City Libraries, City of Gold Coast

Resistance, the underground war in Europe, 1939-1945, Halik Kochanski

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

platesillustrationsmaps

index present

non fiction

Resistance

bibliography

Halik Kochanski

the underground war in Europe, 1939-1945

Across the whole of Nazi-ruled Europe the experience of occupation was sharply varied. Some countries - such as Denmark - were within tight limits allowed to run themselves. Others - such as France - were constrained not only by military occupation but by open collaboration. In a historical moment when Nazi victory seemed permanent and irreversible, the question 'why resist?' was therefore augmented by 'who was the enemy?'. Resistance is an extraordinarily powerful, humane and haunting account of how and why all across Nazi-occupied Europe some people decided to resist the Third Reich. This could range from open partisan warfare in the occupied Soviet Union to dangerous acts of defiance in the Netherlands or Norway. Some of these resistance movements were entirely home-grown, others supported by the Allies. Like no other book, Resistance shows the reader just how difficult such actions were. How could small bands of individuals undertake tasks which could lead not just to their own deaths but those of their families and their entire communities? Filled with powerful and often little-known stories, Halik Kochanski's major new book is a fascinating examination of the convoluted challenges faced by those prepared to resist the Germans, ordinary people who carried out exceptional acts of defiance and resistance

The Shock of Defeat -- Choices -- The Clandestine Press -- Escape from Occupied Europe -- Resisters of the First Hour -- Intelligence Gathering: 1939-41 -- The Origins of SOE and OSS -- The Early Partisans -- The Mobilization of the Communists -- SOE Gets to Work -- Three SOE Operations -- The Sauckel Effect -- The Holocaust: The Christian Response -- The Holocaust: The Jewish Response -- Who is the Enemy? -- Divided Loyalties: France 1942-43 -- The Germans Hit Back -- Resistance or Civil War? The Balkans -- The Italian Surrender -- Denmark Enters the Fray -- Civil War or Resistance- The Balkans -- Challenges and Dilemmas in the East -- Intelligence: 1942-44 -- Preparing for D-Day -- Summer 1944: France -- Summer 1944: Other Fronts -- Uprisings: Warsaw, Paris, Slovakia -- Autumn 1944: Western Europe -- The German Retreat from the Balkans -- Nearing the End: Winter 1944-45 -- To the Bitter End: Spring 1945 -- The Aftermath

Underground war in Europe, 1939-1945