Voices From The Dark Years: The Truth About Occupied France 1940 - 1945

by Douglas Boyd

What was life really like in German-occupied France during the Second World War? Douglas Boyd paints the clearest picture yet, using previously unpublished first-person accounts of ordinary men and women who lived through this extraordinary and dangerous time, when a few made fortunes, but most went cold and hungry. Less than 1 percent of the French were pro-German. Is it pure coincidence that the same percentage actively resisted the Germans despite knowing that, if caught, their husbands, wives and children were considered equally culpable under the brutal Teutonic principle of Sippenhaft – guilt by association? Using new, meticulously researched material, Douglas Boyd tells an enthralling and sometimes chilling narrative history of the Occupation, as lived by the French people. It is a record of great heroism and ultimate cruelty. Read it and ask yourself, "How would I have reacted, living in Occupied France?" The answer may surprise you.

Genres: World War II, History, France

298 pages, Hardcover

First published January 15, 2015

Reviews

[Kim Mcclung · Rating 5 out of 5]

My knowledge about the French Resistance during the Nazi Occupation has been VERY limited, and is really based on Hollywood (Casablanca--not in France) and the British(Churchill)/American(Roosevelt) perspective of WW2. I recently read "A Woman of No Importance", which made me really curious about occupied France. "Voices from the Dark Years" was a revelation. First, it was told from the French perspective, which is new and refreshing. We see how the French reacted to the 1935 treaty (done without France) signed between Germany and the UK which allowed Germany to re-arm and expand it's fleet; the abandonment of the French by the British at Dunkirk, the sinking of the French fleet in Algeria by the British (with over 1200 French killed) and the terrible toll on the French people by the RAF. We also see the French reaction to the US advice, given so advantageously from a position of neutrality, on what to do with their fleet. Second, it contained some surprising information, such as about 1% of the French were pro-German and about 1% actively supported the Resistance! Most of the French just tried to survive the war, and it was horrifying. I was also surprised to learn just how the people had been betrayed by their government in the period between the wars. There was so much political infighting between the different factions (including the French Communist Party, who seemed to be taking their orders from Moscow), and a complete lack of military preparation which lead to the quick defeat of the French. Many of the French leaders had been so pre-occupied with their own love life, personal wealth and political power to consider the lives and welfare of the common person. Third, the author has an amusing, somewhat snarky but incisive point of view which makes this a pretty easy read. Finally, I think this book is relevant to today. The fecklessness of the political elite sounds familiar, and I wonder what we would do if confronted with a hostile invader. After reading this book, I am left depressingly wondering if only 1% of our population would resist. If our reaction to the COVID lockdown, and cancel culture are any indication, we have cause to fear.

[Lyle Closs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this book. It is a sad demonstration of the best and the worst of humanity, of the pain and loss experienced by civilians behind the military manoeuvres in wars. Very well researched and written.