June 18, 1940, the call of General de Gaulle
Extract from the call of General de Gaulle
On June 18, 1940, General de Gaulle, then Brigadier-General, former Secretary of State for War and National Defense, the only French political official in London, launched an appeal on the BBC airwaves, asking the soldiers, engineers and technicians to join him to continue the fight against Germany: 'should hope disappear? Is defeat definitive? No! [...] This war is not decided by the Battle of France. This war is a world war [...] No matter what happens, the flame of the French resistance must not and will not go out.
For some, escaping the Nazi occupier is both an act of refusal and an act of survival. Raymond Aron (1905-1983), young Jewish philosopher, leaves his detachment in Bordeaux and embarks at Saint Jean de Luz. He later declares to hear the announcement of the armistice in the boat that takes him to England, where he will join General de Gaulle.
Raymond Aron
Portrait of Raymond Aron, 1940s
On the same boat, by chance, there is also René Cassin (1887-1976), a French lawyer of Jewish origin, representing France at the League of Nations until 1938, when he resigned after the Munich agreements. He immediately put himself at the service of Free France under General de Gaulle.
"Juriste de la France Libre", René Cassin is the first to think in February 1943 about the agreement between the resistants of the interior and those of Free France which will give birth to the Council of the Resistance. René Cassin is also in 1948, one of the authors of the universal declaration of human rights.
René Cassin
The French National Committee of Free France in exile in London. England, 31/10/1941
From left to right: André Diethelm, Vice-Admiral Emile Muselier, General de Gaulle, René Cassin, René Pleven and Admiral Philippe Auboyneau
