1. LIFE DURING WORLD WAR TWO IN FRANCE
Through the testimonies of Gaston 8 years old in 1940, living in Lorraine ; Constant, 4 years
old ; Paulette aged 7 years old and living in Morestel.
I/Rationing
.
« The food rationing was very hard :
my family ate almost nothing during
one year. Then we made a garden to
have a little more food, but it was not
enough for us to feed the entire
family. We did not eat enough.The
city hall supplied each one a ration
card : child had a little less food than
the adults. This card lasted on only
one month, it didn't allow us to eat in
our hunger.
To have a little more food, we were
obliged to make traffic of false ration
ticket. »
« We had bread, many vegetables, potatoes
and other things like clothes and carbon. We
were classified according to our age and job.
It's important to know we had just 250g of
bread and 75g of cheese. We were hungry.
Moreover, the official quantity of food was
12000 calories by day whereas, 2400 calories
by day are necessary. So, we had little animals
with us like rabbits and chickens to eat or to
exchange with our friends. We cut the
potatoes in small pieces to plant them. »
« I ate lot of spud so I put on
weight.
My father went to the black
market to provide the Resistance
fighters which hide in wood
around Morestel. Everytime my
mum was afraid that he was
caught by the Germans. »

2. .
II/ The fears
.
« We were able to attend
battles of planes, to protect
themselves from it, we went
down in the cellar with a gas
mask. «
« We had to leave our house under the
order of German soldiers, within two
hours just because we were French
people. »
« Further to our eviction, we went to
Lyon (Rhône) and lived in a “reception”
center during one year and a half. The
living conditions were bad : only a cover
separated us from other refugees
families.
« German were present
everywhere in streets. At 10
pm, there was a curfew. It
was necessary to switch off
all the lights, because German
flew and if they saw some
light, it meant that there was a
city and thus they bombarded
« During the day, my father Damas
justified where he went with a pass
«ausweis».
The birds were forbidden to fly
because the German didn't want
the people send messages with
birds. »
« Martha, my mother, worked
in a coffee shop and German
and French people went in this
coffee shop. In reality, French
and German people lived in
good ambiance. The German
people were essentially soldiers
and they had a family. They
were often sad. Indeed, they
missed their family. Sometimes,
I played with soldier. I didn't
know it was the war because I
was too young. »
« In 43, Damas joined the resistance. During
the war, Damas listened to the radio and
collected many informations from Germans. »
« However, there were many accidents and
attacks. The Germans kidnapped Frenches »
« The English soldiers bombarded and
Germans were afraid. Damas was kidding and
happy to see the fear in the Germans’ eyes. »
« In the city there
were German, they
lived in the large
houses which haved
been requisited. We
were afraid of the
Germans, because
they were armed and
they talked loudly. We
tryed to avoid them »
« In Morestel, there was
no bombing, but we were
even scared when we saw
the planes passing. »
« Every night, there was a
curfew at 10 pm. To hide
from the German, my mother
had made big curtains :
Germans couldn't see the light
in the house after curfew. »« We
listened to
messages
of the BBC
because
my father
was in the
French
resistance.
»
« One morning, at 8:30 am,
when I went to school, I saw
inhabitants of my village with
the German in front of the
church, they were going to be
shot. I ran up to school and
when I spent the gate, I heard
the shots. I had never known
for which reasons they were
shot. »