Sous le Manteau

Sous le Manteau (literally Under the Cloak; usually translated as Clandestinely) is a French documentary consisting of footage shot clandestinely by French officers held during World War II in Oflag XVII-A, a POW camp in northeastern Austria.

Background and filming

Oflag XVII-A was a prisoner-of-war camp operated by Nazi Germany in Austria, on the border of Czechoslovakia. Its 40 barracks housed five thousand French prisoners of war captured during the Battle of France.[1] According to Robert Christophe, in his making-of booklet on the film, Oflag XVII-A had a Gaullist resistance group called "La Maffia", which had ties to a French Resistance group (apparently the only such collaboration between prisoners outside France and resistance inside it), and thus acquired the materials for the camera (and supplies for escape attempts).[2]

Taking advantage of humanitarian packages from France, the prisoners smuggled in materials necessary for the construction and operation of a camera. Film was sent from France in packets with food for prisoners; they were hidden in sausages and other foods,[3] and after being developed the negatives were hidden in the heels of the prisoners' boots (the footage documents such detail). Fourteen rolls were filmed by March 1945.[3] The camera was made from a wooden box, which was hidden in a Larousse dictionary;[3] the spine of this dictionary was capable of being opened like a shutter.[1]

Content

The 30-minute film documents daily life in the camp, including a theater production, food distribution, as well as a surprise raid by the Nazi guards. The film even documents the digging of tunnels for several escape attempts.[4] One, of which parts are documented in the film, resulted in 132 prisoners escaping; only two made it back to France.[5]

Legacy

After the camp was liberated by the Soviets the rolls were hidden in a mess tin and given to the French liaison officer for General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny. A booklet by Christopher about the making of the film was published in 1948 by Éditions OPTA.[3][6] Sous le Manteau has been distributed by Armor Films, with commentary by Maurice Renault and Robert Christophe.[7]

The BBC's Christian Fraser described it as "so professional ... that on first viewing you would be forgiven for thinking it is a post-war reconstruction."[1]

References
  1. Christian Fraser (31 July 2013). "How French secretly filmed prison camp life in WWII". BBC. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  2. d'Hoop, Jean-Marie (1981). "Propagande et attitudes politiques dans les camps de prisonniers: le cas des OFLAGs". Revue d'histoire de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale (in French). 31 (122): 3–26. JSTOR 25729552.
  3. Amar, Hanania Alain; Maucourant, Jérôme; Gillet, Michel (1 April 2007). "Avant-propos: Penser le nazisme, mise en perspective". In Amar, Hanania Alain; Feral, Thierry (eds.). Penser le nazisme: Eléments de discussion (in French). Editions L'Harmattan. pp. 7–13. ISBN 9782296168381.
  4. Hugon, Philippe (2013). Memories solitaires et solitaires: Trajectories dun economist Du development (in French). Kalahari. pp. 13–. ISBN 9782811110390.
  5. Michelle Starr (8 August 2013). "French soldiers held in a Nazi prison camp during World War II managed to smuggle in parts to construct a movie camera and film their escape attempt". CNET Australia. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  6. Une famille dans la guerre (1940–1945) (in French). Editions L'Harmattan. p. 11. ISBN 9782296302075.
  7. Oflag XVII-A : sous le manteau. WorldCat. OCLC 691482395.
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