Occupation, Resistance, Liberation

Sunday started out cloudy again, so we sifted through our stack of brochures for free museums run by the Paris city government and settled on a non-art museum for a change of pace. I think it also wins a prize for the longest name of any museum I have ever been to: the Mémorial Leclerc et de la Libération de Paris - Musée Jean Moulin.



This one definitely qualifies as "off the beaten path" -- although it's located directly above the busy Montparnasse train station, it is doing an excellent job of hiding in plain sight. The well-marked elevator that was supposed to take us up to the museum was out of service, and no other signs for the museum were evident. We tried one of the alternate entrances listed in the museum brochure: the (unmarked) staircase just to the left of TGV platform #3. This led us up to the Jardin Atlantique, a quiet park, complete with tennis courts, built on the roof of the train/metro station. On our right was a large, white building which appeared to be the museum, although at first glance it looked dark and empty. A man in a red uniform jacket stood outside the entrance, smoking; he asked us if we wanted to visit the museum. It was not closed, after all; the lights are kept low so as not to damage the documents on display inside, and since there were few visitors, the red-jacketed man (one of the two employees on duty today) was taking full advantage of the slow day to take as many smoke breaks as possible. He came inside to provide us with two tickets -- we're always given tickets in museums here, even when admission is free -- and restlessly sat behind his desk for a while before heading outside for another smoke break.

One side of the museum provided a fairly detailed history of World War II from the French perspective, focusing particularly on the role of General Leclerc (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Général_Leclerc), as well as de Gaulle. The other side focused on the occupation of Paris and the French resistance, going into the most detail in recounting the story of Jean Moulin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Moulin), a cartoonist turned government official who became a hero of the resistance.

Jean Moulin (1899-1943)



A cartoon published by Jean Moulin in 1915, when he was just 16 years old



A few other interesting images from the museum:

Newspaper headline from September 4, 1939: "As of 11:00 this morning, England is at war with Germany; France will be at war at 5:00 p.m."



Hitler in Paris, June 1940



Nazi flag flying from the Arc de Triomphe, June 1940



Charlotte Delbo, the woman my local public library is named after, was also a member of the resistance





Radio used by the resistance (Uncle Mike -- these are for you!)





Poster that says "Black market: Crime against the community"



Propaganda poster trying to recruit French workers to go work in Germany