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Terrorists in Retirement
Mosco Boucault - France- 1985 - 84m - 16 mm - documentary
In French with English subtitles
Initially banned from French TV because it revealed shocking truths about the French Resistance in Nazi-occupied Paris, the film shares the stories of these "terrorists" - who are now a handful of elderly men. They were Jewish, communist, and foreigners-tradespeople who were called "terrorists" but were in fact resistance fighters during World War II. These Yiddish-speaking, inexperienced fighters took up arms in Paris between 1942 and 1944 to help free their country from the Nazis. As "French" Resistance fighters they carried out the most dangerous assignments, assassinating Nazis on the metro or in the streets. Many were arrested and tortured by the French police during this time however, and the film uncovers considerable evidence that the French Communist Party allowed many of them to be turned over to the Nazis. The film is narrated by Simone Signoret, who also helped Boucault to make the film and confronted French television when they attempted to bury the truth yet again.
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