1st 5 Wednesdays, 10-11:50am, GIRV 1106
Enrollment Code: 50385
August 25, 1944, was an important day in World War II. France: the day that Paris was liberated by the allies. While Paris was rejoicing, 260 kilometers away, the rural village of Maillé, whose population numbered about 240, was undergoing the most brutal of atrocities imaginable, yet of the type we continue to see even today. On that morning, Nazi soldiers entered the village, killing 124 inhabitants, mostly women, children, and the elderly, and setting fire to the village, in retaliation for the "terrorism" inflicted on a hand of Nazis by some nearby partisans of the French Resistance(maquid). Santa Barbara resident Kathleen Burke (Peabody) Hale was in Monaco at the time, where her husband was the U.S. Ambassador. Said to be the most decorated woman of World War I for her heroic service as a field nurse and relief fundraiser, Mrs. Hale was touched by the story of Maillé. She convinced her wealthy husband to join her in becoming a benefactor in the reconstruction of the village, which continued up until their deaths in the mid-1950's. We will examine this largely untold story, considering primary source materials from France as well as from the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. We will endeavor to answer questions such as: How can such an atrocity happen?, What is a terrorist?, What motivated the Hales?, What was the impact of their philanthropy?, and Why did it take 50 years for Maillé to come to terms with its past? Knowledge of French desirable, but not required.
Professor William Ashby, French and Italian, field of research is French linguistics. He has friends who survived the Maillé massacre, and has translated various documents for the Maison du Souvenir, the newly opened memorial in the village of Maillé.
