The Reactions of Young Girls and Young Women to the Nazi Occupation of France
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FACE TO FACE WITH THE ENEMY: THE REACTIONS OF YOUNG GIRLS AND YOUNG WOMEN TO THE NAZI OCCUPATION OF FRANCE By VICTORIA LOUISE HARRISON A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham For the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of French Studies College of Arts and Law The University of Birmingham July 2011 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT This study focuses on the experiences of young girls, who were aged between four and twenty-one when the Occupation began, growing up in Occupied France during World War II. Although youth and gender have been researched independently, this has been in terms of the policies that were implemented by the Vichy regime. Similarly studies on public opinion focus on the population as a whole rather than on a specific category of people. Using archival documents and published testimonies, my research explores the complexities surrounding the formation of opinions towards the Germans in young girls’ minds and how these opinions reflect their age and gender. An important factor in this interplay is that the Germans were often not much older than these young girls so in peacetime the two would have belonged to similar peer groups. In contrast to adults who could make conscious decisions about how to behave towards the enemy, young girls tended to react more naturally and instinctively. The thesis therefore argues that their accounts provide a deeper and more nuanced insight into public opinion at this time. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my former supervisor, Dr Simon Kitson, for his suggestions on the directions in which to take this project and for introducing me to the benefits of using archives. I would also like to thank Professor Jennifer Birkett, who acted as my temporary supervisor for a short period of time, for her guidance and support. My biggest thanks go to my current supervisor, Dr Angela Kershaw, for her enthusiasm, support and insight but most of all her unwavering belief in both my ability and this project. I would also like to thank the staff of the Archives de la Préfecture de Police, in particular Monsieur Grégory Auda and Monsieur Olivier Accarie, for their assistance and good humour. Finally I would like to thank the people who have been there for me, and with me, from the very beginning of this project, my family and my best friend Steve, who have shown limitless amounts of patience and emotional support. CONTENTS Introduction 1 Chapter One – The Legacy of the Past 26 The transmission of memory by older generations Anti-Germanism in Propaganda Memories of World War I conveyed by the physical environment Chapter Two – The Exodus 57 Statistics Emotional Responses to the Exodus Sexual exploitation Separation Bombings Chapter Three – The Germans on French Soil 89 Shock, Hatred and Fear Silence and Blindness Chez nous Beautiful and Sexy Uniform, Boots, Tanks and Singing Language used to refer to Germans Chapter Four – Franco-German Relations 118 Incidents Incidents in the street Incidents on familiar territory Caught in the crossfire Sexual assaults Attraction to the Germans Chapter Five – Dissidence, Demonstrations and Decorations 164 Narguer les Allemands Protests Incidents in cinemas ‘V’ Campaign Insignias L’insigne des Juifs Chapter Six – Young Girls in the Organised Resistance 224 Youth Gender Propaganda Agentes de liaison Conclusion 259 Bibliography 266 INTRODUCTION Childhood and adolescence are distinct stages in a person’s development, and both are considered pivotal. Defining childhood as encompassing the period between three and twelve years of age, it is typically a time when a person is carefree and able to experience a sense of freedom and innocence that is lost once the child grows up and enters the adult world full of constraints and responsibilities. Most children experience a sense of security, safety even, provided by the adults who care for them. Although childhood is most often accompanied by a focus on the self, on the individual, this does not mean that they are immune from the effects of their environment. As Maria Carrier wrote in the preface to her book Maréchal, nous voilà...1940-1944: Souvenirs d’enfances sous l’Occupation: ‘A cette époque, le monde des adultes et celui des enfants étaient séparés, et, pourtant, les petits avaient des yeux pour voir et les oreilles pour entendre.’1 This quotation is used to refer to the context of wartime France and emphasises the specificity of the period. In the 1940s the world of children was more separated from the world of adults than it is now. However, children were still able to perceive the significance of contemporary events. Although they were rarely asked for their opinions, this does not mean that they did not have them, an aspect which is evident from their literary responses to the period. Adolescence is defined by different characteristics. In his study of youth culture from the nineteenth century to 1945, Jon Savage states that the term ‘teenager’ was coined in America in 1944 to refer to those aged between fourteen and eighteen and was initially used as a marketing term by advertisers. He writes: ‘The fact that, for the first time, youth had become 1 Maréchal, nous voilà…1940-1944: Souvenirs d’enfances sous l’Occupation, ed. Maria Carrier (Paris: Autrement, 2006), p. 6. 1 its own target market also meant that it had become a discrete age group with its own rituals, rights and demands.’2 Categorised as a specific period in a young person’s development, usually between the ages of twelve and twenty-one, adolescence is when both physical and emotional changes take place. It defines the transition from childhood to adulthood and is often characterised by the adolescent gaining a greater sense of self-awareness but also an awareness of what is going on in society. It is also a time when a young person begins to form their own opinions, which can result in rebellion towards those in charge. Youth and gender were important concepts in World War II France. The policies implemented by Vichy towards these two categories have been well documented by established scholars such as W.D. Halls, Pierre Giolitto, and Miranda Pollard. Halls’ pioneering study3 on the youth of Vichy France examined the ways in which the Vichy regime sought to indoctrinate young people with its ideology and principles by assessing the impact, but ultimate failure, of its education policies and youth groups. He concluded that Vichy’s aims were never fully realised due to the diverse political views of its ministers which resulted in there never being a single youth policy but several. Similarly, Giolitto’s study4 emphasises how, from birth, Vichy set out to impose specific gender roles on children by means of the toys with which they were encouraged to play and he focuses on how the National Revolution sought to form l’homme nouveau for the benefit of French society. He shows how these policies were largely unsuccessful due to a void between the principles of Vichy’s policies and the ways in which they were applied. Jean-William Dereymez5 explores the diverse everyday experiences of those aged twenty-five or under during the war years. He 2 Jon Savage, Teenage: The Creation of Youth Culture (London: Viking Penguin, 2007), p. xv. 3 W.D. Halls, The Youth of Vichy France (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981). 4 Pierre Giolitto, Histoire de la jeunesse sous Vichy (Paris: Perrin, 1991). 5 Etre jeune en France (1939-1945), ed. Jean-William Dereymez (Paris: L’Harmattan, 2001). 2 provides a thorough summary of Vichy’s youth policies and youth groups before exploring young people’s involvement in the Resistance and with communism. As Vichy’s concept of youth was synonymous with young males, it is not surprising that these studies focus predominantly on boys and young men. My research develops Halls’ and Giolitto’s findings further as, whereas they looked at Vichy’s attitude to youth in the aftermath of defeat, I examine how young people themselves responded to this defeat. Furthermore, the defeat did not just have an impact on males, young girls were also affected but their opinions have largely been ignored. One of the most recent studies on youth is a journal article by Sophie B. Roberts6 which looks at the involvement of the Zazous in the yellow star protest in June 1942. She argues that their action was a form of dissidence to demonstrate their rejection of the Occupation rather than a form of resistance. My research develops her findings further by looking at the different forms of protest in which young girls participated and their reasons for doing so. Studies on gender focus on the dual aspects of continuity and change in different contexts. A collection of essays entitled Behind the Lines: Gender and the Two World Wars asserts that although war is traditionally considered a male domain, the act of war, by means of propaganda and the media, in fact imposes gender distinctions on all members of society regardless of whether they are involved in armed combat.7 Furthermore, if women do manage to take on new roles, it is only for a specific time period as society reverts back to normal once the crisis has passed.