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hatred for Petain. DeGaulle's curious
pro-Communist action at Algiers puzzled and worried many Americans al the
time. Only a few top military and O.S.S.
leaders knew the real reason.
When 1'ieiine collapsed in a matter
of weeks and the German secret police
and Siclie'ilieielsilienst occupied the
country, lhe French neglected tu leave
behind an underground. Thanks to the
Si.vi.t-' highly efficient and we'll or-
<3;eni/eil espionage ami sabotage net-
work only the French Communists had
lhe necessary passport forgers, secrel
printing plants, couriers, and other
necessary implements fur underground
work, li was also well known thai
French Communists in the underground
wilh characteristic treachery promptly
fingered lo the Germans and eilmnst
certain de'eilh all strangers emd foreign
agents win, bail nol cleared through
their network. Gen. DeGaulle simply
had lo make ee deal wilh Moscow in
order tn gel his 0wn secrel agents and
couriers in ami mil nl" occupied France.
Once tin- Germans wen' driven out of
France, DeGaulle quickly enough broke
.iff his affair wilh the Communists.
Nevertheless his connivance at the
disgrace and condemnation nf Marshal
Petain was strictly C.P. line al the
lime' anil indefensible on any grounds.
DeGaulle also has a greal deal tu answer
fur in lhat he eliel little- ur nothing tn
stop lhe worst excesses eiml horrors
rommitteed during lhe epuration.
Huddleston's book also helps deflate
one nf the greatest ln.eixes of the hist
war the' alleged daring, ferocity, and
magnitude uf the French "resistance
movement. Our own OWI under lhe
direction nf the ineffable Elmer Davis
helped enormously in pulling off this
bi'j3.-l swindle on the public since the
"South Sea- Bubble." Anv American in-
telligence officer on the spot eil the lime
will tell you that except for the Maquis
mosl of lln "In inie French underground" did all of their German-killing
iv ith their mouths after lhe war was
uver. Except fur snmc telephone ami
telegraph line culling, a few blown
bridges, sonii. reiibaieiel sabotage, eiml the
assassin,iii,,ii of a few isolated German
soldiers, the German occupation forces
recorded no serious inconvenience
traceable to the "heroic French underground" lhat Mrs. Roosevell gushed
about.
Huddleston estimates lhal less than
3,000 resistance fighters played anv
significant role in the Paris area fighting. \ lew in..nibs later when I'aris
was alive' wiib Allied troops, no fewer
than 125.(100 applications were made
for official certificates of service in the
IM'.I. Forres Francois de Flnterieur!
Huddleston writes: ''In one town lhat I
km.w well, there were a few hundred
adherents i nf ihe Resistance) until
September 1911. when suddenly thousands pul nn armlets Isold fur ei few
Page 18
francs) and paraded with th-- real Re-
sistants. The scorn uf the real Resistants
for the 'Sejilemhrisurtls' is justified."
I can testify lhat I saw exactly the
same- shabby show in Holland which I
entered before the' armistice was signed
and while German troops -till clogged
the highways. The Dutch underground
held played an heroic role, suffered
grievous losses but never numbered
more than a few thousand I.reive men
umi women. As my special task force,
attached In Marshal Montgomery's 21-t
army group, rushed into Holland In seize
certain kev Germans, wc were continuously amazed al lhe hordes "f "resistance fighters'' and "underground
workers we mel swarming lhe towns
and livweivs wearing orange brassards
wilh the letters of the Dutch underground. Heal underground nun told me
thev were outraged and dismayed bul
helpless lo do anything about these
phonies. Al leasl it could be seiid feu- the
Dutch fakers thai thev committed few
known murders ur other excesses.
Iti France the self-elected "hemes of
the Resistance" ell lhe price of a couple
of francs for em armband, demonstrated
their German-killing prowess after the
Germans were- genu' by stripping naked
girls emd women whn allegedly had consorted with ur merely served Germans
.mil parading them through the streets
wilh shaved beads and Nazi swastikas
painted mi their bare backs with hut tar.
The more vicious and criminal elements
paid off old grudges againsl their hellers by holding kangaroo courts and
condemning In summary executions
their luckless enemies or innocent people
whose preipcrty ur belongings they
coveted.
ihi' Communists improved the shining hour hy murdering in cold blood
a- "Petainists" or "collaborators" all
known anti-Communists including even
known Socialists and radicals. Huddleston points .ml lhat some of the worsl
real collaborators saved their own -kins
l.v ipiirklv changing sides ami joining
the murder mobs seeking innocenl victims. Me also confirms Possony and
others who have sel the total figure- nf
murders during the epuration al 105,000
now generally accepted as official.
\-n.rii ein services s,-i the figure al
80,000. li was estimated thai 20,000
persons lust their lives under the Reign
of Terror in 1793-1 and lhal 18,000 perished in lhe butcheries nf the Commune
of 1,870. \ml this mass murder ..I" mosl
known anti-Communists shortly after
liberation wun by American and British
blood explains why there i- no mil i -
Communisl movemenl even todaj worth
speaking aboul.
Huddleston also correctl) appraised
the real secret meaning nl I eheran when
he wrote;
"In the munth nf December. 1951.
Russia wun the war. ll wa- nut on the
battlefield lhal the fate' e,f the wnrlel wei-
elee ieleel. It weis ;i[ Ti'heran. where. aftlT
nieinv demarches, many cajoleries, many
flatteries, lhe master of the Kremlin consented tn meet Churchill and Roosevell
and was rewarded beyond his wildest
hopes by his associates.
"Looking back, ii is incredible lhal we
should have' consented so completely tu
the demands ol Stalin, 'lhe consequences
of lhe Teheran surrender were lo
Fructify later, but today we- sea' clearly
lhat lhe world was made safe for Bolshevism al Teheran. Later conferences
merely confirmed the promises there
given."
And now another "Big Four" conference is coming up with France one of
the "big'' four.
ibis raises the question "Is France
still ei greal power"?" Huddleston tries
very hard In convince us thai France
despite her ignominous defeat anil disgrace nf the epuration will vet recover
her past stature and glory. Bul do great
nalions ever come back once they slart
In slip from lhe top? In 1939 with "
smaller population and no outside economic or military help. France vvas able
tu arm and train loo divisions. In 1955.
ten years after the Liberation, with
practically unlimited American military
emd economic aid, France slill pleads
total inability tn i-eiise- the- minimum
\ VIO quota of ten divisions. Bul if ll"'
French seem loath to shoulder a rifle for
l.n Ft/trie thev are not coy aboul becoming militant Communists. Despite some
recenl small decline in membership l'"'
C.I', nf France inn still boast of a quarter of ei million hard core, fanatical
members eiml five million supporters a1
lhe bailee! box.
Prom James Burnham, "CONTAINMENT
OR LIBERATION", page 71:
"In France, after more than five billian
dollars in grants since the war, not to speak
of two rescues from military defeat in a generation, there is not a single newspaper or
magazine with an editorial policy that is pr0'
American, or even consistently friendly to
America."
Huddleston's lust chapter .if less than
-i\ pages appropriately is devoted to th''
last years and death of Marshal Petain,
whom he- calls "the last of the' greal
marshals eel' France." The hero of Verdun had hurried back in his beloved
fatherland from ei German prison afte'
the war. A grateful countr) promptly
arrested lhe Pershing eel France, oi''1
him before ei kangaroo courl nf no leu''1'
standing, ami sentenced ihe 89-year
general i., death. " viluiir.il la-eibv sent
a letter attesting In his firm belief i"
the marshal's inicgi ih ami sincere devotion lo the securiiv and interests "'
France." The death sentence was commuted lo life imprisonment solitaO
confinement in an old fortress nn ""
island off the harsh Vendean coast-
Neither frnm his cell mu the cnuityai'11
(Continued ■ ,„ Page ''■'
FACTS FORUM NEWS, May, ''"''
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