Breathtaking Moment

Aside from being a lover of fast food, I'm also a lover of history, and this truly brought a tear to my eye today...

70th Annivesary of end of World War II: Talk on French Resistance

On the 70^th Anniversary of the end of World War II, journalist Charles Kaiser has written the untold story of one of the leaders of the French Resistance and his family’s terrible sacrifice during World War II.   

On Monday, June 8, at 1:30 p.m., Charles Kaiser will speak at the Central Queens Y in Forest Hills on his new book, The Cost of Courage:  The True Story of One Family in the French Resistance.    

 Charles Kaiser tells the story of Andre Boulloche, who coordinated the Resistance in northern France until he was betrayed by one of his comrades, and arrested by the Gestapo. His sisters carried on the fight without him until the end of the war.   While Andre and one sister survived concentration camps, the Gestapo killed their parents and an older brother.   After the war, André and his two sisters rebuilt their lives and Andre became a prominent French politician.  None of them ever spoke about what had happened. Journalist Charles Kaiser tells at last the story of their remarkable courage and terrible sacrifice.    

Mr. Kaiser’s talk is at the Central Queens YM & YWHA, at 67-09 108 Street in Forest Hills.  All events are open to the general public, with an $8 donation requested.

After the war, the three remaining Boulloche siblings, Christiane, Jacqueline, and André, rebuilt their lives, raising ten children among them, and never spoke about what transpired.  Silence had been the Boulloche’s answer to dealing with the unbearable.

With the family’s decision to break their silence, journalist Charles Kaiser was able to tell their remarkable story for the first time.   Kasier first heard the story from his uncle, an American lieutenant stationed in Paris, living with the Boulloche sisters, immediately after the Liberation of Paris.  A long time reporter for The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Charles Kaiser was able to reconstruct the remarkable story of the Boulloche family from extensive interviews with surviving family members, as well personal letters. 

Thank you. We will ALWAYS be in your debt.

June 6, 1944, the beaches of Normandy, France

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