Stanford, Peter (15 August 2004). "The Exiled Collector by Anne Sebba". London. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022 . Retrieved 26 September 2009. Anne Sebba ( née Rubinstein; born 1951) is a British biographer, lecturer and journalist. She is the author of nine non-fiction books for adults, two biographies for children, and several introductions to reprinted classics. At the same time, those Parisians who lived for the city’s glamour and style insisted the show must go on – telling themselves perhaps that maintaining a way of life was itself a form of resistance, even though they knew full well that they could only party at the Germans’ behest. As long as one could tolerate the laying off of most Jews in the diverse businesses, accommodation was acceptable by the majority and the law of the land under the puppet Vichy government. The women with the most anti-fascist rebellion in their hearts, those with communist leanings, were undercut by the German-Russian pact of 1940. But when the Vichy government went out of their way to pass anti-semitic laws and turn a blind eye to factories being manned with the slave labor of political prisoners and POWs, more recruits to Resistance activity were made. Just seeing fashion queens like Coco Chanel, actresses like Corrine Lachaire, and diverse aristocrat courtesans hobnobbing in luxurious splendor with German officers at the Folies Bergere, the Comedie-Francaise, the opera, and fancy restaurants was enough to turn the heart of many of lesser means at a hungry time. Sleeping with the enemy was one step, but doing so with such special benefits was a big affront, though still not enough to sway many toward revolt. Besides, the eventual policy of the Nazis to kill 100 French for every German killed by the Resistance was quite a deterrent.

Les Parisiennes: How Women Of Paris Lived - HistoryExtra

In the past few years, it seems that the role of women in war is getting more attention and study, at least in popular culture. Hopefully, Hollywood will catch up and instead of the fictional Charlotte Grey we will have a lavish movie about the real Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, who also went by the name Hedgehog. Maybe instead of a one hour program on PBS Noor Khan will finally get her own Hollywood movie. Maybe in additional to Band of Brothers and The Pacific, HBO will finally have a series about women resistance fighters – and not the by now tried and tired cliché of the woman falling in love with the German officer she is suppose to be spying on. Don’t give me that. Give me Virginia Hall and Cuthbert. Please, please, someone do that. So, we go through 1940, when Paris was abandoned as many took a desperate, terrifying flight across France. However, when the German army arrived, they were often well-dressed, amiable and polite – at least at first and to most of the city’s inhabitants… People began to return, but gradually resistance groups emerged. There are arrests, denunciations, betrayal, fear, solidarity and every possible emotion through the war years. Always there is danger and hunger, but still Parisian women remade their dresses, put wooden soles on their shoes and pounced on parachute silk to make clothes. Director: Michel Boisrond. Screenplay: Michel Boisrond, Francis Cosne, Annette Wademant. Cinematography: Henri Alekan. Ella [ edit ]

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I would particularly cite this as a book which would be a perfect companion to Simone de Beauvoir's Les Mandarins or in English The Mandarins, a novel which opens with the Liberation and which also explores questions of guilt, collaboration, expediency and reparation in the postwar years from someone who lived through them.

Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved and Died

In the aftermath of the war, the book goes on to tell the tale of what happened next, and this makes very interesting reading, as people are brought to account for their actions. Raising big questions of whether everyone should be blamed for their actions, particularly when these women were practically left to fend for themselves amongst the enemy. Joffee, Linda (14 February 1994). "Book Review". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022 . Retrieved 26 September 2009.The lives of the victims are portrayed vividly, and highlights the aftermath for them. An experience that no one could ever put aside.