Alan Riding

This is a very interesting and exhaustive account of all the cultural activity (writing/poetry, painting/sculpture, music, theater, cinema, cabaret) that went on in France after the Germans invaded and took over. Some was done by collaboration with the Nazis, some was done with the Nazis simply watching, and some was done clandestinely. Riding explains what happened to the Jews who were integral at the time of the invasion to all the art forms, and he talks all about who did what, how, when, and what the repercussions were, either repercussions by the Germans, or later by the non-Vichy French and the Allies.

I have to admit that at times I was bored and my eyes glazed over. But I kept on because there was a lot there I didn't know but wanted to. If any one thing stuck with me it was the story of Varian Fry, a true American hero who disappeared into oblivion. He went to France to spend a month and ended up staying over a year, risking his own life and saving almost two thousand others, including Hannah Arendt, Andre Breton, Marc Chagall, Wanda Landowska among others who were and were not famous. His own memoir has been published and there is a biography of him that I bought when I read about him here and will soon read. Apparently he is the only American inscribed in the Yad Vashem memorial of the righteous in Jerusalem.… (altro)

Fascinating and informative history of Paris under German occupation that explores the spectrum of collaboration to resistance on the part of artists and writers. Both collaboration and resistance came in many stripes and gradations of involvement. Sartre, for example, seems not to have done much in the way of resistance, but in the aftermath becomes something of a spokesman for those years. I was introduced to many figures previously unknown to me including Leon Blum, social democratic leader prior to the occupation; Jean Guehenno and Jean Paulhan, both writers and resisters, who wrote about their experiences; also Varian Fry, who was an American who came to France and helped rescue as many as 2,000 French and/or Jews under threat from the Germans.

I was also interested to learn something about the relation between the German occupiers and the Vichy government. In all circles, there were not a few hateful anti-semites and enthusiastic Nazi supporters. It is striking to read about people who believed Nazism held the key to correct for the supposed decadence of democratic political systems. But there are as well stories of great courage and clear-headedness.

I cannot help read a book like this and wonder how I might respond in similar circumstances, under the duress and fear of a totalitarian regime. It is easy to see how much one might prefer to stay small and go unnoticed and hope for the best. But that is also the measure of the courage exhibited by those who participated actively in the resistance.

Highly recommended.… (altro)