Resistance: A Frenchwoman's Journal of the War (Hardcover)

~ Agnes Humbert (Author), Barbara Mellor (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Translated into English after more than 60 years of near-obscurity, Humbert's firsthand account of her work for the resistance in occupied Paris and her subsequent arrest and deportation to a forced-labor camp in Germany is an invaluable addition to works highlighting the role of women during wartime. At the fall of Paris, Humbert verges on despondency until she hears de Gaulle's broadcast calling for all Frenchmen to carry on the struggle. Prompted to action, she begins networking, bringing together some of the key figures of the resistance, including Boris Vildé and Pierre Brossolette, with whose help she and others produce the underground liberation newspaper, Résistance. But the indelibility of the human spirit is most fully revealed in Humbert's account of her imprisonment, during which she retains her dignity amid the humiliating circumstances through small, individual acts of resistance such as sabotaging the work she does in the labor camps. She also provides heartfelt testament to numerous other women in the prison, many of whom were arrested for helping French and British soldiers escape. In a fair-minded account, Humbert relays the atrocities of the Third Reich as well as the sympathy of some of the camp inmates' captors (Sept.)
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From School Library Journal

Adult/High School—From the very first word of this spellbinding diary, readers are transported to Paris, June 1940, with a bright and articulate founder of the Resistance movement. An art historian, Humbert joined forces with her colleagues, creating and bravely distributing an underground newspaper they named Résistance. Through her detailed and intimate diary entries, the author gives a mesmerizing, day-to-day picture of the movement. After being betrayed to the Germans, she was put in a stark, cold cell in a French prison, where she was interrogated; she never betrayed her colleagues, several of whom, she learned, were executed. After many months, she was taken to a labor camp and forced to work for years in horrific conditions on starvation rations, with increasingly poor health. Humbert exhibited spirit, courage, and determination to resist the Germans, sabotaging whatever she was forced to make in the factories they turned into labor camps, never losing sight of her fellow prisoners' needs as she struggled to keep up hope and survive. After being liberated by the Americans, she put herself in charge of her former captors and helped the Americans deal with the initial horrors left by the Germans. The book includes a detailed appendix of documents on the Resistance and 32 pages of translator's notes that put the author's comments in historical context. Humbert's wit and bravery, her charisma, will draw teens into this remarkable account.—Ellen Bell, Amador Valley High School, Pleasanton, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA; 1 edition (September 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596915595
• ISBN-13: 978-1596915596
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #436,312 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Resistance, September 4, 2008

By	zibilee "eclectic reader" (Orlando, FL) - See all my reviews

Résistance is the harrowing journal and memoir of Agnčs Humbert, a middle-aged art historian in Paris, and her experiences in Nazi occupied France during WWII. When Humbert first hears the rumors of an occupation, she is distraught and numb, but soon finds a strong will of opposition inside her. She begins to contact others who are like-minded and is soon embroiled in producing Résistance, a newspaper filled with propaganda, which she and her colleagues distribute anywhere and everywhere they can. Agnčs meets several important contacts and knows that danger is only a heartbeat away, for if the Germans find out about her anti-Nazi sentiments and activities, she will be imprisoned. Though she knows the dangers, she continues with her work, only to be brought in for questioning regarding her activities. Following her eventual trial, Agnčs is convicted and sent to prison. What ensues is the heart-breaking story of what she was subjected to after being becoming a political prisoner in France, and later Germany.

The first section of this book was given over to the specifics and details of who and what her group of friends did in opposition to the German invasion. Many were implicated, yet as her journal was never found, Agnčs was not the cause of any imprisonments or executions. Unfortunately, many of the people responsible for Résistance were tried and convicted anyway. I found this section to be a little dry and methodical. It almost seemed that this part of the book acted as a type of ledger of information, rather than a chronicle. Many of the people were only briefly mentioned, and I had some trouble in understanding who was who and what part they played in the opposition. While I believe that it was important to know the events that led up to her imprisonment, this section seemed a little too matter-of-fact.

The majority of this book was devoted to the time that Agnčs spent as a prisoner and laborer. During this time she suffered many abuses at the hands of the Germans. The tortures that she and her fellow prisoners faced in the prison were terrible, from starvation and beatings to severe confinement. Despite their atrocious treatment, the women were able to form friendships and take joy in the company of others, sharing news and small victories with each other. Many would not recant their political ideology even after being subjected to daily bouts of cruel treatment. I found it hard to believe that things could get any worse for them, but when they were moved to a German work camp, what had come before paled by comparison. In the labor camps, it was obvious that life was expendable and cheap. The overseers' attitudes went beyond the malicious and into the area of savagery. They were worked like dogs, with no care given to injuries or illness, and the living conditions and rations were pitiful. While Agnčs and her fellow laborers struggled, inhaling caustic chemicals that gave them temporary blindness and suppurating ulcers, they still found ways to share political information and news among themselves. Sometimes these friendships were cut short, as their overseers didn't like their fraternization, and women would be moved to other areas of the workhouse. Agnčs, nevertheless, found ingenious ways to sabotage her work, as it was the only way she could oppose the occupation from inside its confinement. She never let them break her spirit, no matter what was forced upon her. When help finally arrived in the form of American troops in April of 1945, Agnčs had been imprisoned for 5 years. Despite her experiences, she immediately took charge and helped the American forces seek out fleeing Nazis and created a temporary hospital for the refugees and Germans alike. She took command of many aspects of this new civilian life, and was greatly esteemed by the Allied forces, fellow prisoners and the community.

One of the most amazing thing about this book was Agnčs' remarkable wit and sense of humor. No matter what horrors the day brought her, she had an amazingly beautiful spirit that enabled her to continue laughing. She never showed despair and defeat; rather a cynical cleverness in which she documented the sufferings of herself and those around her. Despite all that happened to her and her compatriots, she never let go of her beliefs and fought in the only way she knew how. Agnčs never let herself sink into depression, despite her many injuries or disappointments. I very much admired her courage and strength.

This story was both haunting and inspiring. Among the atrocities committed in WWII, this remains a story that is not often heard but that truly needs to be told. It may enlighten others to the fact that Jews were not the only victims of this terrible war. I found myself feeling maudlin and upset while reading this book, but I am glad that I read it. It is a terrible tale, but behind that tale lurks the spirit of of a woman who would not give up, turning a story that could only be ugly into a thing of beauty.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bravery in extremis, September 14, 2008

By	W. P. seeberg - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I remember reading this book years ago in the original French when I was a student, and I find it amazing that such an important primary source on the French Resistance and German occupation of France has taken sixty years to be translated. Agnes Humbert's sheer tenacity in banding together with her comrades to publish and distribute the illegal anti-German newspaper Résistance is a riveting profile in courage, yet Humbert never really draws any attention to her heroism, presenting her actions merely as what was required of a moral, patriotic person in a conflict where there were only two sides: for the Nazis or against them.

I agree with the previous reviewer that the second half of the book detailing Humbert's arrest and imprisonment is more interesting, better written, and overall more compelling than the early sections, which are indeed dry and expository. Which brings me to my only real objection to this very useful addition to the English-language literature on the civilian experience of the war: the publishers should have gone to greater lengths to commission a truly spirited and detailed introductory essay orienting the lay reader (or, more importantly, college students) to the timeline and chain of events in the Nazi takeover of France, the division into Vichy and German-administered provinces, etc. I think there is a great deal of room for confusion here for people unfamiliar or only vaguely familiar with the historical background.

Nonetheless, it's wonderful to know that this book is now available in English (and in a very nice, fluid translation)--a great addition to the reading list for any college course on WWII.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Perfect guide through the formation of French Resistance, and the cruelties and kindesses of Nazi prison camps, January 18, 2009

By	Jennifer Buchanan (Southern California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I came across Agnés Humbert's Résistance completely by accident while browsing the "New in Hardcover" section in Barnes & Noble one day, but rarely have I been more grateful for following my instincts on an unfamiliar book and author. From the moment I picked it up this book has haunted me. Too compelling to put down, but too harrowing to read straight through without breaks to recover emotionally, reading this book became a delicious struggle between my need to continue and my desire to stop and reflect.

Résistance begins with Agnés Humbert's actual journal entries from the summer of 1940 and the beginning of the Nazi occupation of Paris. She describes the conception and birth of the French Resistance from a completely new point of view, almost as if it was a game she and her friends invented to annoy the Nazis. But it is the very casual way in which she describes certain horrors that brings home to the reader the atrocities of the Nazi occupiers. Her descriptions of the bravery, strength and loyalty of her compatriots brought tears to my eyes.

The later portion of the book, after Humbert's arrest, are also written in journal form, but these entries were written just after her release when the war ended. She writes "my memories are so clear that I am able to commit them to paper as they happened and in strict sequence. I remember everything as clearly as though it were written in notebooks". This portion of the book is truly an intimate look into the life of a prisoner of war, and you get the impression that as gut-wrenching as Agnés' experiences are, she actually got off somewhat easily compared to the treatment of so many other prisoners in Nazi camps.

Now that I've told you how clear she is in expressing the horrors of war, I need to tell you how very hopeful Humbert's book is. Although the tears flowed freely while reading many passages, the bleakness never took over, and often my tears were tears of admiration for a woman who was oppressed in so many ways, both physical and spiritual, and yet was still able to resist in any small way she could what she knew to be evil. You could not ask for a better narrator, a better guide through the unbelievable cruelties and unexpected kindnesses of the Nazi prison camps.

Humbert's journal/book covers the time period from just before the Nazi occupation of Paris to the end of the war and the American liberation of the prison camps in Germany. It is not a comprehensive view of the entirety of WWII, but it's not meant to be. It is one woman's harrowing and hopeful experience of losing her certainty in her country's leaders, but keeping her confidence in the spirit of her nation.