What to do against the occupation of a foreign power? Why engage? How to unite? How far to take risks? In the name of what ideal? In 1940, faced with the German occupation, the internal resistance took several months to get organized. Between uncertainty, political differences and personal situations, many French men and women will nevertheless “do something”. From 1943, they will even unite and take up armed struggle in the face of the growing danger of deportation and repression by the Vichy government. From Lucie Aubrac to Missak Manouchian, French and foreigners take all the risks. Fear, pride, humour, these women and men do not take themselves for heroes but evoke their daily struggle. In the clandestine balls, they dance and sing, happily defying the collaboration embodied by Marshal Pétain, and his moral “work, family, homeland”. Valérie Nivelon explores the diversity and evolution of “France in resistance” based on the stories of those who are committed, in all humanity.
A three-part series of The march of the world of Valerie Nivelon
What to do against the German occupier ?
1940, Pétain signs the armistice with Hitler. France is divided into two: the North zone, known as occupied, and the South zone, known as free. It will take months in the northern zone, occupied by the Germans, and even longer in the southern zone, where Pétain’s government is installed, for women and men to enter into resistance. What to do ? What are the others doing? How to organize? After many individual acts, French people will recognize each other and create movements of very different political persuasions. To resist the Germans and soon Vichy, they will take all the risks. At the request of General de Gaulle and his emissary Jean Moulin, they nevertheless agreed to unite… but under what conditions and for what reasons?
To the sounds of the testimonies of Lucie and Raymond Aubrac, Daniel Cordier, André Laroche… between the ears of historian Laurent Douzou.
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THE MARCH OF THE WORLD What to do against the German occupier?
Foreigners commit to France
” In a few hours, I will no longer be of this world. We are going to be shot (…) Today, it is sunny. It is by looking at the sun and at the beautiful nature that I loved so much that I will say goodbye to life and to all of you, my very dear wife and my very dear friends. (…) Happiness to those who will survive us and taste the sweetness of Freedom and Peace of tomorrow. (…) At the time of my death, I proclaim that I have no hatred against the German people. »
Addressed to his wife Mélinée, these words were written by Missak Manouchian on the morning of February 21, 1944 in Fresnes prison, a few months away from a victory he would never see. He was executed in the afternoon at Mont-Valérien with 21 comrades, several of whom, like him, refused to be blindfolded. The history of the Manouchian group merges with that of the FTP-MOI (Francs-tireurs et partisans – immigrant labor), communists, but also Jews, Poles, Hungarians, Italians, Armenians or Spaniards, designated as terrorists by the Nazis, “army of crime” for Vichy propaganda. Will the homeland finally be grateful to all the foreigners engaged in the resistance and who died for France by pantheonizing Mélinée and Missak Manouchian?
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THE MARCH OF THE WORLD Foreigners commit to France
Singing and dancing in hiding
From May 1940 until April 1945, balls in all their forms were prohibited on French territory. Dancing, a major pastime for French youth between the wars, came to a halt. Prevented, repressed and sanctioned by the Vichy regime, because defying morality and good customs, the ball becomes clandestine. How is the prohibition violated? What music is played? What cultures of the body are revealed? But above all, what values and what social ties make the desire to dance irresistible?
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THE MARCH OF THE WORLD: Clandestine balls
