Gay Paris? Photos of Paris under Nazi occupation draw fire

Breitbart.com ^ | 4/23/08 | Breitbart.com

[Comstock1]

There is only one word that you need to remember to describe France during WWII: “Vichy”.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

I saw a figure once for how many children were born to French women by German men during the occupation...I think it was 200,000. Presumably the number of French women who had affairs with Germans during this period was many times larger than the number who became pregnant.

---

You are right on the money here.

This was brought chillingly home to me about a year ago when I was taking a tour of the Normandy beaches. My tour guide was a French woman from the area in her mid-twenties I would guess. She was talking about her grandparents and she fairly openly talked about how when her grandfather was in a prison camp in Germany, her grandmother was, shall we say, occupied territory.

Then she finished by saying “Look at me. How many French do you know that have blue eyes” (she did). Quite an unforgettable moment. I think I've gotten the generational details right, but what's absolutely clear in my mind was when she talked about her eye color. All taking place right on the Normandy beaches. Eerie.

[Lurker]

I’m guessing the one’s in the resistance that died and their loved ones, would disagree.

I'm certain they would. However their disagreement doesn't change the fact that the French Resistance was, with one notable exception, nearly useless to the Allied war effort.

L

[arderkrag]

"This almost takes the sting out of being occupied, doesn't it, Mr. Rick?"

[riverdawg]

“The French Resistance was nearly worthless.”

That’s not what Eisenhower said in his memoir, Crusade in Europe. He, and many others, said that the French Resistance, by sabotaging rail lines east and south of Normandy, was largely responsible for the inability of Germany to reinforce troops quickly on the Western front and slow the pace of the Allies invasion after the initial landings.

[BitBucket]

What everyone forgets is that the French communists gladly cooperated with Hitler when he invaded France. They only switched sides after Hitler invaded the USSR. After the war the commies went on an hysterical witch hunt denouncing everyone in sight of collaboration, mainly as a way of distracting attention from their own misdeeds.

[Moose4]

Are you sure about that? Free French commandos did come ashore on D-Day. I’ve never seen any casualty figures, though.

The French military record is a strange one. After enduring the horrific slaughter of millions in World War I, their leaders planned poorly and their army folded under the blitzkrieg in World War II, and wouldn’t defend their own country. But in a few places that weren’t even French soil, like Bir Hakeim in 1942, the French fought magnificently. Of course, of the six Free French battalions at Bir Hakeim, two were from the Foreign Legion and two were non-French colonial troops from central Africa and the Pacific.

}:-)4

[stuartcr]

Measured against the war effort, I agree, but I think it’s wrong to say it was useless. I think any resistance against an occupying force, has value.

[Lurker]

But in a few places that weren’t even French soil, like Bir Hakeim in 1942, the French fought magnificently.

Don't forget that the Vichy French troops were more than happy to shoot at Americans landing in Africa.

\ L

[Centurion2000]

bttt

[LiveFree99]

I thought every single person was in the French Underground!

Yup, just like every German after WW2 had been anti-Nazi and had hated Hitler.

[riverdawg]

“French combat casualties for the Battle of No[r]mandy: Zero.”

This is false. French naval commandos landed with the British at Sword Beach on D-Day and suffered substantial casualties taking the fortifications at Ouisreham. French SAS paratroopers also landed behind German lines on June 5, 1944, and undoubtedly suffered many casualties while sabotaging rail lines and German encampments.

[fella]

"I'm shocked, I tell you, Shocked"

"Here are your winnings, sir"

"Thank you"

[arderkrag]

Fantastic movie. By far, one of my favorites.

[gundog]

Oh,...Paris France...

[SunkenCiv]

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[indcons]

"But in a few places that weren’t even French soil, like Bir Hakeim in 1942, the French fought magnificently. Of course, of the six Free French battalions at Bir Hakeim, two were from the Foreign Legion and two were non-French colonial troops from central Africa and the Pacific"

Self explanatory, isn't it?

/snicker

[N. Theknow]

Does one of the photographs have this caption?

Qu'avons-nous fait pour les faire nous détester tellement ?

What did we do to make them hate us so much?

[VeniVidiVici]

I thought every single person was in the French Underground!

And all named Lebeau!

[Tax-chick]

Robert Clary is a concentration camp survivor:

Robert Clary was born in Paris, France, the youngest of 14 children. He began singing professionally at the age of 12. In 1942 Robert and 12 members of his immediate family were deported by the Nazis. Only Robert survived. When he returned to Paris, he was overjoyed to discover that some of his siblings had not been deported and had survived. He went back to singing and was discovered by Harry Bluestone while entertaining in a dance hall in 1947.