaborationist government at Vichy in World War Two.
  
• Pétain was born into a farming family from northern France. He joined the French army in 1876.
  
• In 1916, Pétain was ordered to stop the massive German attack on the city of Verdun. He reorganised the front lines and transport systems and was able to inspire his troops, turning a near-hopeless situation into a successful defence.
  
• Pétain then successfully re-established discipline after a series of mutinies by explaining his intentions to the soldiers personally and improving their living conditions.
  
•  In November 1918, he was made a marshal of France.
  
• In 1934, Pétain was appointed minister of war, and then secretary of state in the following year.
  
•  In 1939, he was appointed French ambassador to Spain.
  
• In May 1940, with France under attack from Germany, Pétain was appointed vice premier. In June he asked for an armistice, upon which he was appointed 'chief of state', enjoying almost absolute powers.
  
• The armistice gave the Germans control over the north and west of France, including Paris, but left the remainder as a separate regime under Pétain.
  
• In November 1942, in response to allied landings in North Africa, the Germans invaded the unoccupied zone of France. Vichy France remained nominally in existence, but Pétain became nothing more than a figurehead.
  
• In the summer of 1944, after the allied landings in France, Pétain was taken to Germany. He returned to France after liberation, was brought to trial and condemned to death.

Jour J.

Source: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jour_J

              http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_landings

• Le Jour-J is the same as 'D day' in English.
• The Normandy landings, also known as Operation Neptune.
• 6th June 1944.
• The day began the Allied landings in Normandy during World War II .
• Jour-J marks the first day of the battle of Normandy.
• Landing was scheduled for June 5th 1944 but postponed until June 6th due to weather conditions.
• June 6, bombers dropped their loads on selected beaches.
• 15500 U.S. Airborne units and 7900 British airborne units were dropped near the beach.
• These units have the mission to capture and hold bridgeheads freeing access to the beaches, and allowing fresh troops landed from entering the interior.
•  Allied airdrops errors generate a total disorganization of the German side against preventing an attack.
• Many paratroopers drowned in the flooded areas voluntarily by the Germans, partly because of the weight of their equipment.
• 36 paratroopers of the Free French Forces of the Special Air Service were also parachuted into Britain at midnight on the night of 5 to 6 June.
• The Allies are of different nationalities: British and Canadians (83,115), Americans (73 000) but the French, Poles, Belgians, Czechs, Dutch, Norwegians and Chileans especially among other things: 156 000 fighters in all, about.
• Total allied casualties (killed, wounded, missing, or captured) are estimated at approximately 10,000.
• United States–6,603, of which 2,499 fatal.
• United Kingdom–2,700.
• Canada–1,074, of which 359 fatal.

Oradour.

Oradour-sur-Glane.

Oradour church - main site
for the killing of women and
children.

Source: http://ww2panorama.org/panoramas/oradour

• 10th June 1944 - Towards the end of the Second World War, in a peaceful part of France, took place the murder of 642 men women and children.
  
• On the 10^th of June 1944, a group of soldiers from the Der Führer regiment of the 2nd SS-Panzer Division Das Reich entered and surrounded the small town of Oradour-sur-Glane.
  
• They told the Mayor, Jean Desourteaux, that there was to be an identity check and that everyone must go to the Champ de Foire.     
  
• After rounding up all the inhabitants that they could find, the SS then changed their story from that of an identity check, to one of searching for hidden arms and explosives.   
  
•  The soldiers then said that whilst they searched for the arms the women and children must wait in the church and the men in nearby barns. 
  
• The women and children were marched off to the church, the children being encouraged by the soldiers to sing as they went.     
  
• Men were then divided into six groups and led to different barns in town under armed guard.
  
• Then the SS began to kill them all.
  
• A large gas bomb was placed in the church, but it did not work properly when it went off and so the SS had to use machine guns and hand grenades to disable and kill the women and children.     
  
• One person escaped alive - Madame Rouffanche.       
  
• In spite of being shot and wounded five times, Madame Rouffanche escaped round the back of the church and dug herself into the earth between some rows of peas, where she remained hidden until late the next day.         
  
• The soldiers shot and wounded many people, piled them together and then set them alight.
  
• Six men did manage to escape from Madame Laudy’s barn, but one of them was seen and shot dead, the other 5 all wounded, got away under cover of darkness.
  
• After killing all the townspeople that they could find, the soldiers set the whole town on fire and early the next day, laden with booty stolen from the houses, they left.  
  
• The soldiers then journeyed on up through France to Normandy and joined the rest of the German army in attempting to throw the allied invasion back into the sea. Many of them, including Sturmbannführer Adolf Diekmann, who had led the attack on Oradour-sur-Glane, were killed in the Normandy battles.      

Modern Day:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oradour-sur-Glane#Modern_days

The new village of Oradour-sur-Glane, (with a 2006 population of 2,188), was built after the war, at the northwest of the site of the massacre, where ruined remnants of the former village still stand as a memorial to the dead and a representative of similar sites and events. Its museum includes items recovered from the burned-out buildings: watches stopped at the time their owners were burned alive, glasses melted from the intense heat, and various personal items and money.

Memorial in Oradour cemetery to the
642 named victims of the massacre.

Vél d'Hiv.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vel'_d'Hiv_Roundup

Map  of Central Paris, the red dot marks the place where the
Vélodrome D'hiver was situated.

Vél d'Hiv Roundup.

• Vél d'Hiv is an abbreviation of Vélodrome d'Hiver.
• It was a Nazi decreed raid and mass arrest in Paris.
• 16th and 17th July 1942.
• Code named Opération Vent printanier ("Operation Spring Breeze")
• The aim of 'Vél d'Hiv was to reduce the Jewish population in 'Occupied France'.
• 13,152 victims were arrested and kept in Vél d'Hiv and / or Drancy concentration camp.
• then shipped by railway transports to Auschwitz for extermination.
• Vichy officials had been enthusiastic about deportation of Jews from France.

The Vélodrome D'Hiver.

• An indoor cycle track at the corner of the boulevard de Grenelle.
• Not far from the Eiffel Tower.
•  It was built by Henri Desgrange who later organised the Tour De France.
• The Germans demanded the keys of the Vel' d'Hiv from its owner, Jacques Goddet.
• The circumstances in which Goddet surrendered the keys remain a mystery.
• It had a glass roof which was painted dark blue = extreme heat - windows secured.
• No toilet facilities.
• Only one water tap.
• Those who tried to escape were shot.
• Some people committed suicide.
• After five days, Jews were moved to concentration camps and then to extermination.

Roundups.

• Roundups were conducted in northern and southern zones of France.
• The primary significance of the roundup was the killing of innocent people because of their religion.
• The Vel' d'Hiv has remained a symbol of national guilt and of national outrage.
• Public outrage was greatest in Paris.
• The Vél D'Hiv was a landmark in the centre of Paris.
• Public reaction obliged Laval to ask Germans on 2 September not to demand more Jews.
• Laval managed to limit deportations.
• The roundup accounted for more than a quarter of the 42,000 Jews sent from France to Auschwitz in 1942.
• of whom only 811 returned to France at the end of the war.

Now.

Memorial plaque in Paris about Jews who were held in
the Vélodrome d'hiver .

• A fire destroyed part of the Vélodrome d'Hiver in 1959 and the rest was demolished.
•  A block of flats and a building belonging to the Ministry of the Interior now stand on the site.
• A plaque marking the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup was placed on the track building and moved to 8 boulevard de Grenelle in 1959.
•  The sculpture includes children, a pregnant woman and a sick man.
  
• The words on the monument are: "The French Republic in homage to victims of racist and antisemitic persecutions and of crimes against humanity committed under the authority of the so-called 'Government of the State of France.''

'Drancy' internment camp.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drancy_internment_camp

The Drancy concentration camp.

Memorial to French Jews who
were imprisoned in the
Drancy concentration camps.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

• Dranchy was a concentration camp in Paris where Jews were held and later deported to extermination camps.
• 65,000 Jews were deported from Dranchy of whom 63,000 were murdered including 6,000 children. Only 2,000 remained alive when Allied forces liberated the camp on 17 August 1944.
  
• Drancy was under the control of the French police until 1943 when administration was taken over by SS and officer Alois Brunner.
  
• In 2001, Brunner's case was brought before a French court by Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld, which sentenced Brunner in absentia to a life sentence for crimes against humanity.
  
• The Dranchy concentration camp was formed due to the collaboration of Pétain and the Germans.
  
• Poetically named La Cité de la Muette ("The Silent City") at its creation for its perceived peaceful ideals, the name became twisted with bitter ironic meaning.
  
• It was used first as police barracks, then converted into the primary detention center in the Paris region for holding Jews and other people labeled as "undesirable" before deportation.
  
• On 20 August 1941, French police conducted raids throughout the 11th District of Paris and arrested more than 4,000 Jews.
  
• Drancy was under the control of the French police until 3 July 1943 when Germany took direct control of the Drancy camp.
  
• The French police carried out additional roundups of Jews throughout the war.
  
• The Drancy camp was designed to hold 700 people, but at its peak held more than 7,000.
  
  
  Dranchy today:
• A sculpture was created to commemorate the French Jews imprisoned in the camp.
• On 20 January 2005, arsonists set fire to some railroad freight cars in the former camp; a tract signed "Bin Laden" with an inverted swastika was found on the place.
• On 11 April 2009, a swastika was painted on the train car used for the deportation of Jews, a permanent exhibit. This action was condemned by the French Minister for the Interior, Michèle Alliot-Marie.

La ligne de démarcation.

Source: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligne_de_d%C3%A9marcation

Lors de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, pendant la période du régime de Vichy, la ligne de démarcation était la limite entre la zone libre (zone Sud à partir de novembre 1942) et la zone occupée par l'Armée allemande. 

*Lors - time / at the time. 

The demarcation line was an imaginary line which existed in France from 1940 -1942 which separated the Northern German ruled area of France from the Southern Free Zone.

The line was often referred to as the 'green line' because that's how it appeared on the map attached to the Armistice agreement.

To protect the interests of the Germans, French territory on the north and west of the line were occupied by German troops - areas which didn't already belong to the Germans would be occupied immediately after the conclusion of the agreement.

Of all of the French areas, the Germans completely controlled 42, partially controlled 13 but had no control over the remaining 35 - which was the zone libre. 

The purpose of the line was to separate and create a distinct boundary between the free and the occupied zone.

Three quarters of French wheat and coal were produced in the occupied zone, and almost all the steel, textile, sugar which meant that the free zone was thus very dependent on Germany. 

It was really difficult to cross the line because you had to obtain an identity card or a pass from the occupation authorities. 

Only Pierre Laval had a permanent pass to cross the line of demarcation. 

The end of the line of demarcation.

On November 11, 1942, following the Allied landings in North Africa, the Germans crossed the line and invaded the area libre. Italy, taking advantage of this invasion, decided to occupy the area it wanted, leading to the extension of the Italian occupation zone. This led, November 27, 1942, the scuttling of the French fleet at Toulon and the dissolution of the Army of Vichy. The line was abolished on 1 March 1943. However, fourteen checkpoints survived on the old main line route.

Historical dates of interest during World War II.

• Full powers given to Pétain - 10 July 1940.
• Compiègne armistice - 22nd June 1942.
• Occupation of the southern former free zone - 11th November 1942.
• Liberation of Paris - 25th August 1944.
• Liberation of France - June -November 1944.
• Capture of Sigmaringen - 22nd April 1945.

Vichy

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vichy_France

Vichy France was established after France surrendered to Germany on 22nd June 1940 and took its name from the government's administrative centre in Vichy, central France.

Vichy France, Vichy regime or Vichy government are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 - August 1944.

It called itself the French state (État Français). 

Pétain had power of this 'Vichy government'  - He was the last prime minister of the Third Republic - He commissioned the Révolution nationale - aimed at regenerating the nation.

The Vichy regime still had some power over the Northern side of France 'zone occupé' which was inhabited by Germans and reigned by Reich; although the laws set by the Vichy regime would only go ahead if they didn't contradict or compromise existing Reich laws.

Vichy was most powerful and effective in the southern parts of France in the 'zone libre' - mainly due to the fact that the Vichy administrative centre was located in southern France until November 1942.

All was well until 8 November 1942, when Hitler took over the Southern zone - it was now subject to German ruling and became like the Northern zone. (All except the Alps which was under Italian reign until September 1943.)

After the defeat of France in world war I, Pétain collaborated with German forces but the Vichy government refused to surrender. However, the military ties with Germany weakened over time.

Vichy government put up a limited resistance to the allied invasion of North Africa - more commanders and units in Africa joining the French free forces - The Vichy regime ordered the French police to go on raids to capture Jews and other 'undesirables' and members of the resistance thus helping reinforce German policy in occupied zones. 

Vichy also produced German inspired laws which restricted political freedom and took rights away from foreigners and racial minorities. 

Vichy France and Pétain's leadership was constantly challenged by Charles de Gaulle - who claimed to represent the legitimacy and continuity of the French government.

Public opinions turned against the Vichy regime and German laws and resistance to them in France grew over time. Subsequently, Charles de Gaulle made his own government called: Government of the French Republic (GPRF) in June 1944. - This government took power in Paris on the 31st August and was subsequently recognised as the official government of France.

La résistance.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Resistance

Le croix de Lorraine -
The symbol of the French
Résistance.

The French resistance is the name given to the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and the Vichy regime during World War II. 


Résistance cells were small groups of armed  men and women (called manquis in rural areas.) -who among with their war commitments wrote for newspapers - giving first hand information about what was happening.  


The people who were representing their country by partaking in the French resistance came from varied backgrounds regarding politics, economics, religion, social classes, age,occupations etc - from the Roman Catholics to the Jewish community.


"The French Résistance played a significant role in facilitating the Allies' rapid advance through France following the invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944, and the lesser-known invasion of Provence on 15 August, by providing military intelligence on the German defenses known as the Atlantic Wall and on Wehrmacht deployments and orders of battle"


The resistance carried out acts of sabotage on the electrical power grid, transportation facilities and telecommunication networks. This act was particularly important to France, both politically and morally due to the Invasion of Germany and L'occupation which was forced upon their country.


The motivation for the French resistance was purely the German Occupation which divided their country; it was their way of fighting back, in attempt to claim back the area of France that was once theirs. 


Foreigners in the resistance.

• Spanish manquis.
• German anti-fascists. 
• Luxembourgers.
• Hungarians.
• Italian anti-fascists.
• Polish resistance in France during World War I.
• Cajun Americans.
  

To summarise: La résistance is the act carried out by France to fight back against the Germans during the reign on Reich (L'occupation.).