James Benn discusses The Wild Purge

INGRID THOFT

One of the wonderful things about Jungle Reds is the knowledge our guests impart to us about experiences, people, and places we might otherwise miss.  James R. Benn joins us today to discuss his latest novel, "Solemn Graves," the 13th novel in his Billy Boyle WWII mystery series, which will be published on September 4th.  I am woefully ignorant when it comes to WWII and D-Day, so thank you, James, for educating me about the days immediately following D-Day and the historical context in which "Solemn Graves" is set.

The Wild Purge
During the period between D-Day (June 6, 1944) and the Liberation of Paris (August 25, 1944) those areas in France no longer under German control were—ironically—quite lawless. General de Gaulle refused to permit the installation of the usual Allied Military Government, on the basis that France was an ally, not a nation to be occupied. But he didn’t have the clout to establish his own government, not until after Paris was freed.

But that’s a story for another day.
This is the story of The Wild Purge, the épuration sauvage, carried out immediately following the collapse of the German occupation and before de Gaulle’s provisional government was in place. The French Resistance had been armed from London and by weapons taken from the Germans. The ranks of the Resistance fighters, known as the Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur, or FFI (called fifis by Americans who invariably came up with their own ways to pronounce French names) grew tremendously in each town and region as the allies drew closer. Many French men and women had been part of the movement for years. Some joined in June or July 1944 at the very last minute.

Scores of young men had fled to the hills to escape the forced roundup for slave labor in Germany. They became known famously as the Maquis, after the scrub brush common in the countryside. But others joined only when it was certain they would emerge on the winning side. Some had their own collaborationist past and hoped that a furious patriotism would erase any memory of previous misdeeds.

A frenzy of killing took place in those weeks. Historians estimate these extrajudicial executions totaled over 10,500 deaths. Many of these were French fascists and collaborators who had hunted and tortured their own. No one can be sure that in the enthusiasm of Liberation, those scores had anything to do with the war, or that the death penalty was warranted. No one with any legal authority was present to stop the killings, and in some cases, old scores certainly were settled.

The wild purge included not only killings, but a wave of violence against women. It is estimated that over 20,000 women had their heads shaved as punishment for having relations with the Germans. Other abuse, including tar and feathers, was sometimes applied, along with beating, stoning, and public humiliation. Some of these women were prostitutes, and others had willing affairs with Germans. These were the women accused of collaboration "horizontale." Prostitutes were doing nothing that thousands of Frenchmen had not done in shops and cafes everywhere; take money for services rendered from German soldiers.

Of course, there were women who willingly obliged the Germans with their company. Coco Chanel, the famous French designer, lived through the war at the Ritz hotel in the company of her German lovers, while scheming to take over a perfume company owned by Jews. Her hair was never touched.

Some women were the targets of personal revenge, and it took only a whiff of suspicion for the application of the coiffure ’44 to be applied. This happened to a funeral wreath maker in the city of Toulouse. As she was working next to an open window, a German soldier strolled up and began talking to her. Their entire conversation took place at the window, and the soldier moved on. After Liberation, she was denounced for this simple exchange. A mob came for her, stripping off her clothing and shearing her hair as her daughter watched.

Looking at these pictures, I see a savagery in the air that makes me wonder if the humiliation felt by men defeated in 1940, long repressed during the Occupation, found an outlet in the treatment of these women. The sneering smiles and superior faces of the men especially are terrifying. I do wonder how many of them had taken action against the Germans.

Women who were shaved became known as "the tondues" – the shorn

Women played a huge role in the French Resistance from the beginning. One reason was that young French men were often rounded up on sight for slave labor work and sent to Germany. It was easier for women to move about and not attract attention. I wonder how much of the rage released onto Frenchwomen was a result of the emasculation of French men, forced into a powerless state by the German occupiers for four long years.Yes, French women were also traitors and informers, as were French men. Perhaps the woman in the image below is one. Was her crime one of passion, survival, avarice, or simple business? We don’t know. But we know those faces. The faces of a mob.

Although I had seen these pictures before, it was only after reading "Les Parisiennes" by Anne Sebba that I began to understand the ugly motivations behind the treatment of women during the épuration sauvage. This is a terrific book, well-written, and gives us a new way to look at this historical period. Highly recommended.

Once de Gaulle’s government was installed following the Liberation of Paris, a “legal purge,” or épuration légale, replaced the wild purge. A series of trials were held from 1944 to 1949, meting out justice to collaborators and officials of the Vichy regime. Nearly seven thousand people were sentenced to death, but in the end, less than eight hundred sentences were carried out.

The myth of wide-spread participation in the Resistance quickly took hold, and the collaboration with the Germans and the Vichy regime became buried in the collective unconscious. The men of the Resistance were glorified and the women, for the most part, forgotten. After the war, Charles de Gaulle awarded 1,038 Resistance members with the coveted medal “Compagnons de la Libération”.

Only six went to women.

Do you have questions for James?  He'll be joining us today so fire away!

Solemn Graves
US Army detective Billy Boyle is called to investigate a mysterious murder in a Normandy farmhouse that threatens Allied operations.

July, 1944, a full month after D-Day. Billy, Kaz, and Big Mike are assigned to investigate a murder close to the front lines in Normandy. An American officer has been found dead in a manor house serving as an advance headquarters outside the town of Trévières. Major Jerome was far from his own unit, arrived unexpectedly, and was murdered in the dark of night.

The investigation is shrouded in secrecy, due to the highly confidential nature of the American unit headquartered nearby in the Norman hedgerow country: the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, aka, the Ghost Army. This vague name covers
a thousand-man unit with a unique mission within the US Army: to impersonate other US Army units by creating deceptions using radio traffic, dummy inflatable vehicles, and sound effects, causing the enemy to think they are facing large formations. Not even the units adjacent to their positions know what they are doing. But there are German spies and informants everywhere, and Billy must tread carefully, unmasking the murder while safeguarding the secret of the Ghost Army—a secret which, if discovered, could turn the tide of war decisively against the Allies.

James R. Benn
I divide my time between the Gulf Coast of Florida and Connecticut, with my wife Deborah Mandel, a psychotherapist who offers many insights into the motivations of my characters, a good critical read, and much else. We have two sons, Jeff and Ben, and seven grandchildren (Camille, Claudia, Emma, Luke, Nathaniel, Noah, Oliver).

I'm a graduate of the University of Connecticut and received my MLS degree from Southern Connecticut State University. I am a member of the Mystery Writers of America, and the Author's Guild. I've worked in the library and information technology fields for over thirty-five years and quit the day job routine in 2011 to write full-time.

I've learned two valuable lessons since I started writing which have helped me greatly. The first is a quote from Oscar Wilde, who said "The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of one's pants to a chair." The second is from novelist Rachel Basch, who told me "the story has to move down, as well as forward." Both sound simple. Neither is.