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Nazi Plundering

Monsieur Rémi Babinet purchased the beautiful building at 85-87, rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin in the former working-class neighborhood of Paris’s 10thdistrict. M. Babinet’s intent was to restore the abandoned late 19th-century building and move his advertising business there. Shortly afterwards, a historian approached him in the spring of 2009 with the news that M. Babinet’s building was used as a Nazi forced labor camp.

Exterior of former Lévitan store. Note the blue inscription above the upper floor windows. Photo by Reinhardhauke (2011). PD-GNU Free Documentation License. Wikimedia Commons.
Exterior of former Lévitan store. Note the blue inscription above the upper floor windows. Photo by Reinhardhauke (2011). PD-GNU Free Documentation License. Wikimedia Commons.

Babinet learned that his building had been confiscated by the Nazis and by 1943, it had become a giant distribution center and retail store for Nazi officers to shop in. The inventory was involuntarily supplied by Parisians who happened to be Jewish. The forced labor were Jews who had been arrested and detained at Drancy. Rather than being deported immediately to Auschwitz, they were transferred to Nazi department stores in Paris to work as clerks, laborers, and skilled craftsmen.

Stolen furniture displayed at Lévitan. Photo by anonymous (c. 1945). German Federal Archives, Koblenz. Photo ID number B 323-311 No. 75.
Stolen furniture displayed at Lévitan. Photo by anonymous (c. 1945). German Federal Archives, Koblenz. Photo ID number B 323-311 No. 75.

Did You Know?

Did you know that the Mousquetaires de la garde or, Musketeers of the Guard were the personal bodyguards of King Louis XIII? Alexander Dumas wrote the classic, The Three Musketeers, based loosely on the king’s guards (I suppose today, we would classify his book as “historical fiction”). This branch of the French military has essentially existed over many centuries albeit with different names but similar purposes. Today, its contemporary successor is The Republican Guard. This unit provides guards of honor for the State as well as security around Paris. Back in Napoléon’s day, his personal bodyguards were known as the Garde Impériale or, Imperial Guard (if I recall properly, didn’t President Richard Nixon try to do this in the early 1970s?).

The Imperial Guard was an elite group under the direct control of Napoléon. He carefully chose its members whom he expected to not only protect him but provide an elite fighting force during his battles. The “Old Guard,” as he called a select group of soldiers within the Imperial Guard, were the most seasoned soldiers in the French army, above-average height, and hardened veterans of battle campaigns. Only once did the Old Guard retreat without orders: the battle of Waterloo in 1814. After Napoléon was sent off to his final exile, the Old Guard disbanded. With the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy, the Imperial Guard would morph into a different existence and name. Here are some interesting facts about the Old Guard:

*This unit was with Napoléon from start (1799) to finish (1814).

*Soldiers were required to be a minimum of six feet tall. Napoléon was 5’5” and while standing next to his bodyguards, he developed a reputation for being short when in fact, he wasn’t (at least compared to the average male height of 5’2”).

*The soldiers were the best dressed in the French military.

* They were the best paid and enjoyed superior grades to other soldiers of equal rank.

*Imperial Guard soldiers were given R*E*S*P*E*C*T by all other military personnel. Even lowly privates were addressed as “Monsieur” by officers.

*They were allowed to complain.

* They lived in relative luxury and ate the best food (nothing but the best for the emperor’s boys).

*Napoléon called each of them by their first name.

*Some of surviving members of the Old Guard donned their former uniforms to attend the ceremony at the Hôtel des Invalides when Napoléon’s remains were returned to Paris in 1840.


Paris Department Stores

For those of you who “shop ‘til you drop,” you are likely familiar with the four major Paris department stores. Le Bon Marché (24, rue de Sèvres; 7e) was built in 1838. The Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville (36, rue de la Verrerie; 4e) opened its doors in 1852. Printemps Haussmann (64, boulevard Haussmann; 9e) began operations in 1865 while Galeries Lafayette (40, boulevard Haussmann; 9e) started in 1894. Right from the beginning, these department stores catered to the upper-class citizens of Paris. A lesser known store (with little-known history) was started to address the needs of the “working class” citizens or laborers as they were known. Read More Nazi Plundering

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Memorial of Fighting France

I am delighted to have Mr. Paul McCue as our guest blogger today. Paul is an accomplished author and expert on the British-led Special Operations Executive (SOE). He is a trustee of the non-profit organization, The Secret WW2 Learning Network which is dedicated to making better known the activities of clandestine warfare during World War II. His organization works closely with the Paris-based Libre Résistance which exclusively covers SOE’s French Section and its agents. Paul recently attended a memorial ceremony for the French Resistance of World War II. It was held at Fort Mont-Valérien in a suburb of Paris and like the annual 18 June memorial event, it was a very solemn event and attended by many dignitaries. The ceremony carries a significant message to all of us concerning the brave men and women who actively fought the Nazis and those who paid the ultimate price.


Did You Know?

Did you know the image I’ve included here of the four resistance members being executed was one of three photos discovered in December 2009? These are members of the Manouchian group named after its leader, Missak Manouchian. It was one of the deadliest and more successful resistance groups which made up the FTP-MOI, a resistance réseau (network) comprised of European immigrants, principally Jews. Manouchian’s group specialized in assassinations, bombings, and general disruption of the German occupation forces (the Nazis called them “The Army of Crime”). The group was betrayed, and the Gestapo arrested twenty-three members. A public trial was held and twenty-two were executed by firing squad at Fort Mont-Valérien on 21 February 1944 (the only woman was taken to Germany where she was beheaded in May). No photographs were allowed of any executions. However, Clemens Rüter, a German soldier, stood on the crest of the hill overlooking the clearing where the four men were tied to stakes in front of the firing squad and he took three snapshots. Rüter went back to Germany after the war and the camera, with the film still in it, was left untouched for forty years. Shortly before he died, Rüter told someone about the camera and the three images. The person he told his story to worked for the Franz Stock Association. The camera and film were turned over to the association which had the film developed. Serge Klarsfeld identified the four victims as members of the Manouchian group. Franz Stock was the German priest assigned to Fort Mont-Valérien to administer to the condemned men. He was known as the L’Archange de enfer or, “The archangel in hell.” Franz Stock will be the subject of our 2 March 2019 blog post.


Before Paul talks about his first-hand experience in late September, allow me to give you a brief background on the Mémorial de la France combattante or, Memorial of Fighting France, it’s annual ceremony, the Companions of the Liberation, and Fort Mont-Valérien. By tying these together, you will have a better appreciation for Paul’s blog.

 Mémorial de la France Combattante

Almost immediately after the liberation of France in August 1944, General Charles de Gaulle decided to formally pay tribute to the members of the French Resistance who had died. He visited Fort Mont-Valérien where resistance members were executed by firing squad, Fort Neuf de Vincennes where other executions took place, and finally, Cimetière Ivry-sur-Seine (aka Cimetière Parisien d’Ivry) where many of the victims were buried including Missak Manouchian.

Missak Manouchian two days after his arrest by the Gestapo. Photo by anonymous (18 November 1943). PD-70+. Wikimedia Commons.
Missak Manouchian two days after his arrest by the Gestapo. Photo by anonymous (18 November 1943). PD-70+. Wikimedia Commons.
Execution of four members of the Manouchian Group. Marcel Rayman is on far right. Photo by Clemens Rüter (21 February 1944). Courtesy of Friends of Franz Stock Association.
Execution of four members of the Manouchian Group. Marcel Rayman is on far right. Photo by Clemens Rüter (21 February 1944). Courtesy of Friends of Franz Stock Association.

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