A HISTORY OF OBJECTS OF THE RESISTANCE

The French Resistance has inspired numerous publications devoted to its clandestine organisations, its leaders and the social groups that composed it. However, very few works have focused on the objects that made up the daily lives of the resistance fighters. The poor relations of this history, these objects have not been studied in their own right and have most often served as decontextualised illustrations for scholarly discussion.

This book aims to evoke the conditions of clandestine combat by presenting the history of around fifty iconic objects of the French Resistance.

After recalling the technical context of their creation, these objects are very often accompanied by testimonies from resistance members recounting their use in clandestinity. This book also shows how these objects have left a lasting mark on the collective memory of the French people through cinema, literature and the recollections of the participants.

The author:

After studying contemporary history, Frantz Malassis joined the Fondation de la Résistance. He serves as head of the documentation and publications department. Editor-in-chief of "La Lettre de la Fondation de la Résistance", he has written numerous articles for it. Focusing on the history of photographs of the Resistance, he offers an analysis of the context in which they were produced as well as their initial dissemination. He also leads the campaign to preserve private archives of the Resistance and Deportation, carried out in partnership with the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Déportation, the Fondation de la France libre, the Ministry of Culture (Archives de France) and the Ministry of the Armed Forces (Directorate of Memory, Culture and Archives). He regularly contributes to study days and symposia on the internal Resistance and Free France. He has participated in several television documentaries and in 2022 took part in Patrick Rotman's series "Résistances" broadcast on Arte.