Tag: Avenue Foch

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The French Gestapo

 

Flag of the Milice. Wikipedia
Flag of the Milice. Wikipedia

Why did the French government collaborate with the Germans during the four years of occupation? Why did the politicians carry out and many times exceed the German directives and expectations (especially for the deportations of Jews)? Why did French organizations form to terrorize their own citizens? Finally, why did individual French citizens denounce their fellow countrymen and women knowing full well the victims would likely not survive?

These are very complicated questions with no simple answers.

Two of the most feared collabo (collaborationist) French organizations were La Carlingue and the Milice.

The Bonny-Lafont Gang

93 rue Lauriston, Paris

Formally known as La Carlingue or the French Gestapo, this group of criminals was better known to the Parisians as the Bonny-Lafont Gang. The Nazis called them Active Group Hesse (after the Gestapo SD officer placed in the gang), Lauristondienst (Lauriston Service), the Gestapo française, or Bande de la Rue Lauriston.

After the Gestapo established itself in Paris, they formed two special units: the Intervention-Referat (teams of killers to do the jobs the Gestapo didn’t want to be identified with) and a unit of Frenchmen for training auxiliary agents. Members of these units were primarily convicted criminals purposely released from prison. One of the principal recruiters was a career criminal who could not read or write: Henri Chamberlin aka Henri Lafont (1902–1944). Read More The French Gestapo

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European Heritage Days

I’ll bet most of you who are Euro trippers aren’t aware that European Heritage Days (EHD) exists. I didn’t until our good friend in Paris, Raphaelle Crevet, mentioned this to us a year ago in connection with our research on the next book Where Did They Put the Gestapo Headquarters? A Walking Tour of Nazi Occupied Paris (1940–1944).

Open Door Days

During EHD, European governments open up one or more of their buildings, monuments, or sites for one or two days to the general public (usually in September). These places are normally closed to everyone during the rest of the year. The chosen sites will have some significance to a theme the country picks for the current EHD year. The number of sites ranges from one (e.g., Paris, France) to more than 700 (for “Open House London”).

The French Ministry of Culture started this annual event in 1984 as La Journée Portes ouvertes des monuments historiques (Historic Monument Open Door Days). Today, it is considered a cultural event celebrated by more than fifty European countries. Each country can pick a theme such as architecture, collections, shared history, restoration/protection, archaeology, monuments, and public buildings, just to name a few. Administration of the event is handled jointly by the Council of Europe and the European Commission (europeanheritagedays.com). Read More European Heritage Days