Tag: World War II

Posted on

An African American in Paris

Five years ago, I wrote a blog on the life of Josephine Baker and in particular, her resistance activities during World War II. Most of you probably have never read that blog so I decided to rewrite the blog in an expanded format along with additional images. However, there is another reason I decided to publish the “new” blog at this particular time.

Several weeks ago, President Emmanuel Macron authorized Josephine to be inducted into the Panthéon⏤only the French president can choose who enters the Panthéon. She is the fifth woman to be honored at this hallowed mausoleum for French icons and heroes. (A sixth woman is interned next to her husband who was inducted on his merits.) Click here to learn more about the Panthéon.

Interior of the Panthéon. Sculpture honoring the French Revolution. Photo by Dan Owen (c. 2013). Courtesy of Dan Owen.
Interior of the Panthéon. Sculpture honoring the French Revolution. Photo by Dan Owen (c. 2013). Courtesy of Dan Owen.

If this is your first introduction to Josephine Baker, I am confident that after reading her story, you will concur with President Macron’s decision.

Josephine Baker, singer. Photo by anonymous (c. 1930s). Author’s collection.
Josephine Baker, singer. Photo by anonymous (c. 1930s). Author’s collection.

Read More An African American in Paris

Posted on

The Wise Men

Disguised as an Austrian private, former SS-Obergruppenführer Karl Oberg (1897−1965) was captured in June 1945 by American troops. Oberg was responsible for Nazi security forces (e.g., Schutzstaffel, Gestapo, and Sicherheitsdienst) in occupied France from April 1942 until the country’s liberation in August 1944. He was directly responsible for the deportations to KZ Auschwitz II-Birkenau of more than forty thousand Jews. Originally convicted of crimes against humanity by the British and then separately by a French court in 1954, Oberg’s death sentence was commuted to life in 1958 by the French president. A year later, the life sentence was further reduced to twenty years. In 1962, President Charles de Gaulle pardoned Oberg and he was set free. An aberration of justice in a case of a former Nazi convicted of crimes against humanity? No. Unfortunately, this was not an exception but rather the norm during the early postwar years.

Former SS General Karl Oberg in custody of the American army. Photo by anonymous (c. June 1945). PD-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.
Former SS General Karl Oberg in custody of the American army. Photo by anonymous (c. June 1945). PD-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.

Read More The Wise Men