Actually, our village was occupied by German soldiers and the locals resisted in every sense of the word… with terrible results in many cases.
The words of Martin Niemöller
Initially a Nazi supporter, by the way.
The level of resistance increased the closer things got to people’s own families and homes. And I have nothing but admiration for those that joined the resistance, and obviously many exceptional cases of people doing wonderful things. However it was about the Freedom of France, so over 12,000 jewish children were taken, deported and many murdered without much protest. Just look at the films of the rafle, with people just watching it happen and so relieved it wasn’t them.
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WWII is a subject that I think is best avoided locally. When we make our weekly visit to the Friday market in Decazeville (the least picturesque, but the best for fresh produce) I’m always struck by a plaque to a maquisard who was shot in the market place a few weeks after D Day landings.
Similarly remember the woman in Durrell’s Avignon Quintet **(sorry, Quincunx!)**who by being a German officer’s mistress had secretly saved many of her neighbours, but after the Liberation was publicly shamed and then murdered by a young hot head .
C’est compliqué…
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I’m sure you’re right, but also very useful to consider for insight into how people behave en masse in times of difficulty. A luxury of being older is often having time to step back from ones actions and consider the impact they may have on the lives of others, rather than just blundering rapidly forwards, to be surprised at the later consequences.
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That, I think was his point.
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I’ll ask 'em next time we chat… how they feel about “other immigrants…” (we have many in our commune… we’re international… 
)
and I’ll explain what the forum is suggesting about them… personally, I’m sure they feel supportive of everyone… not just Brits.
There are people in our village who are shunned because their parents were collaborators.
I think that it is for the French to decide who they want to honour or not, but, of course, there were many who looked as though they were collaberating at the time, but were secretly gaining information for the Resistance.
Many women used themselves as “honey pots” to gain information from their German lovers at great personal sacrifice and when the truth came out should have been publicly honoured for the lives they saved.
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[quote=“Ancient_Mariner, post:25,For
topic:48170”]
A luxury of being older
[/quote]
For many, though by no means all, it’s also the luxury (that should really be a ‘right’) of being financially secure for the foreseeable future.
Indeed and something he was open about, and open about regretting.
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I would be surprised if you had a significant population of young, unemployed Maghrébins who often are the subject of the xenophobia. I’m sure you realise that the kind of international community one finds in a small rural community is unlike that in (eg) St Dennis. Which is what CNews and other despicable news outlets target.
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Another English couple we met last year have a house just down the road from us, next to the house of the collaborators. Long, long memories.
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well, I’ve certainly been surprised by some of the replies on this thread…
What were the election results for your commune were the RN en tête & how many votes for Reconquet & Les Partriots?
One thing asking friends more or less on the same wavelength & age, but what do the others really think of immigrants buying houses they can not afford, and older immigrants, getting French social help & assistance? & the many immigrants living with more income than the SMIC or the low wages they earn. Jealous? Envious? Furious?
Another ex: Finger-pointing will & is becoming more frequent, they have all this because they live here et pas chez eux, they come over here to retire & just not earning (or declaring (suspicion) enough) to pay taxes apart for Tax fonciere but getting all the benefits & government handouts.
The election results show a very deep dissatisfaction because most of the people are getting poorer, successive governments have made them so, so they will be finger-pointing & looking at those just a bit different to them, living what they think is an easy life. (“I’ve worked hard all my life, & they get the same benefits as me and they haven’t done a day’s work here!”)
I can’t see any problems or any hassle for Europeans/Brits in France if the RN get into power but the finger-pointing may get worse if it gets into the mindset of those who do not have a lot and haven’t many perspectives.
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A eye-opening experience has been becoming friends with a lovely couple who were at the other end of the political spectrum. For the last few years we have walked together 3 or 4 times a week, so slowly got to know their views and vice-versa. It taught me a lot! They truly believed all the right wing rubbish and, exactly as you say, hadn’t many perspectives. We had many “interesting” conversations where we had to agree to disagree, or have major rows. We of course were not *those kind of immigrants”.
Sadly they both died last year (at 65 and 67).
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Perhaps seek their views on immigration in Paris or Marseille, that might tell you more.
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I read The Guardian that Kylian Mbeppe was warning young people in France that their country is in danger.
He is a star gor many young people and football fans and lets hope that they listen to him.
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Same here, I discovered here there are families that don’t speak for the same reason. Including the pharmacist who served them apparently. I thought about that in terms of myself as a health care professional. Would I refuse to help a woman in labour on the ‘other side’? No, I couldn’t. And for the pharmacist, what danger would he putting himself and his family in by refusing the Nazis thier asprin? So complicated.
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some of the assertions on this thread have made me take a long look at “my French neighbours”…
37 French neighbours in my village…
6 of whom are retirement age, albeit 5 are still working
8 are young parents, with 12 children between 'em…
5 with no kids, are certainly under 30 as I remember some of them being born
the remaining 18 are anything from 30 to mid-late 50’s I reckon…
When we first arrived we laughed about how many “old folk” there were… many in their 90’s even one lady of 100.
Things have certainly changed…
Totally agree! We are now among the older generation, which we weren’t when we arrived.
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