Vive la Résistance! well, not really... French Resistance 1940 - WW2 - War Against Humanity 007

Immediately after France is occupied by the Nazis in 1940, the French are divided about what to do; resist or collaborate? To put it mildly, it's complicated.

Written and Hosted by: Spartacus Olsson
Produced and Directed by: Spartacus Olsson and Astrid Deinhard
Executive Producers: Bodo Rittenauer, Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Joram Appel
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Research by: Spartacus Olsson and Francis van Berkel
Edited by: Wieke Kapteijns

Sources: Bundesarchiv, Mémorial de la Shoah
Icons via the Noun Project: collaboration by Pause08, protester by Blaise Sewell, Dove by Luis Prado, confused by Llisole

A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.

[spartacus-olsson]

In the aftermath of WW2, everyone was probably pretty tired of the whole tragedy, and ready to just move on. Many of the people that I have met that lived through the war didn't like talking about the war much. But somehow I had the privilege of getting many of the them that I met to open up and talk about it to me. Maybe not so much because of any personal quality I have other than being very persistent and curious - a pain in the neck is another way of putting it.

Anyway, we talked about many things, terrible things, great things, sad, and happy stories. But there was one thing I never heard anybody talk about, and that was indecision. Fear and regret, yes - everyone spoke of that, but not indecision. There was always an undertone of manifest destiny or complete meaninglessness.

But, when you think about it, how could you not be indecisive when faced with this kind of calamity? How can you not wonder if this is destiny, or just bad luck? How can you not be shocked into a stupor, at least at first? And even if you're an ideologically convinced partisan or combatant, how do you know for sure what the right thing to do is? Well, when you start looking into it all, those questions were pretty much what gripped France in 1940 after the sudden, tragic loss of independence.

I think that indecision is not something we want to remember, perhaps we shouldn't if we want to stay our course, perhaps we're wired not to, so that we can focus better on what we finally decide. But for others who want to learn from our mistakes, and our successes - it is in the moment of indecision that we display our thinking, our reasoning, the true origin of our cause.

I should also tell you that I grew up in France, so this is in many ways the story of the adults around me when I was a child.

*RULES OF CONDUCT*
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[EdMcF]

I had a French student assistant teacher from Alsace who spoke French with a German accent, and said he was routinely taken for a German in France. We couldn't hear his accent in his French and someone asked him to speak in English, his reply came out as 'Vot do you vont me to say?' and the class laughed.

[BazColne]

How rare to hear a historian who's taken trouble with pronunciation. Sounds so much more credible.

[Daniel-kqbx]

I really like Spartacus's Style. Debunking myths and show the rare (exceptional) Brutality of ww 2 and not just the military side

[kuoseis]

0:07 this women is still alive, her name is Simone Segouin
.

[rmod]

That intro is the grimmest description of 'Allo 'Allo I've ever heard!

[stopscammingman]

There's something really really nice about a guy named Spartacus teaching about injustices.

[canthama]

A remarkable piece of work Spartacus, well paced, emphasis and plenty of information, you guys make History look so much clear to us all. Congrats folks and happy holidays.

[stuartmcnaughton]

At that time De Gaulle's Free French had difficulty in recruiting Frenchmen who had escaped to Britain. I used to work with a Frenchman, born and bred in France to Polish parents, who escaped to Britain and joined the Polish commandos. He said that there were several other Frenchmen in his unit, but that none of the others could even speak Polish.

[ambrosiuslouis]

Clicked on this video faster than Paris fell

[HistoryHustle]

There was also the Dutch resistance that was the inspiration for many books and novels that appeared after WWII in the Netherlands. Actually did you know that a Dutch resistance had an office which was located right next to the SS office in Utrecht. Best place to stay safe is right next to the hole of the lion someone said to me.

[alin_ilies]

I hope sparticus will make more videos in this series.

[holmanrw]

While living and working in France I met several former members of the various Resistance groups, a peasant farmer that spoke English with a perfect Public School accent learnt from RAF pilots he had hidden, Communists, Gaulists and the head of the society of Veterans of the Resistance all had their stories but one story remains in my mind more than any other. I often shared a table for dinner with an elderly Frenchman and we became fairly close friends. He had been sent to work at a German factory producing components for the German army. I asked him if there was much sabotage done by the workers. "No very little" he said. "At first there was some, then the Gestapo came. Two of them stood watching the assembly line without speaking to anyone. Hours they watched. Then they pointed to two men who were taken away and shot. There was never any sabotage again."

[claudemontezin]

Merci ! Thank you. If you don't mind. I have a story to share. My father was a young corporal, trained as a machinist and mechanic, when France briefly fought and surrendered to Nazi. I was a passionate of war toys and when I grew up and asked him so many questions about the war, but he rarely said anything. Eventually, facing my stubbornness he provided some answers. My dad and my uncle (also named Claude) were career soldiers. They did not shy from occasional fist fights against bullies growing up. My dad led a small team of rag tags resistance, using stolen or captured guns (my dad's favorite were Berettas - he said they never jammed). They blew up railroads - Nazi's were the only ones using them - and one time he laid his charges and ran to cover, while a bullet almost grazed his skull. Many times I've asked him "how many Nazi did you kill dad?" while playing with GI Joes. One day, he looked away, and said "I don't know. But if I were to be paid a nickel for every bullet I fired directly at the enemy, I would be multi, multi, millionaire". He eventually got caught. Since France surrendered, you as a resistance fighter have no longer any Geneva Convention protection and they will torture and execute all they wish. Resistance women and men lived off of stealing chickens, even eating cats (he said so) and your old time neighbor could shoot you in the back, in exchange for chocolate or wine offered by local policing SS (or to avoid their brutality). Once made prisoner, my dad was smart and convinced them he was more valuable to them alive since he was a trained mechanic and machinist. It worked and they had him work in their stronghold submarine base at La Rochelle (where Spielberg filmed Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1980 and Wolfgang Peterson filmed scenes of Das Boot). I told you he was a "fighter" so he managed to sabotage the sophisticated aim of the 88mm deck cannon of several subs (95% of the time, 'Boats" encounter lightly armed ships, saving torpedoes for destroyers or battleships). Many skippers eventually reported shots and misses (while hurrying up to dive, avoiding roaming B25s with barrel dept charges, rushing to aid ships carrying cargo or troupes). Diving towards deeper depths, at a maximum of 8 knots, takes several nerve racking minutes. So they didn't stick around. I reckon that my dad saved a few hundred lives that way, but nobody knows. Nazis had great investigators and intelligence, so they traced all these failures down to HIM. He was imprisoned and tortured, and yet he managed once more to convinced some officers of his worth (indeed they had a severe need of skilled manpower) and they put him back working on U-boats, but watched constantly by a dedicated armed "chaperon" soldier See, since France surrendered, and resistance were "traitors" to France, and mostly since quite a large number of French military personnel had no choice but to fight FOR the nazis, it was never "popular" to mention these stories, even after the war. Nowadays, you see in movies how glamorous it was to be a spy or a resistance fighter. Well, the Gestapo (internal nazi police) used to hunt them down, and impale the back of their skulls on meat hooks. Then they'd send photos to the Brits or US intelligence, a bit like a cat would show you the mouse he caught. So being, by choice, a resistance fighter, joining the brave women and men who did so, was just like diving in the worst military conditions we can imagine. Many got it a lot worse than my father, and nobody will ever know. After the war, he came to Canada and married my mother - a registered nurse - and they had three kids. My dad raised us right as he swore to be a good provider for us kids. However the war did really affect him. He worked in Canada as a machinist, and was very liked by his co-worker until he passed when I was 17 of complications with the one lung he had left. A last anecdote if you don't mind: One time my mother was knitting at home and I noticed her wearing a silver ring with a bashed death skull at an angle, framing short crossbones at the back. She declined telling me why a nurse working in pediatrics would wear a death symbol... Many years later after she passed, I saw this exact design on the web and it was a genuine totenkopf "death's head" SS ring. My father must have offered it to her, no doubt taken from a dead SS he had killed and taken it as a souvenir. I will share this story around, but I assure you that nobody in the entire world, even my late French grampa, even my father's wife have never known the extent of this story, as my dad was extremely private. May there never ever be wars. Being surrounded by peace, fraternity and love is definitely better. Cheers!

[christopherjustice]

Resistance in Russia was much more intense. Simply because the Russian populace under occupation had nothing to lose.

[Altrantis]

Otto von Stülpnagel looks and his name sounds like a cartoon.

[koult]

2:15 so all of Gaul is still divided into three parts huh?

[stevekunde]

I really enjoy these videos.

Strangely one of the things I like the most, completely aside from the information presented, is watching the clock in the background.

[MeGawOOt]

I think there was a document that said overall only 10% of France population did passive resistance. While within that 10%, only like 1-3% did actual resistance and sabotage. The document said most of the population was more worried about getting enough money to feed their family.
After the war, the french basically did propaganda that everyone in France was resisting the Germans and the French Resistance was very popular and etc...

[od]

Good production Sparky. I think you have found your voice. I'm sure it was a jumble of emotions and thought for the French. Its easy to beat them up now. But Resistance meant that many innocent people were executed in retaliation . I'm sure that weighed heavily on many who resisted or wanted to. Its the classic case of being between a rock and a hard place. I doubt there are many books written on the Displaced French ... but many on French heroes. History and popular interest seem to forget the innocent. BTW I see many historians now quoting other historians..its's important to remember that an opinion is not a fact. Thanks .I hope there is more on this subject.