Paper Bullets : Two Artists Who Risked Their Lives to Defy the Nazis

“A Nazi resistance story like none you’ve ever heard or read.” —Hampton Sides, author of Ghost Soldiers and On Desperate Ground "Every page is gripping, and the amount of new research is nothing short of mind-boggling. A brilliant book for the ages!” —Douglas Brinkley, author of American Moonshot A Stonewall Honor Book in Nonfiction Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction Paper Bullets is the first book to tell the history of an audacious anti-Nazi campaign undertaken by an unlikely pair: two French women, Lucy Schwob and Suzanne Malherbe, who drew on their skills as Parisian avant-garde artists to write and distribute “paper bullets”—wicked insults against Hitler, calls to rebel, and subversive fictional dialogues designed to demoralize Nazi troops occupying their adopted home on the British Channel Island of Jersey. Devising their own PSYOPS campaign, they slipped their notes into soldier’s pockets or tucked them inside newsstand magazines. Hunted by the secret field police, Lucy and Suzanne were finally betrayed in 1944, when the Germans imprisoned them, and tried them in a court martial, sentencing them to death for their actions. Ultimately they survived, but even in jail, they continued to fight the Nazis by reaching out to other prisoners and spreading a message of hope. Better remembered today by their artist names, Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, the couple’s actions were even more courageous because of who they were: lesbian partners known for cross-dressing and creating the kind of gender-bending work that the Nazis would come to call “degenerate art.” In addition, Lucy was half Jewish, and they had communist affiliations in Paris, where they attended political rallies with Surrealists and socialized with artists like Gertrude Stein. Paper Bullets is a compelling World War II story that has not been told before, about the galvanizing power of art, and of resistance. A Nazi resistance story like none youve ever heard or read. Hampton Sides, author of Ghost Soldiers and On Desperate Ground quot;Every page is gripping, and the amount of new research is nothing short of mind-boggling. A brilliant book for the ages! Douglas Brinkley, author of#160; American Moonshot#160; A Stonewall Honor Book in Nonfiction Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction Paper Bullets is the first book to tell the history of an audacious anti-Nazi campaign undertaken by an unlikely pair: two French women, Lucy Schwob and Suzanne Malherbe, who drew on their skills as Parisian avant-garde artists to write and distribute paper bulletswicked insults against Hitler, calls to rebel, and subversive fictional dialogues designed to demoralize Nazi troops occupying their adopted home on the British Channel Island of Jersey. Devising their own PSYOPS campaign, they slipped their notes into soldiers pockets or tucked them inside newsstand magazines. Hunted by the secret field police, Lucy and Suzanne were finally betrayed in 1944, when the Germans imprisoned them, and tried them in a court martial, sentencing them to death for their actions. Ultimately they survived, but even in jail, they continued to fight the Nazis by reaching out to other prisoners and spreading a message of hope. Better remembered today by their artist names, Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, the couples actions were even more courageous because of who they were: lesbian partners known for cross-dressing and creating the kind of gender-bending work that the Nazis would come to call degenerate art. In addition, Lucy was half Jewish, and they had communist affiliations in Paris, where they attended political rallies with Surrealists and socialized with artists like Gertrude Stein. Paper Bullets is a compelling World War II story that has not been told before, about the galvanizing power of art, and of resistance Cover Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Prologue: “They Have Not Caught You This Time” I. Learning To Resist 1. “Jealous, Exclusive Passion”: Paris in the 1920s 2. A Professional Smile—and Voila!” 3. “I Sensed the War Coming II. Fighting the Nazis 4.“It Will Take Much, Much Longer Than You Think” 5. War without End 6. “News Service” for the Germans 7. The Indirect Effect 8. Soldier with No Name 9. The Deportations 10. “Jesus Is Great—but Hitler Is Greater” III. Arrest and Trial 11. “Come in . . . Gentlemen” 12. “It Becomes Quite Impossible to Trace Back the Origin of a Particular Idea” 13. “I Would Live One Day at a Time” 14. “I Am Prepared to Acknowledge Anything of Ours” 15. “Good Night, My Poor Little Chick” 16. “We Are at the Show” 17. “This Strange Dream” 18. “Lullaby for One Condemned to Death” 19. “Any Minute Now” IV. Lucy and Suzanne In Peacetime 20. “A Place More Deserted Than the Desert” Epilogue: Why Resist? The Story behind the Story: A Note on Sources Acknowledgments Notes "The true story of an audacious resistance campaign undertaken by an unlikely pair: two French women -- Lucy Schwob and Suzanne Malherbe -- who drew on their skills as Parisian avant-garde artists to write and distribute wicked insults against Hitler and calls to desert, a PSYOPs tactic known as "paper bullets," designed to demoralize Nazi troops occupying their adopted home of Jersey in the British Channel Islands"-- Provided by publisher