Resistance, groups and people
A respected middle-aged art historian at one of Paris’s most illustrious museums, Agnès Humbert was an unlikely candidate for Resistance heroism. But amid the chaos and bitter ignominy of defeat her soul rebelled.
She leafleted, she stickered and she did what she could and she encouraged others to do the same. She fought the Nazi war machine with everything she had and then, when captured, she was forced to work for it instead.
But did she hate the German people? No, after the war ended she changed her direction again but carried on in the same vein.
Agnès threw off her shackles to set up first-aid posts and soup kitchens for the armies of the dispossessed - including, at her express insistence, German civilians…..
…..arguing stoutly that indiscriminate persecution of the Germans would only encourage the rise of ‘another Hitler’.
Agnes believed in people as individuals. Although the masses can be swept along in politics and in fear, each person is an individual and should be valued as such. A individual that is part of a group should not be simply dismissed or labelled simply because of the actions of the group.
We do it all the time don’t we? "You are a member of X Group, therefore you are bad/undesirable and I am unwilling to look at you/get to know you" It’s a generic but we all do it. We classify individuals by the groups they appear to belong to - even when that group membership is unproven. We see someone associating with a group, or a member of a group and we just lump them all in together, completely disregarding the individual. "Oh, you’ve commented on X’s blog therefore you must be her friend and have the same beliefs as her." It may be true but it may not and if we fail to engage with the individual then how will we ever know? If we can’t reach out and keep communications open then are we not alienating? If we can’t recognise and connect with the simple humanity of an individual, regardless of their difference from ourselves, then how can we call ourselves human?
Agnes Humbert’s memoirs, translated by Barbara Mellor, are published as Resistance: Memoirs of Occupied France by Bloomsbury.
