Figure 1.--Here some of the elderly, chidren, and sick here are a train station. They are being evaciated from Paris at the outbreak of the War. The brief press caption read, "L'evacution des femmes ages de enfants et des malades acooence a Paris." The photograph is dated September 2, 1939, day after the Germans invaded Poland. The French evacuations were far more limited than the British evacutions taking place at the same time. Notice that the inividuals here do not have gas masks like the British evacuees had.

After the Germans invaded Poland (September 1939), Britain and France decalred War, but made no subatantial effort to attack Germany or assist the Poles. The newspapers as a result began calling this period the Phony War. There was ar first great fear that the Germans would bomb French and Britisg cities. The French appear to have made some effort to evacuate children. A French observer tells us, "At the outbreak of the War in France a government agency, Defensive Passive, was responsible for the evacuation of civilians, food problems, and other home front issues." [Fohlen, E-mail] As soon the war began, many children were evacuated to the the country for their security, far from the more dangerous cities. The British and Germans (later in the War) had Government run programs to coordinate the evacuation. We have less information on this in France. They do not seem to have organized an effort like the British did to evacuate children to the country side like the British did when the War began. Quite a few children were evacuated by their parents, but not as part of any government program. Many children were sent by their parents to live in the country or rural villages with grandparents and aunts and uncles.

Sources

Fohlen, Yves. E-mail message, August 13, 2004.

Created: 1:05 PM 5/30/2016
Last updated: 1:05 PM 5/30/2016