France - Stephen P. Halbrook

1678 FORDHAM URB. L.J. [Vol. XXXIX
arms. 253
In Paris, the French and German police conducted such
searches together, such as in a working class neighborhood where a
supposed terrorist headquarters existed. 254
General von Stülpnagel announced that ten hostages were shot
following acts of violence in Paris against members of the German
Army. 255
Le Figaro commented that the hostages shot were Jews and
communists. 256
Stülpnagel issued another announcement or “Avis” days later
headlined in bold type in the French press, that twelve hostages had
been executed in retaliation for the cowardly killing of a German
soldier, threatening that in the event of subsequent offenses, a much
greater number of hostages would be executed. 257
Besides six
identified as Communists and two who attacked German soldiers,
four were executed for possession of arms. 258
Sometimes Stülpnagel gave details in the published reports about
the types of firearms possessed by those who were executed. Marcel
Pilongery, from Orly-Saint-Loup, had a French infantry rifle, a
German rifle, two hunting guns, two small caliber rifles, four
revolvers, and ammunition, which he had hidden under the roof of his
house. 259
René Baudet had a double-barrel shotgun with two spare
barrels, a rifle, a revolver, and over 200 cartridges. 260
While the history of the French Resistance is beyond the scope of
this Article, factions were deeply divided on the wisdom of armed
attacks. Charles de Gaulle broadcast from BBC in London that
Germans should not be killed yet because, “at the moment, it is too
easy for the enemy to respond by massacring our fighters, who are for
the time being unarmed.” 261
253. See id.
254. See id.
255. See Dix Otages Fusilles en zone occupée [Ten hostages shot in occupied
zone], LE FIGARO, Sept. 18, 1941, at 1 (Fr.).
256. Les otages fusillés à Paris [Hostages shot in Paris], LE FIGARO, Sept. 19, 1941,
at 1 (Fr.).
257. See AVIS, LE MATIN (Fr.), Sept. 22, 1941, at 1.
258. See id. (naming Pierre Guignois [also for “possession of communist tracts”],
Georges Masset, Daniel Loubier, and Maurice Peureux). A week later, it was
announced that Eugène Devigne and Mohamed Moali were executed for “possession
of prohibited arms.” AVIS, LE MATIN (Fr.), Sept. 29, 1941, at 1.
259. AVIS, LE MATIN (Fr.), Oct. 20, 1941, at 2.
260. Id. at 1.
261. OUSBY, supra note 245, at 232. The broadcast was on Oct. 23, 1941.