Posted on

The Street of Horrors

On Monday, 22 March 1944, the crumpled and broken body of Pierre Brossolette (1903-1944) lay on the ground outside the building located at 84, avenue Foch in an upscale Parisian neighborhood of the 16th arrondissement (district).

After two and a half days of torture by the Gestapo, Brossolette recovered enough consciousness to determine he was about to divulge information about his colleagues in the French Resistance. He stood up in his cell and flung himself out the sixth floor window. His last words were “all will be fine Tuesday.”

The Street of Horrors

11, rue des Saussaies à Paris. One of the Gestapo headquarters. Photo by Erwmat (2013). PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.
11, rue des Saussaies à Paris. One of the Gestapo headquarters. Photo by Erwmat (2013). PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.

Upon entering Paris on 14 June 1940, the Germans and the various military and civilian units began to immediately appropriate hotels, vacated buildings (many by Jewish citizens), French government buildings, vacant embassies, or just kicked out the existing residents of a building they wanted to occupy.

The different departments of the Nazi police system (commonly grouped under one name: Gestapo) annexed many of the buildings on Avenue Foch. It didn’t take long for the Germans to settle into Paris. The Abwehr (German Intelligence Service) had been operating in Paris during the 1930s and it was clear they had “mapped” out the entire city and identified all potential sites for the Germans to occupy.

The building at 84, avenue Foch became the main headquarters for the Gestapo. The sixth floor was converted to torture rooms and cells. Throughout the Nazi Occupation, the neighbors could hear the screams from the victims of Gestapo torture. Parisians quickly determined this street was not a place you wanted to visit.

Avenue Foch became known to the French as The Street of Horrors.

Police

Read More The Street of Horrors

Posted on

Comfort Women

There were many painful and disturbing legacies that countries had to face after the end of World War II. The most obvious is Germany. France had its own demons to deal with concerning Vichy France and its collaboration with the Nazis (France was the only Allied country to collaborate with the Germans). It wasn’t until 16 July 1995 that the French President Jacques Chirac publically acknowledged and accepted responsibility for France’s collaborationist role.

Comfort Women, rally in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul. Photo by Claire Solery (2012). PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.
Comfort Women, rally in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul. Photo by Claire Solery (2012). PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.

Recently, Japan has apologized to Korea for its role in “recruiting” women to serve in brothels set up for its soldiers during World War II. These women have been called “Comfort Women” and no agreement has ever been reached as to whether they were kidnapped or volunteered. One thing most historians agree on is that once in the brothels, the women were not allowed to leave. I suppose that in the strictest sense, this meant these women were sex slaves. Read More Comfort Women