Alex joins a militant Jewish Resistance group in Paris because its members are prepared to fight when other organisations hesitate. Their decision to execute German soldiers provokes reprisals against civilians and sets off arrests that reach friends, children’s homes and the networks attempting to protect Jewish families.
The trail leads toward Drancy, the transit camp from which prisoners are deported east. Alex must weigh rescue against the danger of further retaliation and confront the limits of armed resistance when the occupation authorities treat entire communities as hostages for the actions of a few.
Drancy gives the resistance story its historical centre. Used by the German occupation authorities and French collaborators as the principal transit camp for deportations from the Paris region, it turns every rescue attempt into a race against transport east. Alex’s choices therefore expose the tension between armed retaliation and the need to protect civilians who can be punished collectively for resistance attacks.
Len Deighton
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