172
PARTISAN REVIEW
Q:
Aren't you satisfied that you didn't run away?
A: Oh yes! Just think, suppose they had looted our place! Will the Ger·
mans take all our money? We've hidden ours well.
On the 17th oj June, towards noon, the Germans reached Puiseaux.
A very small detaclunent appeared which took prisoner twenty times as
many French soldiers, though not a single officer
was
among them. The
only soldier who offered any resistance was a black Senegalese rifleman,
who
had
taken seriously the exhortations of
his
French officers-while
they were still around. The young Negro fired at the Germans, who
machine gunned the whole group of Senegalese. Soon after 1
had
the
following conversation with my hostess.
Hostess:
I saw three Boches today. Oh but we have to say "Germans"
now instead of "Boches."
I:
Well, what did you see?
Hostess:
They said nothing. But they're very pretty lads.
(1
might inter·
rupt here to say that first of all the young German soldiers were not
pretty, secondly they said nothing because they could not spetzk
French, and finally they wore very
bad,
dirty and cheap uniforms.)
Hostess:
Pretty lads. They said nothing. They conducted themselves
very correctly. They're going to punish all looters. That's good.
What do you say? Wasn't it a shame? The French plundered us of
everything, the Parisians and all those refugees. But the German will
bring order. They say also that they are going to repair the water
system.
(The Mayor of the town had kept out of sight until the Germans
came. The refugees
had
not concerned him at all. Somehow he
had
got the idea that they
had
no need of water, so he
had had
the gas
works guarded to prevent water being drawn from its tanks. The
Germans had rooted him out and forced him to take some measures
to pr01lide food and clean the town. Until then he
had
not troubled
himself
in
the least about the filth that lay about in the streets
and
which might have caused an epidemic.)
Hostess:
The Germans are taking all bicycles. But only the good ones.
Our neighbor left his motorcycle behind and we had to hide it. I
don't understand what the Germans need bicycles for. But they con·
duct themselves very correctly. I saw three on the street. They said
nothing. It's sad that it should have come to this, isn't it? And the
Parisians plundered us completely. The Germans have no patience
with looting. That's what they said to the Mayor.
Here the hostess's brother, a feeble-minded man, interrupted.
Brother:
Today we buried a black man. And a young fellow. They were
dead, because the Germans had fired. There was no coffin to be had,
so 'we just covered them with earth. And there was no one there
either to watch. And a woman had a baby just when the Boches were
coming in Pisyeau
(dialect for Puiseaux).
In the square, just like
that.
Et pis, c'est tout.
