Tag: Occupied Paris

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American “Grande Horizontale” and Nazi Collaborator

From the time she was a very small girl living in San Francisco, Florence Juliette Antoinette Lacaze knew she wanted a special place in life. Florence quickly determined that because she wasn’t born into that “special place,” she would have to develop it on her own. From that day on, everything Florence did was a calculated move to enhance her position in society, create wealth, and as we’ll see after France’s liberation, protect her physical self and reputation (Florence perfected the art of lying to enhance her life story). In other words, Florence built her entire life around her. While Florence was a benefactor to her friends, she was ruthless towards her enemies. She shared several common traits with her deceased father-in-law, Jay Gould, the notorious 19th-century “Robber Baron.”

Did You Know?

Many of us were required to read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby while in junior high or early high school. Remember those days reading about East Egg and West Egg? East Egg was the aristocratic section of town while West Egg belonged to the nouveau rich. The character social types were in love with money, social standing, and generally created a lot of messes in their lives (and others). Fitzgerald finished the first draft and sent it to his editor. It was promptly sent back to the author because Fitzgerald “had not sufficiently developed the characters with any believability.” Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda were, at the time, fixtures on the French Riviera staying in Frank and Florence’s hotel, in Juan-les-Pins. They were first hand observers of mid-1920s high society and the exploits of the crowd which included Florence. So, when the draft was sent back for revisions, Fitzgerald fleshed out his characters using the group of people orbiting around Florence. When the novel was published, it met lukewarm reviews but more revealing was the fact that none of the Riviera crowd recognized themselves.

Let’s Meet Florence

You’ve probably never run across the subject of our blog today. Florence Lacaze Gould (1895−1983) was and is to this day, an enigma. Very little has been written about her, much to the delight of her estate and foundation. In fact, the availability of images of Florence is tightly controlled by her foundation. Her legacy (and that of her husband, Frank Gould) are nowhere to be seen in written accounts of the numerous properties they founded or developed into very successful businesses. Read More American “Grande Horizontale” and Nazi Collaborator

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The American Mayor of Paris

William C. Bullitt, first US ambassador to the Soviet Union 1933-1936. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). PD-US Government. Wikimedia Commons.
William C. Bullitt, first US ambassador to the Soviet Union 1933-1936. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). PD-US Government. Wikimedia Commons.

I always enjoy returning to a subject that connects us to my forthcoming book Where Did They Put the Gestapo Headquarters? A Walking Tour of Nazi Occupied Paris (1940−1944). Today, you will meet someone who was born during the latter part of the 19th-century. The men and women born just before the dawn of the 20th-century were an interesting group. They were heavily influenced by three principal world events: World War I, the Bolshevik/Russian Revolution, and the Great Depression. No one was influenced more than the first and only American who became mayor of Paris: William Christian Bullitt Jr. (1891−1967).

Did You Know?

On 14 June 1940 as the Wehrmacht marched triumphantly into Paris and turned down the Avenue des Champs-Elysées, a young German officer watched in disgust. Later, Count Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg relayed his feelings to General Franz Halder. The 33-year-old officer told the general and others that Hitler deserved to die. He was advised to keep his feelings to himself because as long as Hitler’s military victories continued, Germans would never support a coup. Four years later on the morning of 20 July 1944, Stauffenberg tried unsuccessfully to assassinate the Führer. He and many of the other ring leaders were captured, tortured, and executed for their part in the plot. The initial planning of the operation took place years earlier in Paris at the Hôtel Continental. It is one of the stops in first volume of Where Did They Put the Gestapo Headquarters?

William C. Bullitt

Despite being born in Philadelphia to a very rich and pedigreed family (his ancestors included Patrick Henry and Pocahontas), Bullitt grew up in Europe. He was fluent in French and German. His maternal side was German and Jewish and his mother spoke French at home. After graduating from Yale University (and dropping out of law school after his father died), Bullitt became a correspondent for the Philadelphia Public Ledger and covered World War I events in Russia, Germany, Austria, and France. After the United States entered the war, Bullitt worked for the State Department and their intelligence service where he was noticed by President Woodrow Wilson. He was picked by Wilson to attend the 1918 Paris Peace Commission but subsequently resigned in protest over the terms of the Treaty of Versailles (his testimony before Congress helped defeat the treaty).

Louise Bryant. Photo by anonymous (c. 1917). Yae University Library. PD-Expired Copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
Louise Bryant. Photo by anonymous (c. 1917). Yale University Library. PD-Expired Copyright. Wikimedia Commons.

Bullitt’s second wife, Louise Bryant (1885−1936), was a journalist who wrote Six Red Months in Russia. She had been married to the radical journalist John Reed until his death in 1920. Bullitt had been good friends with Reed and in 1924, married Reed’s widow. Their marriage lasted only six years before he filed for divorce—he alleged his wife was having an affair with another woman. Bullitt gained custody of their only child, Ann (1924−2007). The story of Louise and John Reed is told in Warren Beatty’s 1981 movie Reds.

William Bullitt and his daughter, Ann. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).
William Bullitt and his daughter, Ann. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).

Bullitt became close friends with Franklin Delano Roosevelt and when Roosevelt became president in 1933, Bullitt was named as the first ambassador to the Soviet Union (Watch William Bullitt arrive in Moscow here.) During Wilson’s administration, Bullitt had gone on a special mission to negotiate diplomatic relations between the United States and the new Bolshevik regime. Roosevelt felt that Bullitt had made a favorable impression on the Bolshevik leaders to the point where they would accept him as ambassador. Despite his initial support of the revolution and the Soviet Union, Bullitt became disenchanted with Stalin and his government (Watch Bullitt’s speech here.) He remained ambassador until 1936 when Roosevelt brought him back and assigned Bullitt to France as ambassador. Read More The American Mayor of Paris