A plaque on the Saint-Aignan bridge memorializes the demarcation line.
Saint-Aignan was on the free side of the line with Occupied France just across the river. It's hard to imagine what life must have been like here at that time. Ken and I just watched an interesting documentary on television about the line, including interviews with people who lived along it then and their memories of helping to secretly move people across to Free France.
The line was dissolved in 1943 after the Nazis moved across the line to effectively occupy the whole of France.
haunting. may the spirits RIP.
ReplyDeleteWow, I love these historical tidbits.
ReplyDeleteIs there an internet link for the documentary?
ReplyDeletei have read several books/memoirs about the subject, which I find fascinating
ReplyDeletePhilippe Grimbert's autobiographical book, "Un Secret" tells the story of his Jewish family escaping Paris and being harbored in the rural town of Saint-Gaultier (50 miles south of Saint-Aignan). It was made into a movie in 2007 with Patrick Bruel and Julie Depardieu. Both the book and film are excellent.
ReplyDeleteI'll look for the movie, "Un Secret". Today is Holocaust remembrance day in Israel. I'm going to our annual Holocaust lecture tomorrow night.
ReplyDeleteFascinating! I've always been interested in World War II history, especially the European theater. I hope someday to visit these landmarks. Thanks for sharing. :)
ReplyDeleteRetired in Delaware
Thank you for letting us know about "the secret" Dean! More stories could be written about the occupation (some wonderful, some shameful but
ReplyDeleteall lessons to learn).
(Walt, I really like "des racines et des ailes" and "Thalassa". I unfortunately cannot watch them here. I miss all the good french programs).
The problem is that people never seem to learn from these things!
ReplyDeleteI too love history bits - France is loaded with history!
ReplyDelete