For practical purposes all the French people are in the underground. How many active members of the underground are operating in France is, of course, a secret. One may read papers fresh off' the secret presses of France. They speak knowingly of the weather in Paris, or complain that the aperitifs in Lyons are not what When one has spent some days with French authorities in London, it comes hard to believe that France is still in the grip of the enemy. Communication is constant and dependable. In London and in Algiers there are huge bureaus in constant touch with the responsible leaders of the French underground. Under the noses of the Germans the nation seethes with preparation-calm and ordered and painstaking preparation. France is now systematically being made ready for the great day. No longer do groups of guerillas engage Germans without plan and purpose. No longer do underground newspapers circulate confusing policies among the people. No longer do French patriots organize acts of sabotage on a whim or an emotion. United by this historic meeting the French underground movement is today a disciplined and co-ordinated section of General de Gaulle’s forces of liberation. The sun rose on a united France, alive and defiant. The men standing guard trudged away to their homes And when first light broke over the spring fields a nation was reborn. In small groups they crept out of the house and disappeared into the darkness. Just before dawn on May 26, 1943, their work was complete. They drafted a constitution for the Council of Resistance. They sent delegates to London and to Algiers. They appointed military men to organize the armies of resistance within France in preparation for I lie day when the Allies would storm the shores of western Europe. They set up a central organization to command the underground everywhere in France. The remaining two delegates represented the trade unions of France.įor more than 12 hours the delegates discussed their respective programs. Socialists, Radicals, Démocrates Populaires, Alliance Démocratiques, and Fédération Républicaine. One delegate each came from six political parties maintaining active resistance movements. These three were already united under title of Le Mur (Mouvements Unis de la Resistance). Three were from the south- Combat, Francs Tireurs, and Liberation. They were the shadow government of vrance and their program was unity and coordination in the fight against the invader.įive delegates were from resistance movements in the north - Liberation Nord, Ceux de la Resistance, Ceux de la Libération, Organisation Civile Militaire, and Front Nationale. As they gathered around a table they were proud and incisive Frenchmen-delegates of the 16 proved resistance movements inside the country-and they were come together to form the Council of Resistance. Inside the house the 16 men threw off their bent and weary attitudes. They were defending something more precious than life, much more precious. If a German raiding party appeared, they had vowed to fight to the death. They were the sworn guardians of the house on this sun-swept afternoon. Under their baggy jackets they gripped tommy guns their pockets held grenades. On a radius of 300 yards around the house, other men, also looking old and bent, took up positions overlooking intersections and all approaches. The door opened silently to admit them-first three of them, then five, then by twos -until 16 were inside. They converged on a substantial house not far from the centre of the city. Once out of the square, the different groups walked quickly toward a rendezvous. They were weak men, looking old and exceedingly bent. They moved out of the square in different directions, and the German guards standing over permanent machine-gun emplacements regarded them only with passing curiosity. These men strolled aimlessly in the bright afternoon sun. The city cannot now be named one day its identity will be trumpeted to the world and all France will pay it homage. ON MAY 25, 1943, nino days after the fall of Tunisia, little groups of men walked leisurely through the central square of a certain city in France. ordered, painstaking preparations for the great day"-Shapiro "Under the noses of the Germans, France seethes with preparations.