Portside

The Sorrow and the Pity Rewrites History

55 YEARS AGO, on Sept. 18, 1969, one of the greatest documentary films ever made – “The Sorrow and the Pity,” by Marcel Opuls’ – was released. It is a long, detail-filled examination of how the civilian population of France behaved during the 4-year period during World War 2 when France was at peace with Germany. During that period Germany ruled Paris and all of northern France directly and also ruled southern France through a puppet government of Frenchmen. The puppet government’s capital was in the southern French city, Vichy,  

After World War 2 ended in 1945, thousands of surviving officials of the Vichy government persuaded the world they had used passive resistance to resist German programs and policies. For the next 25 years, most people believed the story that Vichy had been working, in effect, against the Nazis in tandem with the French Resistance. 

“The Sorrow and the Pity” revealed that the Vichy officials’ claim to have passively resisted the Nazis was a myth, a coverup of the truth that the Vichy government had acted as Germany’s staunch ally. Just two years after “The Sorrow and the Pity” appeared, a thoroughly documented book – Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order, 1940-1944 – by Robert Paxton was published, which told the same story as Opuls’ film, but in much greater detail. 

The revelations of first Ophuls and then Paxton were so damning that the French legal system belatedly identified numerous French war criminals, some of whom were even employed by the French government in the early 1970s.  The result was a huge scandal that included a handful of successful French prosecutions for crimes against humanity..

“The Sorrow and the Pity,” in French with subtitles, is available for rent on YouTube.

The Dawn of Women’s Suffrage

131 YEARS AGO, on Sept. 19, 1893, New Zealand became the world’s first democracy to make women and men electoral equals. The slogan “One man, one vote” had to be replaced with “One person, one vote.” The new law was the result of a 15-year petitioning campaign aimed at New Zealand’s parliament by women’s organizations, which had slowly but steadily won support from male politicians. Finally, in 1893 when women presented Parliament with 32,000 petition signatures, nearly a quarter of New Zealand’s population of adult females, the law passed by a slim majority. https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/womens-suffrage

Millions Protest Global Warming, Carbon-Emitting Nations Shrug

FIVE YEARS AGO, Sept. 20, 2019, was the first day of the Global Climate Strike, which took place during the United Nations Climate Summit. 

As a demonstration of the depth and breadth of the public’s concern over global warming, the Global Climate Strike was a memorable event. On Sept. 20 an estimated four million people took to the streets to demonstrate their support for immediate action to slow, stop, and reverse the flood of carbon releases that cause the climate crisis. The largest showing was in Germany, where 1.4 million participated, followed by more than half a million in the U.S., 300,000 in Australia and 300,000 in the UK. 

The representatives of the world’s governments at the UN Climate Summit showed little evidence of being impressed by the protests. Some countries made unenforceable promises to reduce carbon emissions (but not the U.S., China, or India), with the result that the UN Secretary General said "Much more is needed to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 and keep temperature rise to 1.5 degrees by the end of the century." https://www.kff.org/news-summary/worlds-population-must-take-action-to-prevent-climate-change-consequences-columnist-writes/

Monk’s Musical Signature

70 YEARS AGO, on Sept. 22, 1954, Thelonius Monk recorded “Blue Monk” for the first time. “Blue Monk” could reasonably be called Monk’s signature tune, as it is included in almost every live album he recorded. Here’s why:  https://youtu.be/lVBv-TzO8lU

An All-Star Cast Says ‘No Nukes!’ 

45 YEARS AGO, on Sept. 23, 1979, more than 200,000 people gathered in Lower Manhattan to express their opposition to the construction and operation of nuclear power plants. It was the largest gathering of its kind ever to have occurred in the U.S. On the same day, a dozen smaller antinuclear-power rallies took place throughout the U.S.

The Lower Manhattan event included anti-nuke speeches by Jane Fonda, Tom Hayden, Ralph Nader, Barry Commoner and others interspersed with musical performances produced by Musicians United for Safe Energy by artists including Jackson Browne, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Tom Paxton, Bonnie Raitt, Gil Scott-Heron, Pete Seeger, Carly Simon and Sweet Honey in the Rock. https://www.commondreams.org/views/2011/08/04/green-music-again-confronts-atomic-power

The Chicago 8 on Trial

55 YEARS GO, on Sept. 24, 1969, the trial of the Chicago Eight – who were accused of conspiracy to cross state lines with intent to start a riot and other charges – began in Chicago’s federal court. 

The eight defendants were essentially charged with having conspired to cause the violence that had rocked Chicago during the 4-day National Democratic Convention in August 1968 in which thousands of anti-war demonstrators and thousands of Chicago police clashed. 

The prosecution was unusual from the start, because prosecutors working for the Johnson administration, which did not end until January 1969, had declined to bring any federal charges in connection with the Chicago convention. But when Richard Nixon took office, he encouraged his attorney general to obtain a federal indictment. 

The trial was unusual in the rancorous hostility of the presiding judge to the accused and their lawyers. When one of the defendants, Black Panther leader Bobby Seale (who was the only defendant of color), repeatedly insisted on the right to defend himself, the judge ordered him to be gagged and chained to a chair.

After a trial lasting five months, all the defendants were acquitted of the conspiracy charge, but some were convicted of lesser offenses, including many counts of contempt of court.  On appeal, all the charges, except a few contempt-of-court charges, were dismissed. https://famous-trials.com/chicago8/1366-home

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