- Summary
- Describes what life was like in Paris after June 1940, when the Nazis occupied France, juxtaposing the eerie sense of normalcy felt by many Parisians with the passion of the strong resistance movement that rose around Charles de Gaulle.
"On June 14, 1940, German tanks entered a silent and nearly deserted Paris. Eight days later, France accepted a humiliating defeat and foreign occupation. Subsequently, an eerie sense of normalcy settled over the City of Light. Many Parisians keenly adapted themselves to the situation-even allied themselves with their Nazi overlords. At the same time, amidst this darkening gloom of German ruthlessness, shortages, and curfews, a resistance arose. Parisians of all stripes, Jews, immigrants, adolescents, communists, rightists, cultural icons such as Colette, de Beauvoir, Camus and Sartre, as well as police officers, teachers, students, and store owners-rallied around a little known French military officer, Charles de Gaulle. When Paris Went Dark evokes with stunning precision the detail of daily life in a city under occupation, and the brave people who fought against the darkness. Relying on a range of resources--memoirs, diaries, letters, archives, interviews, personal histories, fliers and posters, fiction, photographs, film and historical studies, Rosbottom has forged a groundbreaking book that will forever influence how we understand those dark years in the City of Light."--Publisher's description.
- Format
- Book
- Author/Creator
- Rosbottom, Ronald C., 1942- author.
- Published
- New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2014
- Locale
- France
Paris (France)
- Edition
- First edition
- Contents
-
Chronology of the Occupation of Paris
Major personalities
Introduction. Faux Paris ; Sequestering Medusa ; Paris was different
A nation disintegrates. Preludes ; Three traumas
Waiting for Hitler. "They" arrive, and are surprised ; One who stayed, one who left ; "They" settle in ; Hitler's own tour ; The Führer's urbanophobia
Minuet (1940-1941). How do you occupy a city? ; For some, Paris was a bubble ; Dancing the minuet ; Correct, but still Nazis ; "To bed, to bed!" ; An execution in Paris
City without a face : the occupier's lament. Paris had already welcomed the Nazis
before the occupation ; The occupiers are surprised, too ; A dreamer in exile ; Sexually occupied ; A "better" German ; Recollected solitude
Narrowed lives. Narrowing and boredom ; The apartment ; A crowded Métro ; The informer ; The queue
Dilemmas of resistance. Quoi faire? ; Resistant Paris ; Bébés terroristes ; The red poster ; A female resistance ; Who got the credit?
Most narrowed lives : the hunt for Jews. Being Jewish in Paris ; Three girls on the move ; A gold star ; The big roundup
How much longer? (1942-1944). "You can come over now!" ; The plague ; Observers from the palace ; Signs of defeat
Liberation : a whodunit. Is Paris worth a detour? ; The beast of Sevastopol arrives ; "Tous aux barricades!" ; Why do Americans smile so much? ; Whodunit?
Angry aftermath : back on Paris time. Rediscovering purity ; "Kill all the bastards!" ; The return of lost souls
Is Paris still occupied? De Gaulle creates a script ; Stumbling through memory ; Should we blame Paris? ; "The landscape of our confusions"
Appendix. De Gaulle's speech on the Liberation of Paris.
- Notes
-
Includes bibliographical references (pages 405-429) and index.
Chronology of the Occupation of Paris -- Major personalities -- Introduction. Faux Paris ; Sequestering Medusa ; Paris was different -- A nation disintegrates. Preludes ; Three traumas -- Waiting for Hitler. "They" arrive, and are surprised ; One who stayed, one who left ; "They" settle in ; Hitler's own tour ; The Führer's urbanophobia -- Minuet (1940-1941). How do you occupy a city? ; For some, Paris was a bubble ; Dancing the minuet ; Correct, but still Nazis ; "To bed, to bed!" ; An execution in Paris -- City without a face : the occupier's lament. Paris had already welcomed the Nazis-- before the occupation ; The occupiers are surprised, too ; A dreamer in exile ; Sexually occupied ; A "better" German ; Recollected solitude -- Narrowed lives. Narrowing and boredom ; The apartment ; A crowded Métro ; The informer ; The queue -- Dilemmas of resistance. Quoi faire? ; Resistant Paris ; Bébés terroristes ; The red poster ; A female resistance ; Who got the credit? -- Most narrowed lives : the hunt for Jews. Being Jewish in Paris ; Three girls on the move ; A gold star ; The big roundup -- How much longer? (1942-1944). "You can come over now!" ; The plague ; Observers from the palace ; Signs of defeat -- Liberation : a whodunit. Is Paris worth a detour? ; The beast of Sevastopol arrives ; "Tous aux barricades!" ; Why do Americans smile so much? ; Whodunit? -- Angry aftermath : back on Paris time. Rediscovering purity ; "Kill all the bastards!" ; The return of lost souls -- Is Paris still occupied? De Gaulle creates a script ; Stumbling through memory ; Should we blame Paris? ; "The landscape of our confusions" -- Appendix. De Gaulle's speech on the Liberation of Paris.
