Robert Brasillach facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Robert Brasillach
Robert Brasillach (1938)
Born	31 March 1909 Perpignan, France
Died	6 February 1945(1945-02-06) (aged 35) Fort de Montrouge, Arcueil, France
Cause of death	Execution by firing squad
Occupation	Journalist, author

Robert Brasillach (French pronunciation: [ʁɔbɛʁ bʁazijak] ; born March 31, 1909 – died February 6, 1945) was a French writer and journalist. He was the editor of Je suis partout, a newspaper that supported nationalist and fascist ideas. After France was freed in 1944, he was put on trial. He was later executed because he supported collaborationism, which meant working with the enemy during the war. His execution is still talked about because he was punished for his writings and ideas, not for military actions.

Robert Brasillach: His Life Story

Robert Brasillach was born in Perpignan, France, on March 31, 1909. His father, Arthémile Brasillach, was a soldier in Morocco. Robert went to a famous school called the École normale supérieure in Paris. After school, he became a novelist and a literary critic for a newspaper called Action française. After a political event in Paris in 1934, Brasillach openly supported a political idea called fascism. Some of the characters in his books also shared his political views.

His Books and Writings

Brasillach wrote both fiction (made-up stories) and non-fiction (true stories and facts). His fiction often explored themes of love, life, and politics of his time. His non-fiction covered many different topics, including drama, famous writers, and current world events. His work on the history of cinema was especially important.

His Love for Cinema

Brasillach was very interested in movies. In 1935, he wrote a detailed book about the history of cinema called Histoire du cinéma with his brother-in-law, Maurice Bardèche. This book was considered a very important history of film for many years. Unlike some other critics, Brasillach didn't always see movies through a political lens. However, a later edition of his book from 1943 did include some harsh comments about Jewish people, which were not in the first version.

Even though he was a strong nationalist, Brasillach and Bardèche focused on international film trends rather than just French movies. Brasillach enjoyed movies from many places, including Soviet films like Battleship Potemkin and Alexander Nevski. He also liked filmmakers such as Charlie Chaplin, G.W. Pabst, René Clair, Jean Renoir, and Hollywood directors like John Ford, Frank Borzage, and King Vidor. He was one of the first major critics in France to write about Japanese cinema, including the works of Yasujirō Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi. While he was in prison, he continued to work on a new edition of his cinema book.

His Political Views and Wartime Actions

Brasillach became an editor for Je suis partout, a newspaper that supported fascist ideas. He was interested in the Rexist movement in Belgium and wrote about its leader, Leon Degrelle. Brasillach admired Degrelle's youth and energy. Degrelle later worked with the German occupation of Belgium. Brasillach was also impressed by José Antonio Primo de Rivera and his Falangist movement in Spain. However, he described Adolf Hitler's book Mein Kampf as "a masterpiece of foolishness."

In 1940, Brasillach was a soldier and was captured by the Germans. He was held prisoner for several months after France was defeated. He was released in early 1941 and went back to his job at Je suis partout. He first supported the Vichy regime, which was the French government that worked with Germany. Later, he became an even stronger supporter of collaboration with Germany and Nazi policies. He even started to criticize the Vichy government for not being supportive enough of Germany.

He visited the site of the Katyn massacre and the Eastern Front, where he saw French volunteers fighting alongside the Germans. When he returned to France, he wrote that his support for collaboration had changed from being based on reason to being based on his feelings. He published the names and addresses of Jewish people who were hiding. He also called for the punishment of left-wing politicians. In the summer of 1944, he signed a call for the quick execution of all members of the French Resistance, who were fighting against the occupation. He considered himself a "moderate" anti-Jewish person. In 1943, he was replaced as editor of Je suis partout by someone with even more extreme views.

After Paris was freed, Brasillach hid in an attic. He surrendered on September 14 when he heard his mother had been arrested. He spent the next five months in prison and continued to write.

His Trial and Execution

Brasillach was put on trial in Paris on January 19, 1945. The judge had served under the Vichy government. The prosecutor highlighted Brasillach's strong anti-Jewish views and linked his praise of Germany to terrible events carried out by the SS in France. Brasillach was sentenced to death.

His death sentence caused a big stir among French writers, and even some of his political opponents protested. François Mauriac, a writer who had been criticized by Brasillach, started a petition asking Charles de Gaulle, the leader of the French government, to change the sentence. Many famous French writers signed this petition, including Paul Valéry, Paul Claudel, Albert Camus, and Jean Cocteau. However, De Gaulle refused. Brasillach was executed by a firing squad in Montrouge. Some believe De Gaulle refused to spare him because Brasillach had called for the execution of Georges Mandel, a politician De Gaulle admired, who was later murdered. Just before his execution, Brasillach shouted, "But all the same, long live France!" He was buried in the cimetière de Charonne in Paris.

His Lasting Impact

Brasillach's trial and execution influenced Simone de Beauvoir's essay "An Eye for an Eye", where she discussed the role of emotions like hatred in politics and punishment.

His biographer, Alice Kaplan, said that his death made him a "martyr" (someone who dies for a cause) for the extreme right-wing. The film director François Truffaut also knew and appreciated Brasillach's work.

A group called Association des Amis de Robert Brasillach still celebrates his writings and legacy today.

His Published Works

Here is a list of Brasillach's writings, including novels, non-fiction, and poetry. Some works were published after his death.

Novels

• 1932 Le Voleur d'étincelles (The Spark Thief)
• 1934 L'Enfant de la nuit (Child of the Night)
• 1936 Le Marchand d'oiseaux (The Bird Merchant)
• 1937 Comme le temps passe (How The Time Passes By)
• 1939 Les Sept Couleurs (The Seven Colors)

  This book tells the story of Patrice and Catherine, two students in Paris in the 1920s. Patrice later works in Italy and Germany, where he becomes interested in fascism and Nazism. Catherine marries François, who also becomes a fascist. The story follows their lives and changing political views. The book's title comes from the seven different writing styles used in it. The book shows some sympathy for fascism as a way to renew society.

• 1943 La Conquérante (The Conqueror)
• 1944 Poèmes (Poems)

Non-fiction

• 1931 Présence de Virgile (The Presence of Virgil)
• 1932 Le Procès de Jeanne d'Arc (The Trial of Joan of Arc) (edited by Robert Brasillach)
• 1935 Portraits (Portraits of famous writers)
• 1935 (re-edited in 1943) Histoire du Cinéma, two volumes (with Maurice Bardèche)
• 1936 Animateurs de théâtre (Theater Directors)
• 1936 Léon Degrelle et l'avenir de « Rex » (Léon Degrelle and the Future of the Rexist Party)
• 1936 Les Cadets de l'Alcazar (with Henri Massis) (The Cadets of the Alcazar)

  This short book describes the siege of the Alcazar during the Spanish Civil War. It praises the defenders but also mentions the execution of prisoners. The book strongly supports the Nationalist side.

• 1938 Pierre Corneille, a biography of the famous playwright
• 1939 Histoire de la guerre d’Espagne (with Maurice Bardèche) (History of the Spanish Civil War)
• 1941 Notre avant-guerre (Our pre-war)
• 1944 Les Quatre Jeudis (The Four Thursdays) (A collection of articles about literature and society)

Works Published After His Death

• 1945 Poèmes de Fresnes (Poems from Fresnes)
• 1946 Lettre à un soldat de la classe 60 (Letter to a Soldier of the Class of 1960)

  In this letter, written while he was in prison, Brasillach shared his thoughts and hopes for the future. He said he had few regrets about his role during World War II. He admitted that some bad things happened during the occupation but compared them to actions by the French in their colonies. He repeated his anti-Jewish views, though he claimed he didn't know about the Holocaust. He believed that France and Germany would become closer, which in some ways happened later with the European Union. He also said that the spirit of fascism should be mixed with English ideas of freedom.

• 1947 Chénier, La Pensée française (Chénier: French Thought)
• 1950 Anthologie de la poésie grecque (Anthology of Greek Poetry) ISBN: 2-253-01517-2
• 1952 Lettres écrites en prison (Letters Written in Prison)
• 1953 Six heures à perdre (Six Hours to Kill)
• 1954 Bérénice (Berenice) (a play)
• 1955 Journal d'un homme occupé (Journal of a (Pre)Occupied Man)
• 1961 Poètes oubliés (Forgotten Poets)
• 1961 Dom Rémy
• 1962 Commentaire sur La Varende (Commentary on La Varende)
• 1963 En marge de Daphnis et Chloé (On the Edge of Daphnis and Chloé)
• 1963 Nouvelle prière sur l'Acropole (New Prayer on the Acropolis)
• 1967 Écrit à Fresnes (Written at Fresnes)
• 1968 Une génération dans l'orage (A Generation in the Storm)
• 1970 Vingt lettres de Robert Brasillach (Twenty Letters)
• 1971 Abel Bonnard (biography)
• 1974 Les Captifs (incomplete novel)
• 1984 Le Paris de Balzac (Balzac's Paris)
• 1985 Hugo et le snobisme révolutionnaire (Hugo and Revolutionary Snobbism)
• 1985 Montherlant entre les hommes et les femmes (Montherlant between Men and Women)
• 1992 Fulgur (novel, compilation)
• 1999 La Question juive, articles de Brasillach et Cousteau (The Jewish Question: Articles by Brasillach and Cousteau)
• 2002 Relectures Robert Brasillach (Re-reading Robert Brasillach)

See also

In Spanish: Robert Brasillach para niños