Faced with the mounting threats from Hitler,the USSR andthe Communist International shifted their stance. As early as April 1941, the conflict was no longer portrayed as an imperialist war that pitted France and Great Britain against each other in the face of their common enemy, Nazi Germany.
In France, following Germany’s invasion of the USSR, the Communists resumed their direct struggle against fascism. Initially, they had focused on the anti-Pétain struggle, but from that point on, they denounced Nazi fascism with increasing clarity.
The Vichy government handed the French economy over to the occupying forces during the Occupation. The country, facing supply difficulties, is becoming increasingly critical of the government.
In June 1941, the Germans, with the assistance of the French police, arrested the “Communist agitators”: approximately 1,300 people were sent to internment camps.
The Communists are gradually making their priority clear: the armed Resistance.
Many Jews who immigrated were among the first to join the Party’s Organisation Spéciale (OS) groups, which were created in October 1940. OS fighters carried out dangerous attacks and acts of sabotage (particularly against railway facilities) against the occupying forces.
On July 1, a German freight train derailed in Noisy-le-Grand following an operation by Jewish Resistance fighters from the OS.
Other Jews, who were members of the Communist Youth, quickly became involved in the Youth Battalions, which were formed in July–August 1941 after the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact was broken.
Acts of civil Resistance—which were also dangerous—accompanied acts of sabotage and armed struggle: chalk inscriptions on walls expressing hostility toward Vichy and the Occupiers, providing safe houses or false papers, collecting money, and distributing newspapers or leaflets.
Leaflets served several purposes: to demonstrate the existence and tenacity of the Resistance, to inform, to recruit, to train new fighters, and to keep morale high.
Official information is in the hands of the occupying forces and the Pétainists, and the Germans are seeking to silence any voice opposed to Hitler’s policies.
From that point on, the underground Jewish press proved to be of vital importance. The newspapers *Unzer Wort* and *Notre Voix* or *Notre Parole* never ceased publication until the Liberation.
The safety guidelines they regularly remind people of are sometimes difficult for young activists to follow strictly.
