Liberation of Paris Museum and Jazz

Sunday October 20 was a rainy day with a high of about 13C.   We started our day by going to the Bastille market, just a few minutes away.  The market is only on Thursdays and Sundays, but it is one of the biggest in Paris.  Lots of vendors: fish, meat, wine, cheese, fruits and vegetables, and more.

Wine with large Fromage sign- market in the rain

One of these will be dinner chez nous

Great lettuce for 1 euro each

We bought some brebis (sheep cheese) here

Oysters

We dropped our purchases off at the apartment and then took the Metro to the Denfert-Rochereau station.

One of the old art nouveau Hector Guimard entryway signs

Our destination was the newly opened Musée de la Libération de Paris - Musée du général Leclerc -Musée Jean Moulin (it has a long official name).  The museum had been located above the Gare Montparnasse since it opened in 1994, but it was difficult to access and did not attract tourists.  Since August 25, 2019 (The 75th anniversary of the Liberation of Paris) the museum has a new home in a newly restored 18th century customs gatehouses designed and built in 1785 by one of Louis XVI's architects, Claude-Nicolas Ledoux.

 The Museum is located above a defence shelter which was used from August 19, 1944 as the command post of Colonel Rol, the head of the Resistance Forces (Les Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur, or FFI) in the Paris region.  One needed to book a time to go down into the shelter.  We were not able to see it.

Entrance to museum

Plaque about the command post in 1944

The collection has been fully moderrnizd and is now arranged with a good mix of text (in both French and English), video and historic objects.  While the two main figures of the Resistance, Jean Moulin and General Leclerc are the focus of the museum, it also deals with the Nazi invasion, the experiences of average Parisians during the war, collabortors and the treatment and deportation of the Jews from Paris.  There was some fascinating footage showing rescued American airmen dressed in civilian clothing visiting Paris like tourists right under the eyes of the Nazi soldiers and being filmed surreptitiously at key locations.

In the new arrangement, the stories of Jean Moulin and General Leclerc are interwoven with historical events in a generally chronological order.  The two men never met, but were both committed to French freedom.

Jean Moulin (1899-1943) was a republican, secular, with the career of a prefect (The French State's representative in a department or region).  Moulin was a key figure in the Resistance who was captured and tortured by the Nazis and died in  July 1943 in a train as the Nazis were taking him to Germany.

Video with picture of Moulin with his sister and mother and as a young boy

The museum dealt briefly with the interwar period and the economic crisis which hit France in 1931.  Moulin was also an artist who documented life in Paris during the 1930s.

The Unemployed, 1930s, Jean Moulin

Philippe de Hautecloque was born into a traditional Catholic environment and was very proud of his aristocratic origins.  He chose a career in the army.  He was initially close to the right-wing views of the Action Française, which he distanced himself from in 1930.  His journalist cousin had made him aware of the dangers of National Socialism in Germany.  He later took the pseudonym Leclerc.

Moulin studied law, while Hauteclocque became a soldier.  Moulin's various posts as a Sub-Prefect and Prefect took him all over France.  Hauteclocque was educated in military schools and then sent to Morocco (1926-33).

Notice of the Munich Pact 1938

Mobilisation Order at beginning of the war

When war was declared both men wanted to defend France.  De Hauteclocque travelled to the front.  Moulin volunteered for the army, but the Ministry of the Interior ordered him to return to his administrative functions.

Moulin was stationed in Chartres and as Prefect, took in refugees and ensured that bread was baked and distributed.  He was prepared to welcome the Germans in a dignified way.  Instead, on June 17, 1940, the Germans drove him to their headquarters and ordered him to sign a document affirming the criminal responsibility of black French troops for the massacre of civilians.  Moulin said "I cannot sanction this outrage against the French army and dishonour myself."  He refused to sign.  He was beaten and tried to commit suicide.  He was eventually let go but was removed from his position as Prefect.

Leclerc (his nom de guerre) refused to accept the defeat even after he was wounded.  He escaped a hospital on June 17, 1940 and decided to join General de Gaulle.  He went to London and met with de Gaulle on July 24, 1940.  De Gaulle made Leclerc responsible for rallying Equatorial Africa to the cause of the Free French Forces.  In order to protect his family, he assumed the pseudonym Leclerc.

Video with story of Moulin's refusal to sign the document

Video of de Gaulle in London reading a speech on the BBC  "the flame of the French resistance must not be extinguished and will not be extinguished".

There was a section about Marshall Pétain, the hero of WWI, who signed the armistice on June 22, 1940 after becoming head of Government on June 18, at the age of 84.  (From the display: "He believed that the reason for France's defeat was the moral disorder caused by the Republic and that with his appointment, a national recovery could finally commence".)

In the section called Occupied Paris (June 1940 - August 1944), there were a number of interactive stations in the museum where one could pick spots in Paris and learn about their role in WWII.   This included Hotels, Cinemas, Cafés etc.  The narrative noted that the Vichy government had introduced a form of state anti-Semitism and offered the Germans a policy of collaboration which, de facto, served the interests of the Nazis.

 For example, the Brasserie Wepler became reserved for German solders.   There was also information about Gestapo locations in Paris.

Information about collaborators

Jacques Doiriot giving a Fascist salute on the Champs-Élysées after a meeting of le Parti popular français (right wing party) in August 1943

There were many collaborators in the arts.  Along with the painters, André Derain and Kees Van Dongen, actors Suzie Delair and Danielle Darieux travelled to Germany in October 1941.

Actors in the film Premier Rendez-Vous taking the train for Berlin at the Gare de l'Est,  March 1942

The New Life exhibition, Grand Palais April 1942  (exhibit from May 1941-April 1942 ) by the German office of propaganda and the Vichy government

Cinema reserved for the German army, 1944

Warnings about the Black market

Pétain's message "Listen to a man who is here only for you and who loves you like a father."

There was a section on the treatment of the Jews, addressing the restrictive laws, looting of apartments (approximately 38,000 apartments looted in Paris)  and the Round ups and deportations, including the Vel d'Hiv (the indoor cycle track and stadium) roundup.  On July 16 and 17, 1942, 13,152 people were rounded up.  Adults without children were sent to Drancy while families were held in Le Vél d'Hiv in deplorable conditions before being sent to internment camps where most were deported to Auschwitz.   The Drancy camp became the main internment camp in France where 63,000 Jews were detained before deportation.

Green ticket May 1941 first roundup of Parisian Jews.

Vél d'Hiv roundup

There was also a section on the Resistance.  Moulin had been assigned by de Gaulle to come to an agreement with the Residence leaders. He provided the link between the Resistance and the Free French.  In January 1942, Colette Pons met Moulin at a dinner party in January 1942.  Moulin was looking for a cover for his clandestine activities.  He tasked Pons with locating a premise that could be used as an art gallery.  In November 1942, she found a location in Nice.  She managed the  Ronanin gallery and put on exhibitions.  In July 1943, she got a clandestine message from Moulin's sister that Moulin had been arrested.  She immediately closed the gallery.

 The National Council of the Resistance held its first meeting on May 27, 1943 at 48 rue du Four.  16 representatives of various resistance groups, political parties and trade unions who declared their support for General de Gaulle attended.

Moulin was awarded the Cross of the Companion of the Liberation by de Gaulle in early 1943.  His death a few months later weakened the alliances he had constructed but the foundation remained.

There was a large section about Leclerc's activities during the war and the Liberation of Paris.  Leclerc fought in Libya and in March 1941 captured Kufra, one of the forts held by the Italians.Leclerc became a Companion of the Liberation in March 1941.

George Rodger, "Captain Combes presents Colonel Leclerc with the pennant of the Kufra Sahariana" March 1941

The oath of Kufra which Leclerc delivered on March 2, 1941 said that his column would not disarm until after the liberation of Strasbourg.  Leclerc also welcomed soldiers from outside his own milleu, including communists, Spanish Republicans and Jews.

Fought in Chad and Libya between 1940-43

General Leclerc landing in Normany on August 1 1944

There was a lot of written text about the Liberation of Paris and the role of the French and American armies in the Liberation.

Ils sont arrivés-- Liberation

Marguerite Sabaut made a dress for the Liberation

Her dress that she wore on August 25, 1944

The last section had photos of many of the key people in the earlier sections of the museum, outlining their fates.

Moulin

de Gaulle

Info about Colette Pons who ran the Romanin Gallery as the front for Moulin and the Resistance.
She died in 2007.

Pétain, condemned to death for high treason and collaboration had his sentence commuted to imprisonment.
He died in prison in 1951.

General Leclerc-liberator of Paris died in a plane crash on November 28, 1947.

We spent over two hours in the museum.  It is free to the public and the material has been organised in a very readable and accessible manner.  Lots of short videos and artefacts accompany the exhibit.  It is well worth a visit.  As we left, there was a long line up.

We stopped at a wonderful bakery nearby for a treat.

Outside bakery

Beautiful fruit tarts, pastries and bread - Alain had an almond croissant

We headed back to the apartment for an early fish dinner.   We had tickets to see Jeremy Pelt and the Black Art Jazz Collective  (based in New York) at Sunside Jazz Club on Rue de Lombards about a 20 minute walk.

Signage for the band

Tables outside the club-- Alain inside with our tickets

New logo for the Sunside/Sunset Jazz Club

 

It is a small club, where people are packed in.  We got there early as we were meeting friends from Toronto, who are in Paris for the week.  

Alain, moi, Ruth, Andrew and their friend Phyllis.

The band was fantastic.  Jeremy Pelt (trumpet), Wayne Escoffery (tenor sax), James Burton (trombone), Xavier Davis (piano), Corcoran Holt (bass) and Mark Whitfield Jr. (drums).

Xavier Davis

The front three

Bass and drums

Corcoran Holt is from Washington D.C.-- definitely had some vocal D.C. supporters in the audience

It was a great evening.  They played two sets.  Alain and I had booked online in Toronto and had a special promotion of two seats for the price of one.   It was great meeting up with folks we know and catching up.