Evening star., 1944-05-21


the sabotage groups consist of highly SIX
They function chiefly in the towns ant
scientific fashion so as to do the utmos
the least to French industry which will
The same is true through most of
that haphaZard sabotage was often
doing more harm than good to the war
effort. The army of the maeuis occa-
sionally does more extensive sabotage on
its own, as a good target offers itself,
but such coupS generally are not en-
couraged unless they are directed from
higher headquarters.
The third group is the great army of
the maquis itself, ready to spring out
of the mountain gullies with bayonets
set as soon as news of the landing is
received.
Cover Broad Territory.
1t may be wondered how such activi-
ties can go on in an occupied country
whose own ostensible officials are on
the side of the enemy The answer, it
Is pointed out, is that France covers
lot Of territory much of which cannot
be very thoroughly occupied. This
would almost require doubling the size
Of the Germany Army. There are whole
districts which probably never have
seen a German soldier.
The political organization consists of
no fewer than 16 groups-probably a
fnuy ino
amalgamated in the National Coun-
ell of Resistance. First there are six
political parties which still remain in
functioning order and cover pretty much
the whole of the country-the French
Communist, the Socialist the Radical
Socialist and Popular Democratic par
ties, the Democratic Alliance and the
Republican Federation.
These embrace nearly all shades of
political thought, except that of the
extreme right. They may fight their
contrary opinions out after the war, but
now all are agreed that the Germans
must be driven out of the country be-
fore anybody has right to any politi-
cal opinion at all.
Cutting more or lesss across party
lines are the two great French labor
organizations-the General Confedera-
ton Of Labor and the French Confed-
Grafton of Christian Workers. These
both have delegates at the secret meet
ings Of the council.
Outside these groups the country Is
organized for resistance into two re-
gions, the north and the south. cor
responding roughly to the area occupied
by the Germans since 1910 and that
taken over after the Allied landings in
North Africa. The northern region
has five organizations, which cross partv
lines to some extent, represented in the
council: Ceux de la Liberation, or Those
for Liberation; Ceux de la Resistance, or
Those for Resistance; the Front Ma
tional, the northern zone of an organ
ization known as Liberation and the
so-called OCM, or Organization Civile
ct Militaire.
The southern region has only three
such organizations: The south zone of
the Liberation Group; the long cele-
brated combat organization which has
been most frequently heard from to date.
and large group known as Franc
tireurs, of Sharpshooters.
However widely the members of these
groups may differ among themselves
they now are held together by a COM
mon interest which transcends all their
differences and without the realization
OF which none Of them can have any
hopes of survival.
The Men of the Maquis.
In the wild mountains of the Haute
Savoie, the dark forests of the Jura,
and over hundreds of square miles of
scattered, sparsely inhabited French
countryside is concealed an organized
ermy-the men of the maquis."
For months they have been fighting
what they term 'the third front" High
ly disciplined, bound by oaths sterner
than any articles of war; mostly youths
in the pink of physical condition, these
troops are destined to play highly sig
niflcent role in the liberation of France
with the start of the invasion.
The term "maquis" now frequently
appears in news dispatches associated
with some daredevil exploit of these
men. I first heard it in Corsica. It is
Corsican patois word for brush covered
hillside, the landscape of vast areas of
that island. This is a country of fierce
family feuds.
Blood revenge has been a recognized
part OF its code of honor, as in the
Kentucky mountains. But certainly for
the past few generations shooting a
neighbor-say one of the Jeromes by one
OF the Petries-has been contrary to the
legal code. 1t has been necessary for
the slayer to disappear for a time into
the "maquiS, where usually a quite per-
functory search has been made for
him. With the occupation of Corsica
Vendettas were forgotten and sharp
shooters of all the warning clans dis
appeared in the dense brush to practice
their art against the invaders.
What "Maquis" Means.
The French youths have taken over
the word, but with much broader
meaning. 'Maquis" became any place
d. L..