As a young boy growing up in Holland during the mid-1960s, I was introduced to Anne Frank and her tragic story. We were required to read her diary as well as attending the all-day field trip to the “Anne Frank House” in Amsterdam where Anne and her family hid from the Nazis until they were betrayed and deported ⏤ only her father survived.
There is a similar story in France, but it did not become known until 2008 when another diary was published, and the world got a first-hand glimpse into Nazi atrocities. The author, Hélène Berr, has since become known as the “French Anne Frank.”
Hélène Berr shortly before her arrest and deportation. Photo by anonymous (c. 1944).
Did You Know?
Do you know how the term “Nazi” came about? Hitler’s political party was officially called the National Socialist German Workers’ Party or, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei:
NAtionalsoZIalistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei.
The German word “Reich” means “empire.” The first German Reich lasted 844 years and was commonly known as the Holy Roman Empire until it was dismantled by Napoléon in 1806. The second Reich lasted approximately 48 years between 1871 and the end of World War I. Hitler’s Third Reich lasted twelve years with horrifying consequences which unfortunately, some aspects have endured to this day.
Hélène Berr (1921-1945) was born into an upper middle-class French family. In addition to Hélène, Raymond and Antoinette Berr’s family consisted of Jacqueline (1915-1921), Yvonne (1917-2001), Denise (1919-2011) and Jacques (1922-1998). The family lived in Paris at 5, avenue Elisée-Reclus until the French police knocked on their door in March 1944.
Hélène began her diary on 7 April 1942. She ceased writing seven months later on 28 November 1942 but resumed once again on 25 August 1943. There are many entries which document the actions and events perpetrated by Vichy and the Nazis in Paris and France. Reading her diary, you will confront Hélène’s emotions towards the policies of Vichy and the Nazis as well as personal issues. Unlike Anne Frank, we won’t hear from Hélène until 2008 when her diary is published. Read More The French Anne Frank
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.
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.
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
Stewart Ross’ book is full of interesting documents and research, it put you well on the tracks of Marie Antoinette, Danton, Robespierre and many more, whether in Paris or in Versailles, extremely interesting and easy to read!
Raphaelle Crevet | Certified Tour Guide, Paris, France
“Stew blends the dark history of buildings in Paris that are associated with the infamous deeds of the Gestapo with contrasting insights into the bravery of the French people, who, at great risk to themselves and their families, secretly resisted the German Occupation.”
Stanley Booker, MBE, RAF (Ret.), Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur
