Author Description

Millions of Europeans experienced war, occupation, and exile in the turbulent years between the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and the end of World War II in 1946. Well-known landmark events during this period include the bombing of Gernika; the mass exodus of Basques, Catalans, and other Spanish Republicans from Spain following the triumph of General Francisco Franco’s forces; France’s sudden defeat in 1940, its subsequent occupation by Germany, and the rise of French resistance; the Allied invasion of France and the difficult process of liberation. Set within the broader historical context of these events, the contributions to this volume focus on the experiences of ordinary people who endured those difficult times. The people who are at the heart of this book include Basque priests who supported their homeland against the Francoist “crusade”; ordinary British, German, and Free French soldiers; Basque and Catalan refugees; the American newspaper-reading public; foreign resisters to German occupation; Breton and French collaborationists and their accusers; German documentary filmmakers; the dispossessed Jews of Paris; and French housewives who adjusted to a brave new postwar world. Throughout the book, the authors explore the themes of dispossession, disillusionment with the liberation, divisiveness in postwar society, and the permanence of exile even after the exile’s return. The people of Western Europe showed immense resiliency, courage, and creativity during times of war, exile, and foreign occupation, as well as during the postwar years. They also experienced incredible hardship and suffering in their journeys. In very different ways, the chapters make an important, however modest, contribution to our understanding of everyday life in such traumatic times.