Les Parisiennes : : how the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupation

Locations
Call Number: Adult Book / Nonfiction / History / Europe / France
On Shelf At: Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / History / Europe / France	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / History / Europe / France	4-week checkout	Due 05-21-2024

"First published in Great Britain by Weidenfeld & Nicolson"--Title page verso.
Prologue: Les Parisiennes -- PART ONE: WAR -- 1939 : Paris on the Edge -- 1940 : Paris Abandoned -- 1941 : Paris Divided -- 1942 : Paris Ravaged -- 1943: Paris Trembles -- 1944 (first half) : Paris Awaits -- PART TWO: LIBERATION -- 1944 (second half) : Paris Shorn -- 1945 : Paris Returns -- 1946 : Paris Adjusts -- PART THREE: RECONSTRUCTION -- 1947 : Paris Looks Newish -- 1948-1949 : Paris Americanized -- Epilogue: Peacetime Paris : Some Beginnings and Some Endings -- Cast List.
"What did it feel like to be a woman living in Paris from 1939 to 1949? These were years of fear, power, aggression, courage, deprivation and secrets until--finally--renewal and retribution. Even at the darkest moments of Occupation, with the Swastika flying from the Eiffel Tower and pet dogs abandoned howling on the streets, glamour was ever present. French women wore lipstick. Why? It was women more than men who came face to face with the German conquerors on a daily basis--perhaps selling them their clothes or travelling alongside them on the Metro, where a German soldier had priority over seats. By looking at a wide range of individuals from collaborators to resisters, actresses and prostitutes to teachers and writers, Anne Sebba shows that women made life-and-death decisions every day, and often did whatever they needed to survive. Her fascinating cast of characters includes both native Parisian women and those living in Paris temporarily--American women and Nazi wives, spies, mothers, mistresses, and fashion and jewellery designers. Some women, like the heiress Béatrice de Camondo or novelist Irène Némirovsky, converted to Catholicism; others like lesbian racing driver Violette Morris embraced the Nazi philosophy; only a handful, like Coco Chanel, retreated to the Ritz with a German lover. A young medical student, Anne Spoerry, gave lethal injections to camp inmates one minute but was also known to have saved the lives of Jews. But this is not just a book about wartime. In enthralling detail Sebba explores the aftershock of the Second World War and the choices demanded. How did the women who survived to see the Liberation of Paris come to terms with their actions and those of others? Although politics lies at its heart, Les Parisiennes is a fascinating account of the lives of people of the city and, specifically, in this most feminine of cities, its women and young girls"--Publisher's website.

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Les Parisiennes submitted by Tracey Baetzel on April 15, 2019, 4:03pm What a compelling read - the determination and bravery of these women is remarkable! Rather than make collaboration and resistance a black and white option, the book explores the grey area between the two and how choices were made when there wasn't enough to eat and danger lurked everywhere. Eye-opening for me was the story of the return of deportees from the camps, and how they were shunned socially because people didn't want reminders of wdihat had happened, and how French legislation after the war continued to discriminate against Jewish deportees (as opposed to resistance deportees) with lower retribution payments. It was also interesting to learn that DeGaulle did a "gloss over" and tried to make it look like the French won the war independently - and parallels were drawn between the German occupation and the "American occupation" after the war. ( No wonder they don't like us......)

Amazing women, amazing stories submitted by smgop on June 11, 2022, 1:16pm This tome took me a while to read, but it didn't disappoint. Reading about how French women found a way to resist their Nazi occupiers (with style and flair!). was amazing.