The Experience of Occupation in the Nord, 1914–18
67 v 2 v General misconduct and popular reprisals Three main forms of misconduct involving both men and women can be identified: denunciations, working for the Germans and espi- onage. As with sexual misconduct, there was a strong belief among locals that compatriots engaged in such activities, but the line between perceptions and reality is and was often blurred. Nevertheless, as will be demonstrated, the strength of belief in misconduct and disdain for perceived traitors was so great that the latter were the victims of popular reprisals and revenge during and after the war. Such extreme expressions of the occupied culture, whereby those who breached its norms deserved punishment, suggesting that it was adhered to by more than just the middle classes. Denunciations On 10 June 1915, M. Blin described the ‘sensational’ events taking place at Roubaix’s hôtel de ville. The Germans had installed a ‘locked window display’ accompanied by the following sign: ‘Documents available to the public. Anonymous letters in which the French slander [Blin’s wording] their compatriots.’ Blin was disgusted but perversely hopeful on seeing this, noting, ‘This shameful wound, displayed in broad daylight, this public ridicule of the cowardly accusations expressed in a revolting crudeness, may stop, henceforth, the pens of the villainous individuals who have the shamelessness to employ this procedure unworthy of real French people.’1 The following day, many people came to read the anonymous letters,2 and on 12 June Blin himself took a closer look, remarking: Many curious people stop in front of the display. I note in particular two new letters: the 1st is signed: ‘A soul devoted to your soldiers’ (Is it actually v 67 v James E.
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