Season of Infamy

A Diary of War and Occupation, 1939-1945

Charles Rist, Michele McKay Aynesworth

• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9780253019516
• Topic: Storia
• Subtopic: Storia francese

"A valuable account of what one significant and perceptive Frenchman experienced during the protracted disgrace of France as a vassal state of Nazi Germany." — Publishers Weekly In 1939, the 65-year-old French political economist Charles Rist was serving as advisor to the French government and consultant to the international banking and business world. As France anxiously awaited a German invasion, Rist traveled to America to negotiate embargo policy. Days after his return to Paris, the German offensive began and with it the infamous season of occupation. Retreating to his villa in Versailles, Rist turned his energies to the welfare of those closest to him, while in his diary he began to observe the unfolding of the war. Here the deeply learned Rist investigates the causes of the disaster and reflects on his country's fate, placing the behavior of the "people" and the "elite" in historical perspective. Though well-connected, Rist and his family and friends were not exempt from the perils and tragedies of war, as the diary makes clear. Season of Infamy presents a distinctive, closely-observed view of life in France under the occupation.

One

War Begins

2 SEPTEMBER 1939–23 JANUARY 1940

On 2 September 1939 France and England issued an ultimatum to Germany that resulted in a declaration of war the next day.

Charles Rist, sixty-five years old at the time, was working in Paris and commuting some 15 kilometers to Versailles, where he lived at 18 bis rue du Parc de Clagny with his wife, Germaine, and her mother, Olga Monod-Herzen. His home office was on the top floor of their three-story house, the Villa Amiel. The Rists also owned a country house, Le Très-Clos, near Lake Geneva.

Their five adult sons, three of whom would soon be enlisted, were scattered in several directions. Jean was employed as chief engineer at the Jacob Holtzer Steelworks in Fraisses, about 100 kilometers southeast of Vichy and another 300 southeast of Paris. Claude directed a water safety lab near Le Vésinet, 15 kilometers west of Paris. Léonard, Noël, and Mario worked in Paris: Léonard as a banker, Noël as a researcher at the Pasteur Institute, and Mario as a judge.

In Paris Charles Rist oversaw his economic research institute, ISRES, and served as an expert on various government committees as well as on the boards of several banks and corporations. These included the Banque de Syrie, Banque du Maroc, Paribas, the Ottoman Bank (of which he was board president), the Suez Canal Company, and Le Matériel Téléphonique.

The chaos of war was soon to disrupt this busy middle-class life. Three of Charles Rist’s sons would be mobilized, Rist would be asked to head a blockade mission to North America, and many members of his extended family would find themselves in peril.

SATURDAY, 2 SEPTEMBER 1939We set off early to visit Jean in Moulins.¹ Cars full of children and suitcases, with mattresses on the roof. Crowds at Nevers. Crowds at Moulins, but we found a room at Jean’s hotel, across from the railroad station. He showed up at 7:30. Happy to see us: “What a great surprise!” Dinner in the dining room, with officers everywhere. Jean plainspoken and unassuming, talking quite openly about everything. His job is to shoe the horses for four regiments, and he is amazed by the detailed instructions given to him in a little notebook. He says if there were no blacksmiths with cars of their own, not to mention ironmongers, in the town, nothing would get done. The military command foresaw all except the fact that horses from the Bourbonnais region have hooves that do not fit any of the three regulation sizes. He is amused by communism, an insoluble problem.

The next day we were shown the cathedral and his gardener friend’s flowers. At 11:30 Jean came in from work, angry at the lack of news and the stupidity of censorship. He fears – as do his comrades – that the French government will cave in at the last moment. We left him at 1:30. What serenity, overlying a deep melancholy. When he talks about his children one feels they are his whole life. His wife spent two hours with him a couple of days ago. She is taking the children to Le Chambon.²

Return in a line of cars. At 4:00, getting out of my car at a railroad crossing, I learned from another driver that, according to the radio, war had been declared at 2:00. We got back to Versailles at 7:00. A boy called out to us, “War has been declared,” as we passed some houses just before Longjumeau. Everywhere, requisitioned horses led by peasants. Groups of people talking in every street. Everyone is serious.

MONDAY, 4 SEPTEMBER 1939Trade Minister Gentin has asked me to serve on a consultative committee with Julien Durand and Bonnefon-Craponne.

Suez Company board meeting at 11:30. Not a single one of our English colleagues present. Lord Hankey has been appointed to serve as minister without portfolio in Chamberlain’s War Cabinet. Company head Georges-Edgar Bonnet brought us up to date on measures taken to safeguard the canal. We are in complete agreement with the English army and admiralty. Income will be negligible in the face of enormous expenses. A probable deficit of two to three million.

At the Banque de Syrie, de Cerjat³ informed me of an urgent request for 200 million to be sent to Syria. We discussed how to transport the 75 million we have on hand, as well as how to make up the rest. Shipping services have been partially resumed.

The English financial and commercial attachés came to see me. They believe it is too soon to negotiate with Italy. Why? Do they want to close the Mediterranean first? The general embargo on imports to France was undertaken in agreement with England. I told them I find the measure a bit abrupt. They asked me some questions regarding French finances, but I know no more than they do. They assured me that the oil supplied by Russia to Germany cannot amount to much, as the Russian surplus is scarcely a million tons.

TUESDAY, 5 SEPTEMBER 1939This evening Noël drove us to Le Vésinet to visit the Claudes.⁴ Total darkness; forbidden to use headlights, drivers run the risk of running down pedestrians, both soldiers and civilians, who have to walk in the middle of the road. We were stopped by two traffic guards, who scolded us for using lights. What can one do?

The Claudes doing rather well. Claude, back from Chantilly, worries about what his wife will do if he is called up.

During the night, alarms. We would be up for half an hour then go back to bed. I thought it was a bad joke. Luckily, little Isabelle did not wake up.

Board meeting of the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas. Nothing new.

WEDNESDAY, 6–THURSDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER 1939Suez Company committee. Nalèche confirmed that the alarms are deliberately exaggerated. Ten million people have been put on alert as far away as Rouen and Le Havre.

At 2:30, visited Mme Le Verrier.⁵ Present were Robert de Billy, the Duke of Harcourt, and the French vice-consul at Dusseldorf, who had just returned from Germany. He crossed the border on Sunday and told us the most amazing things about the state of German spirits. Eighty-five percent of their generals are against the war. Heads of industry in the Rhineland are hoping for defeat. On the sly, workers gave him maps of airports, fortifications, etc. The German communists consider the Russo-German pact to be a trick by Stalin to force Hitler to go to war, etc., etc.

Visit from Lorch and Ostersetzer, forced to report to an internment camp as citizens of an enemy country. Poor devils.⁶

Evening visit from the Claudes. Claude will be commuting between Chantilly and Le Vésinet.

FRIDAY, 8 SEPTEMBER 1939Noël in bed with a bad sore throat. Burial of poor Jean-Jacques Bizot, deputy governor of the Banque de France, dead at forty.

Am informed that the Washington, the American liner carrying Mario and Lolli, will arrive tomorrow evening at Le Havre.

At L’Europe nouvelle, Mme Le Verrier tells me what a hard time they are having to replace Georges Bonnet with Herriot at Foreign Affairs. Bonnet is keeping a tight grip. Along with de Monzie he is impatiently awaiting Hitler’s peace offensive after the fall of Poland. Indeed, it was necessary for Chamberlain to threaten to resign if Bonnet, on Saturday, did not follow Sir Nevile Henderson’s example in dealing with Hitler. A bitter conversation took place between Lord Halifax and Bonnet. The upshot was to refer the matter to Prime Minister Daladier, and that is when Chamberlain delivered his ultimatum.

Piatier came to say good-bye.⁷ News from the front, as well as the form of the communiqués, has exasperated the officers. The current offensive seems ridiculous. He considers Bonnet a traitor.

Rueff asked what I think about a possible control on exchange rates.⁸ I said it seems inevitable.

Strange war, in which there will doubtless be no encounters on France’s eastern front. The essential thing is to control the Mediterranean and to persuade America to declare an embargo on goods to Germany. The same goes for the other neutral countries. The legal proceeding would be for those countries at war to come up with lists of things that they would have the neutral countries agree to.

The war will no doubt be shorter than expected – if a real blockade is put in force. Gasoline will be vital, and the same goes for oils and cotton.

What the future will probably overlook, and what must be remembered, is the formidable role that social conservatism – the fear of communism and Bolshevism – has played in the foreign policy of France and England these last few years. Obsessive fear on the part of hundreds of people has made them incapable of comprehending events other than through this distorting lens. Hence their hidden but certain sympathies extend even to Hitler, his methods, and his aggressions. People no longer believe that a democratic government in France will be strong enough to protect them. They are not reassured by seeing order maintained and social conflict avoided here at home. They need the public show of police force, just as they need the image of a violent communism; and for that reason, they don’t hesitate to commit attacks themselves for which they blame the communists (C.S.A.R.)!⁹ The war frightens them because they foresee at its end concessions to the workers, which for them is the same as concessions to communism.

The reality is that we are all under a state of siege today, and the military are our masters. Will they be able to contain themselves?

SATURDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER 1939With Ambassador Bullitt this morning at the U.S. embassy. I gave him the document received from Goerdeler, via Simon, regarding the momentous days in Berlin leading up to 31 August.¹⁰ An extremely interesting document, as it indicates the uneasiness of German generals and their final submission to Hitler’s will. Bullitt told me that in order for the United States to act, Americans must suffer a direct attack. He is considering a trip to Washington in the hope of influencing Congress to change the Neutrality Act. He said he will pass on any suggestions I might bring him.

Next saw Cochran’s replacement as first secretary. His name is Matthews. He wants the same relationship of trust that I had with his predecessor. I told him how important it is for the war to be short and for Germany to understand at once that America’s full economic strength will be brought to bear against it. He agreed and asked what legal and practical form such a message could take.

Tonight it was announced that England and America have agreed to control all imports entering the Mediterranean. This would be vital.

Later I saw Philippe Vernes. His sons and nephews have been called up. He advised me to keep my dollars and to wait before converting them to francs.

Lunched with [Charles S.] Dewey, former American financial adviser to Poland, and his wife. He is returning to the United States full of admiration for the way children were evacuated from Paris and received in the provinces. They witnessed their reception in Normandy and promise to show photographs and spread the word about this in America.

Osusky at a nearby table with Élie-Joseph Bois.¹¹ We had an amiable conversation.

Back in Versailles at 4:00.

SUNDAY, 10 SEPTEMBER 1939Took a walk with Isabelle, rather impressed by the gas mask she had to try on. She was fascinated by the soldiers and the cars clogging the streets of Parc de Clagny. All the villas have been requisitioned. She let me know, incidentally, that Poland is too far away for France to be obliged ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• A Note from the Translator Regarding the English Text
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction to the 1983 French Edition
• Regarding the History and Annotation of the French Text
• A Brief Who’s Who of the Rist Family
• 1 War Begins
• 2 Blockade Mission, Visit to Roosevelt
• 3 Occupation and Exodus
• 4 Vichy and the “French State”: Beginnings
• 5 Promulgation of Anti-Jewish Laws
• 6 “National Renewal”: Harem Hijinks
• 7 The Spreading Conflagration
• 8 Pétain’s Ambassador to Washington?
• 9 “End of My Mission”
• 10 The Wind Shifts
• 11 “A War against the Jews”
• 12 War Hits Close to Home
• 13 Certificates of Not Belonging to the Jewish Race
• 14 “Coup de Théâtre”: A Turning Point in the War
• 15 Internal Gangrene
• 16 Growing Doubts and Hardships at Home
• 17 Good News from Italy, Perils on the Home Front
• 18 Twilight of the Rogues
• 19 The Old Man’s Wall
• 20 Reign of Terror
• 21 All-Out Civil War
• 22 “Poor France!”
• 23 State of Siege: The Allies Advance
• 24 The Ransom for Deliverance
• Appendix 1: Timeline of Rist’s Travels during the War
• Appendix 2: The Anti-Jewish Laws of Vichy
• Appendix 3: Poem by Antoinette Rist Constable
• Appendix 4: Postmortem
• Appendix 5: Members of Rist’s Extended Family Imprisoned or Killed
• Glossary
• Works Cited
• Index