thanks. i had never even heard of him. On Fri, Jun 03, 2005 at 07:04:08PM -0400, Louis Proyect wrote: > From Martin Evan's "The Memory of Resistance: French Opposition to the > French Algerian War (1954-1962): > > Jean Berthet. Worked with the FLN in Aix-en-Provence and then was a Member > of the Curiel Network. Born 1921. Died, Avignon, 6 July 1989 > > In the summer of 1944, Jean Berthet was deported for Resistance activities > to the Buchenwald concentration camp. The intensity of his concentration > camp experience has meant that ever since his memory has been impaired. > Initially he warned that his remembering had a tendency to be disjointed > and non-sequential. Nevertheless, in practice Berthet had no trouble > recalling his motivations, telling his story with great passion and emotion. > > Jean Berthet's family was very rich and as a boy he had servants and a > chauffeur. His father was in the import and export trade in French > Indo-China, owning a large department store in Saigon. Berthet presented > his childhood as confined and narrow-minded. He explained that his parents > were very right-wing and deeply prejudiced, teaching Berthet to despise all > those below him, especially the working class. His parents divorced during > the 1920s and his mother brought him and his sister back to Paris. At > school, Berthet was taught to take pride in the achievements of the French > empire. General Bugeaud and Pere Foucauld were held up as heroic examples > to follow because they had brought civilisation to the backward colonies. > > Berthet's experience in World War Two Resistance, and above all his > experience in Buchenwald concentration camp, explains, he feels, why he > came to reject colonialism. Buchenwald, he told me again and again, opened > his eyes to human values; it made him rethink his values in a profound way: > > "There I had a fantastic experience because at the time of my arrest I was > still at the stage when well-bred people were inevitably the sort of people > I associated with, and the others were people of no interest. . . anyway in > Buchenwald we were all dressed alike, we were all cold, we were all hungry, > we truly were all complete equals. I saw how people react . . . and I > noticed that a lot of people with well-manicured hands, who weren't manual > workers, and who belonged to the so-called upper classes turned out to be > self-centred, cowardly swine whereas others who were just ordinary humble > folk proved to be quite outstanding." > > In Buchenwald Berthet saw working-class people, whom he had been told to > despise, divide up their Red Cross food parcels, whilst people from his own > social background did not. For Berthet this was a moment of truth. From > that point onwards he realised that everything his parents had taught him > was lies and falsehoods. During the deportation, Berthet lost his Catholic > faith and became a convert to communism. He told me with great pride how it > was the inmates themselves, led by communists, who liberated the camp in > May 1945. > > On returning to Paris, Berthet went to see his mother. He wanted to explain > how Buchenwald had transformed his view of the world. Upon listening to his > story, his mother said that he needed a rest and sent him away for a few > days in the country. After a few days Berthet realised that he had in fact > been sent to a mental asylum. He managed to escape by mingling with the > visitors. After that Berthet broke off all relations with his mother. Now > she was a total stranger. Within Berthet's testimony this was a key > incident, symbolising the complete rejection of his middle-class > background. After 1945 Berthet met his wife Alice and he became a worker at > Renault where he joined the PCF. They then moved to Aix-en-Provence to open > a stationery shop. > > It was the Indo-China war which first awakened Berthet's consciousness to > the colonial issue: > > "Directly I returned from deportation I was at one with the Vietminh > against colonialism. Directly I got back from the deportation I became > aware, from what I'd experienced in the camps, that the Resistance had been > a national resistance to start with, but I soon said to myself, 'Look, if > you'd been Belgian, you would have taken part in the Resistance in Belgium, > so it wasn't for France, but against oppression that you fought.' It was > first and foremost a fight against oppression, against humiliation. I very > quickly came back to France and there was the war in Indo-China. I > automatically sided with the Vietminh. They had my support." > > Rethinking his Resistance experience meant that as soon as the Algerian > insurrection broke out Berthet was with the Algerians. He saw it as normal > that he should support the Algerians. After all, he had resisted the > Occupation of France, and Algeria was a country which had been occupied for > nearly 130 years. > > In the first instance, Berthet was involved in legal opposition. In > Aix-en-Provence, he organised a committee of solidarity with Algerian > prisoners. Berthet was recruited to work with the FLN by another PCF > member, Jean Guericolas. His willingness to cross over to illegal acts > stemmed from his discomfort with the PCF position. Berthet was balanced in > his criticism of the PCF, but nevertheless at the time he felt that the > party was too circumspect. An indication of the PCF's refusal to take a > clear lead was the voting of the special powers, which Berthet described as > spineless. When it was a question of choosing between his party card and > doing what his conscience told him to do, he remembered this as a difficult > dilemma which caused him much anguish. Nevertheless he felt he had to > follow the courage of his convictions: > > "I had a great friend: we remained close until he died. He worked in the > section office of the Party and he came into the shop one day and said to > me, 'How are your brothers getting on?' He was talking about the prisoners' > families because he didn't know I was sheltering an Algerian leader. So I > said, 'Aren't they your brothers too, then?' And here's what he replied > word for word: 'No, they're not; they are some sort of distant cousins > because it's the French workers who are my brothers.' So I said, 'And what > about proletarian internationalism, then?' He went on to say, 'The > Algerians are taking bread out of the mouths of the French because they > accept such a pittance.' 'Now listen,' I said, 'if that's the party view, > then there is no question of me carrying on as a parry member.' I was > furious, and tore up my membership card in front of him." > > Ideas emanating from the Third World were important in altering Berthet's > consciousness. The Bandung conference was significant because it united all > the countries of the Third World. It reinforced his belief that, unlike the > majority of French people, he was following the dynamic of history, which > was directed towards the eventual liberation of the whole of humanity. Very > influenced by the writings of Fanon, the experience of Resistance to the > Algerian war transformed him into a third worldist. After independence he > took out Algerian nationality and went to live in Algeria. > > Berthet had no sympathy for the French settlers. They were racists who were > defending their privileges. Berthet stressed that he never saw himself as a > traitor: > > "As I see it, the anti-Nazi Germans did not betray Germany .... They > preserved Germany's honour; there was no betrayal. Once more, when my > country was invaded I fought against the attacker. When it's my country > that does the attacking, then I fight my country. There's no betrayal in > that.... On the contrary, it is for my country's honour ... I don't know > the word 'betrayal' .... Someone like Massu is a traitor to France. He > tortured and massacred people .... Anyone who fights Massu is not a traitor > to France. That's my most heartfelt conviction."
-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
