Paris Underground

by Etta Shiber

True story of two middle-aged women, an American (author Etta Shiber) and an Englishwoman (her friend Kitty Beaurepos), who live together in Paris. When the Nazis invade the city in the summer of 1940, Kitty and Etta begin working with the French Resistance to help British soldiers, left behind in France after its surrender, escape to freedom.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Memoir, Biography, France, War

392 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1943

Reviews

[سـارا · Rating 4 out of 5]

این کتابو نشر چشمه به تازگی ترجمه و منتشر کرده، از عنوان و‌ موضوعش خوشم اومد و رفتم سراغش و خب خیلی راضی بودم :)
راوی داستان سرگذشتشو اینقدر راحت و بدون توصیفای اضافی تعریف میکنه که تقریبا هیچ جای داستان احساس خستگی نکردم، پرکشش بود و دوست داشتنی. با یه کتاب فوق‌العاده جذاب از نظر روایی طرفیم.
چیزی که برام جالب بود پرداختن به بخشی از تاریخ جنگ جهانی دومه که تقریبا کمتر ازش گفته شده، کم فاجعه ترین بخشِ جنگی به اون عظمت. حتی به زعم من کمترین درد و رنج رو آدم‌های این قصه تو اون دوره داشتن که البته در جایگاه خودش با ارزشه.
راوی داستان در زندان‌های گشتاپو بوده و از نزدیک با وضعیت اسفناک زندان‌ها، قوانین آلمان‌ها و محاکمه‌های مردم بی‌گناه مواجه شده. آدم‌هایی که با دلایل مسخره و مضحک دستگیر، محاکمه و حتی اعدام میشدند. از سمت دیگه فضای پاریس و فرانسه در طول جنگ عالی توصیف شده، از بین رفتن عظمت و روحِ هنری شهری به اون زیبایی عجیب دردناکه.
شاید تو یه نگاه کلی مطالب متفاوت و جدیدی از اون دوره برای کسایی که از تاریخ جنگ جهانی دوم اطلاعات زیادی دارند ارائه نکنه، اما شخصا از خوندنش خیلی لذت بردم.

[Mohammad Hrabal · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتاب جذاب بود.
یک فیلم هم تحت عنوان
Madame Pimpernel 1945
از این کتاب ساخته شده که داستان آن تا حدی با وقایع کتاب متفاوت است و فیلم خوبی نبود.
**********************************************************************
این بی‌اعتنایی همگانی مرا می‌ترساند. من به یکپارچگی بشریت اعتقاد دارم، اما بسیاری از آدم‌ها بدون توجه به آلام میلیون‌ها برادرشان در زیر یوغ به زندگی‌شان ادامه می‌دهند. من به عدل الهی، حتی در این دنیای مبتنی بر مادیات، اعتقاد دارم اما می‌دانم که این فقط به اهتمام انسان‌ها تحقق می‌یابد. و هنگامی که می‌بینم کسانی هستند که از آسایش و راحتی خود برای نجات میلیون‌ها انسان بی‌پناه می‌گذرند، احساس گناه می‌کنم که الان اینجا هستم، در مکانی امن، سرگرم با موضوعات بی‌اهمیت، در حالیکه نبرد بین نیروهای خیر و شر دنیا را به لرزه در آورده است. صفحات ۴۰۸-۴۰۹ کتاب.
​۱۴۰۳/۰۴/۲۲

[Maziyar Yf · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتاب خاطرات یک خانم آمریکایی (خانم شایپر) هستش که در زمان اشغال پاریس توسط آلمانی ها یکصد و پنجاه سرباز انگلیسی رو از منطقه تحت نفوذ آلمان ها خارج میکنه و به جنوب فرانسه می فرسته .
بخش اول کتاب که مربوط به نجات سربازان هستش خیلی معمولی و در بعضی مواقع تعجب بر انگیزه . قسمت دوم هم که خانم شایپر زندانی میشن به گذران زندگی در زندان ، بازجویی ، کیفیت غذا و چیزهایی از این دست میگذره .
کتاب در انتقال فضای فاجعه با رآن زمان به خواننده کامل شکست می خوره و به ذهن خواننده این سوال را متبادر می کنه که اگه این شرایط پاریس فاجعه بوده ، پس چیزی که ملت لهستان در ورشو یا کراکو یا ملت روس در همه شهرها کشیدند چه بوده است ؟

[Victoria Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book at an antiques store and was intrigued by the title. I had no idea what it was about or who the author was, but the title of Paris Underground interested me. I looked closer and found that the chain on the spine had little swastika's on them, so I assumed it was WW2. I then opened the cover and read a little disclaimer about changing of names to protect the innocent. I was interested, so I put the book in my pile and when I got home, stowed it on the shelf. It wasn't until recently, about 6 months later, that I pulled it of the shelf and started reading. I was blown away!

After having finished the book, I would rate it high on my list of must read autobiography's. It reminded me very much of The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. I was amazed at the struggles and reality of war life in France during the German occupation. Etta's struggled of fear during the time she helped her friend Kitty smuggle out more than 15o English soldiers left behind in France from Dunkirk was relatable and I found myself praying that God would give me the strength to be as brave as Kitty, should the need ever arise.

"Kitty's remark stuck in my mind. It was true, I thought, that we had experienced miraculous luck again and again. Was it all luck or was it the guiding hand of Providence? And could we always count on such good chance? Or were we perhaps being led deeper and deeper into actions from whose consequences there could be no escape, by a capricious fat which would turn against us only when we were completely enmeshed in its toils? I remembered the verse from Job: "Great things He does which ew cannot comprehend."

Some of the other peoples' bravery as well and their trust in God was inspiring. Father Christian's speech as he was condemned to death for his efforts to rescue soldiers from death was especially moving. "I am a priest, but in this war I have been a soldier, and a soldier who has not surrendered. For I was fighting for more than a military decision between two powers, rivals for control over the same parcel of land. I was fighting for justice, and in this war, I could see only one kind of justice, a justice partaking at the same time of the human and the divine. I do not expect to find that justice or any justice, in this court. But I know that in the end, divine justice will prevail; and the verdict of God will be pronounced, not against us, but against you, who presume to judge us."

And Kitty's last words to her friend Etta before being sent to a separate prison with the promise of executions: " Don't worry about me. Promise me that you will never think of me sadly. I am not sad. I did what I had to do. I knew the price, and I am willing to pay it. I have given England back 150 lives for the one she is losing now. Think of that when you think of me. Remember that I was not one who failed, but who succeeded, who won a 150-to-one victory against the Germans. Smile when my name comes to your mind, as you used to smile at me in the old days."

Etta's last words of her book struck me and still stick with me. "Yes, I am troubled by a sense of guilt. Some who at alive today may be shot tomorrow; and how can any one rest know that he might be able to contribute to saving precious human lives, if he is not doing so? Is it only quieting my conscience if I say to myself that when God desires that we should act, He shows us the way, tells us what to do--lest they die?"

In short, this book was a magnificent historical artifact and I am so thankful that I decided to buy it that day! I think everyone should read this book, if only to be better aware of the history that surrounds our world, and to feel inspired by the heroism of others.

[this is shin · Rating 3 out of 5]

نمیدونم چرا ولی من فکر میکردم شرح حال زندگی مردم و توصیف اوضاع پاریس اشغال شده باشه که خب البته اینطور نبود
البته که با این حال داستان بدی نبود ولی نمیدونم چرا خیلی من رو نگرفت با اینکه من به ماجرای آدم ها و اتفاقات اون دوره خیلی علاقمندم

[Niloo zgh · Rating 4 out of 5]

خب کتاب جذابی بود و پرکشش . خیلی سریع خوندمش و در عین حال از اون کتابهایی که دوست نداشتم تموم بشه .
اطلاعاتی که از جنگ جهانی میده و توصیفاتش خیلی زیاد نیست و صرفا سرگذشت راوی و دوستان نزدیکشه که سعی در نجات جان سربازان انگلیسی داشتند و شاید برای کسی که زیاد راجع به جنگ جهانی کتاب خونده،تصویر جدیدی ارائه نکنه اما باز هم میگم برای من بسیار جذاب بود . البته خیلی دوست داشتم در انتهای کتاب از سرگذشت کیتی بیشتر گفته میشد که آیا بعد از جنگ بالاخره فهمیدن چه بلایی سرش اومده یا نه ؟
خلاصه پیشنهادش میکنم .

[Barbara Mader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read March 2013.
------

Originally read April 2012.

Downloaded as a free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

I found this book incredibly gripping; I began reading in the evening, read until the wee hours, and picked it up again as soon as I could. It's not the quality of the writing that held me, but the unfolding of events.

This book, published in 1943, is an autobiographical account of a middle-aged American woman (Etta Shiber) living in Paris in the 1930s. After her husband died, she left Manhattan to live with a friend, Kitty, an Englishwoman who had married a French wine merchant whom she later amicably divorced. The two women live quietly but happily together for three years, busy with various social engagements and interests; then war breaks out. When the Germans succeed in their Blitzkrieg and are suddenly only a day from Paris, the women attempt to flee, but the roads are jammed with refugees, and the Germans are upon them. They witness a strafing of refugees by the German pilots; are near to having been killed themselves. Forced to return to Paris, they make a brief stop at an inn for some tea--they have been on the road for two days and nights at this point--and at this inn they encounter a British RAF pilot. This chance meeting changes their lives.

The two women, Kitty in her mid-forties and Shiber ten years older, take it upon themselves to try to save this young man. They smuggle him into Paris--despite encountering four German checkpoints en route--then to their flat, and eventually are able to get him over the demarcation line; finally, he is returned to England. During this nerve-wracking time (the pilot is in their flat for weeks, and the Germans are gradually making thorough searches of each building, a block at a time) they make contacts with other young English soldiers and with people who are working to smuggle them out of the country. One thing leads to another . . . and eventually the two women help to smuggle 150 Englishmen, and about that many French soldiers, out of the country.

SPOILER:

The two women and their co-conspirators are eventually caught, tried, and sentenced. Shiber writes about the ghastly prison conditions and her experiences there. Parted from her friend, who has received a death sentence, she wonders what has become of her. Shiber's own health declines rapidly; eventually she has several heart attacks. In 1942 she is released as part of a US-Germany prisoner exchange program--this is where the book opens; then it goes back to explain how this journey of hers began.

At the time of the book's publication, Shiber still does not know what happened to her friend Kitty.

Immediately upon finishing the book, I did some Google searches to find out more about Shiber and her story, but so far all I've found is that the author died in 1948.

One of the amazing things about this book is how absolutely unlikely a resistance hero this woman was. She was a Manhattan housewife, then widow, who lived a quiet and unremarkable life untouched by danger until these events and situations were thrust upon her. She is clear throughout the book that she was reluctant, anxious, frightened--but nonetheless, she did this. I have to wonder what I would do in such circumstances.

[Isabel Batteria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I usually get rid of books after I'm done with them. I mean, why would I accumulate objects I know I won't use ever again, right? But I have an "untouchables" shelf, where I keep only 30 books or so that I am sure I'd like to reread sometime.

This book is in that shelf. I read this book some 10 years ago and would gladly read it again. It's ranked in my top-ten books that have made my heart race... literally.

This Smithsonian article is a summary of Mrs. Shiber's story. Enjoy!

[Talia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across a description of this book somewhere on the internet. It piqued my interested so I decided to read it. I couldn't put it down. It's a wonderful book, an easy read, and Etta's writing style, the characters, and the events keep you interested the entire time. It gives you a look into the justice system of the Nazi's and makes you appreciate what you have. I plan on reading this again.

[Hoora · Rating 4 out of 5]

پاریس زیرزمینی، خاطرات یک زن آمریکایی از پاریس در دوران اشغال در جنگ جهانی دوم(1943) است.
راوی این کتاب اتا شایبر است که ضمن شرح فعالیت های خود و دوستش برای نجات سربازان انگلیسی، تصویری از پاریس آن دوران و مبارزات مخفیانه سایرین و همچنین نحوه برخورد آلمانی هایی که پاریس را اشغال کردند، نیز نشان می دهد...

[Dimitri · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a short-lived undertaking (the remainder of 1940 after the fall of Paris) which nevertheless extracted 500 British soldiers. Two middle-aged women from British and American origin who "do a man's job" aided by their French social network before the Gestapo wraps them up.

Like 'Allo! 'Allo! Without the humor and luckily without much cruelty or executions: we open with Shiber shipping home out of Lisbon; Kitty would survive Ravensbrück.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A small sliver of the French Resistance, told from the perspective of a respectable, middle-aged American woman who's settled in Paris after the death of her husband. Her housemate is British, and after a failed attempt to flee the Nazi invasion, they find themselves part of a conspiracy to smuggle British soldiers out of the country.

What starts with one airman impulsively hidden in their trunk becomes a far-flung operation. They collaborate with French partners, including a country priest who gathers the men, a disfigured World War I veteran who arranges for them to travel to the border and a patriotic old farmer who lets them sneak across on his land. There's plenty of tense moments and near misses with the Gestapo. The author, Etta, is the worrywart, always trying to rein in her partner Kitty, who flirts with recklessness.

Stylistically, it's very proper and melodramatic--a match for the era, but a little forced for today's readers. Instead of natural dialogue, this memoir has a flair for speeches and big, dramatic moments.

It's a little distracting at first, but the tone serves the material well when things go wrong. Etta's proper voice keeps the narrative grounded as she descends into prison, starvation and the brutal authoritarianism of the Nazi justice system. It's a stunning reversal, and it makes for gripping reading.

Finshing "Paris Underground," you have to wonder how strictly accurate it is. Etta Shiber existed, but there doesn't seem to be much of a historic record online. She notes that details are scrambled to protect her collaborators, but they may also be altered to heighten the tension and cast an already-horrid enemy in an even worse light.

Who knows? The basic outline of the tale seems bolstered by the prisoner exchange that brought Etta back to the United States. Even if some details are heightened, it's a gripping read, one that illuminates the danger--and evils--of its time.

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a very old copy of this tucked away in our library originally from my Grandfather's collection and my H pulled it out last week thinking it would be interesting - but not too interesting that it would keep me awake at night- as he read me to sleep. No such luck. Not only did he not succeed in getting me to fall asleep with his tried but true 'read the old books in a monotone voice' trick, but I was so drawn in to the true story of Etta and Kitty and their daring escapades helping British (& an American or two) soldiers escape the Nazis during German occupied Paris that I stayed up till close to 3 am the following to night and finished the book. This is an extremely readable, true and fascinating account of the courageous bravery that Etta, an American widow, and Kitty showed in the months after Dunkirk. Grateful to Etta Shriber, for putting this account down on paper after the fallout of her actions. I think, if I had been through what she had the last thing I would have wanted to do was relive it all immediately by writing a book about. Highly recommend for those interested in WW2 history from a POV rarely seen or read by others.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly readable and TRUE tale of one Englishwoman and her American best friend who smuggled English soldiers to unoccupied territory from Nazi-ruled Paris. One of their bases was on the street I lived in while I studied there -- awesome.

[Parham · Rating 5 out of 5]

از این جور کتابای تاریخی روایت طور خیلی خوشم میاد.
کتاب خیلی جذابی بود توصیه میکنم به خوندنش :)

[MiNa Sal · Rating 2 out of 5]

ارزش کتاب نه درسبک ادبی یا مهارت وخلاقیت نویسنده بلکه در گزارش ساده و بی تکلف از وقایعی است که هر چند امروز دور می‌نماید اما بسیار بما نزدیکیست.

[Hannah Layman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book kept me on the edge of my seat. I enjoy history and this true life account during WWII was a reminder of self-sacrifice for the good of others. I will be recommending Paris Underground to friends!

[Mahsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

معمولا در مورد اتفاقات جنگ جهانی دوم از دید لهستان و انگلیس اطلاعات داده میشه اما مشکلاتی که برای فرانسه ایجاد شده رو من اولین بار تو این کتاب خوندم.
نثر بسیار روانی داره و توضیحات اضافه نداره.
در کل از خوندنش راضیم

[Jennifer (not getting notifications) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great. I found this book in an old book store. My copy is from 1943.

[محمد شفیعی · Rating 2 out of 5]

بد نبود، برای درک نسبی حس خارجی های ساکن پاریس در ایام اشغال جنگ جهانی دوم و فضای زندانهای فرانسه بد نبود، ولی اونقدر روایت جذاب و خوبی نبود که بخوام توصیه کنم

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

(SPOILER ALERT) What a story. Etta Shiber (an American) recounts her days as a prisoner in France. When she moves into an apartment with her good friend Kitty (an Englishwoman who married a Frenchman), the two women find themselves in a predicament as German forces begin to overtake Paris. The Vichy government has made a narrow escape while leaving French civilians to fend for themselves as they flee the Nazis. Kitty and Etta join the mass exodus along the highway of Paris, attempting to hightail to safer territory.
When German pilots strafe the highways and subsequently kill all Parisians on the highway, the two friends manage to take a backroad and hide in a cottage off the beaten path. Unbeknownst to them, their French host is also hiding a young Englishman who, like themselves, is also trying to escape the Germans.
The ladies stuff the Englishman into the trunk of their auto. While contemplating the next step in their plan, German troops along the main road begin requiring all fleeing French civilians that weren't killed to return to their homes in the now-Occupied Territory. So the women do...hidden soldier in tow.
When Kitty's compassion and tender heart for the helpless [read: Allied soldiers] gets the better of her, the apartment becomes a headquarters of sorts for the ladies' underground resistance activities.
The two courageous women face daily battles to spirit the soldiers into Allied territory. Aided with a few key friends, they help 150 Allied boys evade detection before becoming German political prisoners themselves. Accused of being spies and abetting the Allied cause, Etta is a prisoner and pawn as the Gestapo desperately hunts down the other members of the little resistance band. She continues to hope that Kitty escapes detection, but eventually all are captured. After a "trial" Etta is sentenced to three years' forced labor and Kitty gets the death penalty...but Etta is eventually released and never discovers the fate of her best friend.
Highly recommended, this book is a powerful tale of two friends who are faithful to each other through thick and thin, who courageously sacrifice their own freedom and lives for the young men who fought and protected Allied nations. Etta and Kitty were examples of women who were content to do their duty, at a high cost. This was an inspiring true tale. So glad I happened upon this forgotten and overlooked book at the library.

[Sherrie74 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this book many years ago at a book sale and cover ( really shredded) attracted me to it with chains and swastikas on it. Looked interesting and then put it in a pile of books to be read. Yeah, don't deny it ... we all have one or two piles of these books.

Last week I had just finished The Nightingale which I loved and thought about the book I bought years ago of a similar nature. Went to find it and immediately jumped in. I hate to even imply this at all but in the first few chapters of "Paris Underground" I felt like I was reading similar paragraphs, actions and reactions to "Nightingale" and since PU was written in 1943 ... ? But ... "N" is a far more extensive book with a lot more involved than "PU". Both books stand on their own though one is true and one fiction..

I am always curious why we have never heard of people like Etta or Kitty before .... both true heroes in all ways, putting their lives in jeopardy to help allied pilots or soldiers to get back to England. Book ends with her being traded in 1943 for a German spy the US had captured and we have no clue as to how Etta was able to adjust to normal life again or what happened to Kitty. Really wish there had been a revised edition after the war to update how Etta was and how Kitty finally got out of prison as well. We do know Etta passed away 5 years after her release. Amazing story of two somewhat elderly woman doing what they thought was right. A movie was made under same title which is on YouTube ... check it out.

[Bahman Bahman · Rating 3 out of 5]

" روی عرشه رفتم به نرده ها تکیه دادم و به آب های تیره خیره شدم. اما چیزی نمی دیدم. چهره ی کیتی ذهنم را کاملا اشغال کرده بود. چشم های زیبا و اندوهگین او گویی می خواست از پشت حجاب تیره ی آسمان و آب بیرون بزند. کارمند کنسولگری گفته بود که همه می خواهند داستان مرا بشنوند. بله, این داستان من و کیتی است. و تا در خاطرم تازه است باید بازگویش کنم. دوباره به سالن بازگشتم. پشت یک میزتحریر نشستم و شروع به نوشتن کردم. گزارشی که از این پس می خوانید تنها داستان من نی��ت. بسیار بیش تر از این ها، داستان کیتی بورپو است. این کتاب به او تقدیم می شود. کیتی بورپو دختر یک بانکدار لندنی بود و تحصیلاتش در حد تحصیلات معمول یک دختر انگلیسی امروزی؛ اندکی موسیقی و هنر و تا حد زیادی آداب معاشرت اجتماعی. در جوانی ازدواج کرد و به ایتالیا رفت و پسری به دنیا آورد. بعد شوهرش مرد. کیتی به پاریس رفت و آنجا با یک تاجر فرانسوی ازدواج کرد. اما پس از مدتی دوستانه تصمیم گرفتند از هم جدا شوند. کیتی به پاریس عشق می ورزید. به خاطر درآمدش از ملک پدری استقلال مالی داشت و می توانست محل زندگی اش را خودش انتخاب کند؛ بنابراین دیگر به انگلستان برنگشت. اما چون نمی توانست بی کار بماند. لباس فروشی کوچکی در خیابان ردیه باز کرد. من در آنجا او را ملاقات کردم. سال ۱۹۲۵ که با شوهرم، ویلیام نویز شایبر به پاریس رفته بودم. ما سالی سه ماه به فرانسه می رفتیم. دوستانم گفته بودند که این مغازه ساخته شده برای مشتری های آمریکایی مثل من که سلیقه ی محافظه کارانه و جیب پرپولی داریم. به سرعت بین من و کیتی دوستی و الفتی عمیق به وجود آمد. کششی طبیعی از جانب کیتی به خودم احساس می کردم: ورای نیاز یک مغازه دار به جلب توجه مشتری، و آن را پذیرفتم. از آن پس امان نداشت در سفرهای سالانه ام به پاریس به دیدنش نروم. "

[Will Clemmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good reminder that I’m glad to not be living through WWII and just how uncertain everything was back then. Riveting read, but can’t give 5 stars to a propaganda book that led to further harm for the real Kitty. Hope it did some good in exposing the Nazi’s evils towards the French people during the war. This book didn’t have to overdramatize the Nazis evil to show their wickedness, as many modern WWII stories do. The Nazis were not specially corrupted, we are all corrupted, in need of a savior. Thank God common Grace has afforded most humans the moral vision to not go so far down into their wickedness as the Nazis did in WWII.

[Hedieh · Rating 5 out of 5]

پاریس زیرزمینی رو بعد از مدت ها دور بودن از فضای کتاب و کتاب خوندن دستم گرفتم ولی نه تنها خوندنش برام سخت نبود بلکه از داستان روونش و فضاسازی های واقعیش واقعا لذت بردم. چیزی که از این کتاب شاید تا ابد در خاطرم بمونه اینه که ترس های ما تا وقتی بزرگن که باهاشون مواجه نشدیم و تا وقتی ما رو اذیت میکنن که تو ذهنمون بهشون شاخ و برگ میدیم. شاید مواجه شدن با ترس هامون به اندازه ی فکر کردن بهشون وحشتناک نباشه، نه؟ مثل همون چیزی که اِتا میگفت…

[Scott Head · Rating 4 out of 5]

Etta Shiber is a real person. Her experiences during the Nazi invasion of France and the occupation of Paris reads like a fictional thriller. As a middle-aged American widow, Etta befriended another middle-aged English woman in Paris, and the two lived happily together as fairly well-off best friends for some time before the war caught up with them. As the beloved city became home to the Nazi scourge, circumstances turned both hair-raising and heart-wrenching.

The tale that at a Mrs. Shiber tells is a true story. It is a story of two women who could not be more opposite in terms of their personalities. Together, they form an unexpected underground operation concerned with shunting trapped English soldiers out of occupied France. The story opens with the author’s experience during her exchange by the Nazis for an American Nazi prisoner, so the reader immediately knows that she was arrested, imprisoned, and eventually released. She was traded for a Nazi spy that the Americans held, much to her surprise. Opening the book with the ending of the whole story seemed like taking the wind out of the sails. However, the following many pages remained a gripping tale of suspense and a chilling memoir of life in captivity under the Nazi jackboot.

I found the descriptions of Paris and the surrounding areas to be very believable, very vivid and believable. First-hand knowledge was evident, even to one who has never been there. But what stood out to me as one of the story’s strongest themes was the difference between Mrs. Shiber and her best friend Kitty. Kitty Beaurepos was bold, reckless, and compulsive. The wife of a well-off wine merchant - amicably separated though they were - Beaurepos was a bold society woman and lived in a well-off neighborhood in Paris. Shiber, however, was cautious, somewhat timid, and conservative. The back-and-forth play between these two personalities made for good dialogue and propelled the story along. It was Kitty who often made rash decisions, though these decisions managed to save at least 150 English lives.

There were many very close brushes with the Gestapo to add a sense of foreboding and tension. Seeing the two women and their ever-expanding network come to realize the growing threat kept me reading. They learned, by necessity, how to function beneath the ever-present undercover watchers and in a city where everyone was suspicious of everyone else.

Unexpectedly, I found the trial scene and the prison experiences to be very good reading, and very informative. The trial, if it can be called such, was a formal display of arrogance, mockery of justice, and official lying. It was the epitome of oppressive statism and a demonstration of totalitarianism. One can learn a lot about manipulation and subversion from the "examinations" that Mrs. Shiber endured during her time and various prison cells. Life in these prison cells was gruesome and harsh.

The Nazis were portrayed plainly, they are not caricatures, but are in fact those brain-washed monsters we expect them to be. Shiber holds nothing back, yet seems to be fair in her estimation of the various Nazis and French collaborators who exhibited at least a small bit of humanity. We have the opportunity to meet, and get to know, a number of others in the prison cells, each having a story that paints a portrait of the ethical, personal and practical challenges of living under the oppressive pall of a Nazi state.

This book was surprisingly enjoyable, but at the time of its writing (it was published in 1943), Shiber did not know the fate of her best friend who had received the death penalty. Further research shows that Kitty, though sentenced to death, somehow managed to survive the war. I only wish that the book had passed this bit of information along, but Shiber clearly was compelled to publish this book as quickly as possible in order to tell her tale during the Nazi terror.

A worthwhile book, and suitable for all readers of all ages. I appreciate the author’s avoidance of profanity, evil men and their foul minds and words can be presented without defiling speech and the effect can be even more powerful. I’m grateful for Shiber’s boldness in putting experience into a book.

Etta Shiber died in 1948, how much more we could have learned from her!

[Katja Labonté · Rating 5 out of 5]

5+ stars & 6/10 hearts. This is an amazing WWII memoir. It hooks you at once, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end. It is very real, but at the same time it is simply full of humour, and this makes it very bearable and even enjoyable—it does not leave you feeling depressed. I did not agree with everything in this book (especially Kitty) but it is very clean. There are some mentions of women having to be naked before Nazi guards; a few French swear words; mentions that being outside after dark was dangerous for women; but I can’t remember any other content. I loved Etta—so brave in spite of it all. Henri was amazing, and do were all the RAF pilots. Father Christian was an absolute BRICK of a man, and I admire him so much! This was a side of WWII that I’ve never read before, and it was fascinating. It was also written immediately after these things happened, which made this very interesting. Recommended ages: 13+.

A Favourite Quote: “‘You said this morning, Etta, that sometimes it is necessary to sacrifice one individual for the sake of others. That is very true in times like these. How unimportant it would be to sacrifice one’s won life if by doing so one could save a hundred or perhaps a thousand others!’”
A Favourite Beautiful Quote: “‘I love to see the historic settings which are one of the things which make Paris so fascinating. There’s hardly a street without some famous name connected with it here! You can live in the house where Molière wrote his plays, or take your coffee where Richelieu used to play chess—perhaps at the same table where Lenin and Trotzky also played three centuries later. I don’t know any city where the past is involved with the present as much as in Paris.”
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “It was only a few days before that the hated traitor, Marcel Déat, had written in the Oeuvre that people were ‘naïve’ who listened to ‘false rumours’ about the ability of British flowers to appear over France. ‘Don’t allow yourself to be mislead … by this collective hallucination which seems to delude hundreds of Parisians every day. The German anti-aircraft is strong enough to see to it that not one British plain will ever cross the Channel. Those who say the contrary are liars.’
“It looked as though the Germans had joined the collective hallucination; for now the air-raid sirens were blowing away, as though they too had decided that there was nothing imaginary about the British planes.”

[E Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting and informative book. It begins with the author being taken by train to the Spanish border. She is a prisoner of the Nazis being exchanged for a German woman who had been
imprisoned as a spy in the U.S. So from the start one knows that Ms. Shiber gets caught, but
survives her imprisonment.

Etta is an American living in Paris with her friend, Kitty, a British woman who is married to a
Frenchman. Kitty and her husband are estranged but still on friendly terms. Kitty and Etta along
with many other Parisians do not realize how quickly the French army is going to be overrun
by the German army. When they finally try to flee they are stalled in a horrendous traffic jam
moving only inches at a time. They eventually are forced to turn back.

When Etta and Kitty stop at an inn the owner asks their help with a man who speaks no
French. They discover he is a British soldier and decide to hide him in their car and take
him back to Paris. When they are able to contact someone who can help him escape occupied
France, they continue to try to find and help other soldiers. They are contacted by a priest
in an area where many British soldiers are hiding out and he arranges to bring them to
Kitty's apartment to be moved on to the border.

Kitty and Etta's efforts are heartfelt, but in many ways amateurish and naïve. Etta warns Kitty that
they should not let so many people know about the operation. Also, they seem to have a very
predictable routine with the priest bring the soldiers to Paris on the same day every week. They
also put a "looking for a friend" advertisement in a paper directing responders to send their
response to a café . Of course, the Nazis read the advertisement and watched the café.

Etta does not know who turned them in to the Nazis. While Kitty has snuck out of the occupied
zone to try to get some more funding, Etta is arrested. She denies everything during her
interrogation. She spends many months in some of the most horrible conditions awaiting trial
and then after her trial.

When Etta is arrested The USA had not yet entered the war. Also she was in her early 60's so
her age and nationality may have been an advantage. The US entered the war while Etta was
in prison and that eventually led to her exchange with the German woman.

[Dannica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given my copy of this book as a birthday present at some point along with a spy thriller novel. Since my copy is also from 1943 and intensely battered with no cover description, I assumed it was a historical spy thriller novel and read about eighty pages before going on here and realizing it was actually a memoir!

Well, as a historical thriller it would be fairly engaging, but as a memoir it's really much better. It tells the story of Etta Shiber--first her work smuggling English soldiers out of Nazi-occupied France along with her English-French roommate Kitty, and then what happened when they were eventually caught by the gestapo, leading to some months of imprisonment. Since this book was published in 1943 (and that's when my copy is from, so I don't get any extra information from later on in an introduction or afterword or anything), and World War II was not yet over, there are aspects of the story that remain unresolved even at the end--what happened to Kitty, for instance, who had been sentenced to death but as far as Shiber knew was still imprisoned, her sentence not carried out; or whether certain people ever met each other again after the war. In fact, Shiber ends the book on a grim note, saying that while she is back in America, the war is ongoing and she finds it strange to be in a country that (apart from sending in soldiers and supplies) is still largely unaffected, and that she is still worried about the soldiers in Europe and the outcome of the war.

It was a very interesting memoir--what memoirs I've read on World War II in the past have been mostly about the experiences of Jews, and none about French resistance efforts. This book is not quite about the French resistance--only about a small ring of people smuggling out English soldiers--but it's still adjacent, and provides interesting insight on what was going on in France. There are also a couple anecdotes that are very funny, and a couple anecdotes that are very sad.

[Harmony · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had been given a box of old books and just noticed the tiny swastikas on the binding. As I opened the book I noticed it was printed in 1943 and a hand written note inside dated from 1943 as well.

The book was printed during WWII and with the Author's Note "The basic facts in the book are a matter of record. Most of the names of the persons whose activities are described in this book have been changed, for obvious reasons. A few details, not already matters of record are known to the Gestapo, have been recast, a few omitted, and the roles of various persons interchanged, in order to make it impossible for any use to be made of this book by the German authorizes against anyone described in it."

I think these details are more amazing than anything else. It's a beautiful auto biography and I'm amazed it's not as popular as all the other books of its time.

I couldn't put it down the whole time and finished it in a day.