Just Finished Reading: Les Parisiennes – How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved and Died in the 1940’s by Anne Sebba (FP: 2016) [387pp]

Even when war was declared there was no cause for alarm. Everyone knew it was coming and now, at last, it was here. Reserve troops were called up and moved to their frontline positions. The Maginot Line was occupied and all was in readiness. Then…… Nothing. No attacks, no gas, no bombs. What little panic there had been subsided and life went on as normal. Weeks passed and then weeks more. Then the Belgian border was crossed by German tanks and it started to feel real again. When the tanks crossed the French border things became very real indeed. Parisians had it seemed three options – Run, Hide or Wait. Those who could, or needed to like the Jewish refugees from previously overrun countries who knew what was coming, ran south or to the coastal ports looking for a way out. Some hid and hid valuables thinking that either the Germans would never reach Paris or would pass them by and the others – those who could not leave or chose to stay – waiting. They didn’t need to wait long.

When the first German troops marched through Paris its citizens looked on with a mixture of horror and disbelief. The country had been at war for a matter of months and invaded for a matter of weeks and their capital was already in the hands of the enemy. How long this would last, it now seemed, depended on the British and the remnants of French forces. But when the French capitulated and the British left in disarray Parisians knew that it would not be over soon. More decisions would need to be made – go on as before as much as possible, collaborate and make the best of things or resist. Once the shock had receded and the reality of the situation sunk in most people tried their best to get along despite the nightmare world they now lived in. Some, for a whole host of reasons – political or ideological sympathy, survival instincts, and financial opportunities – decided that the best thing to do was to co-operate with the invaders or, as most saw it, face facts. A minority decided that the only thing to do was resist in any way they could. At first such acts were amateurish, childish even – defacing posters, ignoring the enquiries of German soldiers, not dating them, refusing to shop in establishments who had put up ‘We Speak German’ signs in their windows. But things gradually became more violent as did the German responses. Again decisions had to be made – just how far are you willing to go to resist? Many women, especially pretty young girls who could flirt their way through roadblocks, became couriers moving messages between disparate groups and crossing the lines between Occupied France in the north and Vichy in the south. Others carried guns in prams coving by a young child or explosives sown into their long winter coats. But it was only after the invasion of Russia in 1941 that the many Communist underground cells began their operations against both German forces and the collaborators that supported them. Activity took another upward path with the operations of UK and US secret operatives again supported by resistance units and, sometimes, betrayed they those loyal to Vichy or ‘incentivised’ by the occupying forces.

As the war started to turn against the Axis powers and the liberation of France approached there were those who determined that justice would be served once the war was over. Dangerously they kept detailed diaries to ensure that those responsible for atrocities faced the consequences and that stolen articles could be traced and returned to their previous owners if they survived. It was important, if nothing else, to be able to witness what had happened during the Occupation to ensure that it would not be forgotten or, in many cases, forgiven.

This is the story of the women who, through circumstance or choice, lived in Paris before, during and after the German Occupation in WW2. As with any group of people they come in all types – from rich to poor, Left and Right, collaborator and resistant, living and dead. There are those who were, later, considered to be heroes or traitors. Some were arrested, tried and (sometimes) executed. Some (mostly men it seemed) given medals are treated as heroes whilst women (who often didn’t actively take up arms but risked their lives daily anyway) where only honoured or even recognised much later. Not so oddly it was the women who had their heads shaved for literally ‘sleeping with the enemy’ whilst similar low level ‘offences’ by men went largely unremarked. Like all history this is a complex tapestry which the author handles very well. I did roll my eyes a few times with the author’s apparent fixation on fashion – apparently looking chic was an act of resistance itself! – but generally this was an interesting read which brought real women’s lives during a terrible time into focus. Definitely recommended for anyone interested in French history or the civilian experience in WW2.