When France was occupied by the Nazis during World War II, they set up their headquarters in certain French homes throughout France. My Belle Mere's (Mother in law,) family's home was chosen for such a purpose, and her family was allowed to live in the attic. Since their home was large, and since her extended family wanted to be together they moved in with them too, forty-five of them lived in the attic.
My Belle Mere's Father was active in the French Resistance. Living under the attic's eaves provided an eagle eye's view on what was going on. It also proved a place easy to eavesdrop on the Nazi officers' conversations. He was allowed to ride his bicycle into the countryside to collect fresh produce and dairy products, a note or two was often slipped into the potato sack. Certainly, he feared for his life and the life of his family. But to sit and do nothing was like death itself.
My French family has many stories about life with the Nazi officers, oddly none of them are brutal nor ugly, seemingly surreal. The head Nazi officer was a family man and his wife, like my Belle Mere's mother was pregnant. When my Belle Mere's mother went into labor, he took her to the hospital, and made sure that she had everything she needed.
I often wonder how it was to live like that? How it must have felt to be treated with an ackward respect, yet knowing a violent war surrounded them. To see the enemy as human, to see their lives similar and intertwine. It was as if the Nazi officers in their home were not part of the war? The twisted twist of of being invovled and yet not wanting to be.
As horrendous and evil as that war was, it seemed some small acts of kindness sipped out of such ugliness. Often at night the Nazi officers played the piano, and the music seemed to settle their frayed nerves. Though my Belle Mere's family never once let down their guard, and knew that death was as close as their doorstep. The expression, "killing with kindness," seemed to hold a raw meaning for them in times like this. A family that they knew had been told after celebrating Christmas with the Nazi officers that occupied their home, "We have had a wonderful time celebrating with you, we have enjoyed our evening together…but if tonight we receive orders to kill you, we will."
Photo: A French food ration chart from WWII. The food chart list the food items availability, the cost and how much per person. Fresh fruits, vegetables, milk and meat are not on the list. Though six bottles of wine per person was available each week.
The WWII food ration chart is hand-printed on canvas, and hangs in our kitchen.
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