Resistance against the nazism and First World War :

Our subject is the memory of the First World War in the resistance against the nazism duringthe Second World War. So we visited the resistance museum of Berlin, located in the Bendlerblock,an ex-military direction of the IIIrd Reich. This location is very significative : the operationWalkyrie was planned in this building.

A memorial, a statue is located in the court of the Bendlerblock : the « GedenkstätteDeutscher Widerstand » and it embodies the gGerman resistance and more precisly the members,officers and high ranking officers, of the operation Walkyrie who were exectuted after the failure oftheir attempt on Hitler and his regim.

To begin, we spoke about the operation Walkyrie, so wewill explain it. Walkyrie was the code name of a militarysystem created to allow the army to repress aninsurection. During the IIIrd Reich, high ranking officershad the idea to use that system to stop the nazi tyranny.The 20th July 1944, the colonel Claus von Stauffenbergtried to kill Hitler (it failed) and his collaborators had tolaunch the Walkyrie protocol to neutralized the SSofficers : they did... But Hitler was stile alive. The planfailed and the conspirators were executed as traitors.

This story is an example of the military form ofresistance even if there were many forms. However wehave to focus on the links between this resistance andthe First World War. The links are essentially due to thefact, that the men who fought in Ist World War wereservice men and officers. Many of them continued amilitary career and during the IInd World War, they werebecame officers in the gGerman army. That's why wewill more speak about officers and service men as civilsor politics.

Resistance has many forms : military with attempt or armed actions ; political with politicalopposition (but during the Iind World War, it was impossible because Hitler forbiddenforbade otherparty) ; intellectual resistance with books and poems or other forms of art ; and passive resistance :don't obey atto the rules, don't denounced people (Jews) and stay away of the nazis.

On there walls are exposed the portraits of many resistants, many were officers as show theuniforms. In the most known are the members of the attempt of the 20 th July 1944 : the colonelClaus von Stauffenberg, the general Friedrich Olbricht and the serveiceman Henning von Tresckow.A movie was shot about them, named « Valkyrie ». And how I said before, the main link is theyserved during the Ist World War : the general Friedrich Olbricht was a soldier and became capitainduring the Great War, and the serviceman Henning von Tresckow was at the Marne battle. It doesn'texplain their desir to resist but it was maybe their moral values and their senses of honor and duty,what you develope more as soldiers than other.

We can also speak about another military resistantce.Ludwig Beck was general during the Ist World War.During the 1930's, he broke with the nazi regim and hecontested it. In 1938, he leaved the army. Nevertheless,he's still an exemple and an influent person withfor theothers high ranking officers. That's how he continued toresist. So much so that the members of Walkyrieschoosen him to became the new leader ofh the Germany.After the failure, he was killed. An other example :Wilhelm Canaris, admiral and commander of the Abwehr,the gGerman secret services whatwhich gathersinformations for Hitler. He was during the Great War insubmersive and he patroled all around the world. Duringthe Second World War, he was in the intelligence service,and he controled it. But he was playing in the both camp :he gave informations to the France, United Kingdom...He was very influent so he can gave many dates ofoperations, targets to allies... He was discovered andkilled too.

In spite of this fact, we found an other linkon the museum with an example : a Franciscansister, named Sr Maria Restituta (Helene Kafka)was a surgical nurse during the Great War andtook care of the wounded during the conflict. Sheresisted by the distribution of poems against thenazi regim. She was sentenced to death in 1942.So not only servicemen resisted : every peoplewith a sense of the duty and a moral resisted. As achritian, you have commandments and rules aboutthe good and the evil, the sin. Her values killedsheher.

But not all the soldiers of the Great War became resistants during the Second World War. Weremember you, that Hitler himself was a soldier during 1914-1918. Many of them didn't accept theVersailles treatyies and stayed with an hungry of revenge, a rage. Thus, the NSDAP won because ofit. The majority of the population stayed passive, in silence. They didn't react to the nazism, andbegan a Second World War as trigger, less than firty years after the First Wolrd War.

In France were resistants who were soldiersduring the Ist World War too. They stand up to fightthe oppressor and to fight against the nazis. We willspeak about high ranking officers, because they wereknown, and people can write their history. Many« normal » soldiers, servicemen fought in the bothwars, but anyone know them because they stayedhidden. They were too many, and their story are notthe story of a general for example.

Alfred Touny was a Ffrench officers who fought during the Great War in the cavalery ascommandant. He was very talented, and stayed captaine at the end of this war. He leaved the army

in 1920, but was reservist. During the IindWorld War, he researched contacts andrenseignements to became a resistant : hebecame a very important resistant. He hadcontacts with London and with the aAllies.So much so that he was known under thecode name « Langlois » and took part in theConseil National de la Résistance : he wasthe general of the Secret Army of theresistance. He was exectuted in 1944. Hisbody is now at the Mont Valéryen, theFrench Memorial for the resistants.

Aubert Frère was a general in the French army.During the Great War, he was the leader of a battalion offighters in feet. At the end of the war, he became acommandant of an entire regiment. In 1939, he was thegeneral of the 7th army. After the armistice, he stayed inthe army and was the military governor of Lyon (anpowerful officer). Some years later, he became thefounder of the Organisation de Résistance Armée in1942 : he became a violent resistant and commanded thearmed resistance. He was caught by the Gestapo, sendedin a camp and died in 1994.

Meeting of the Conseil National de la Résistance,leaded by Jean Moulin.