Six Authors in Captivity - Literary Responses to the Occupation of France during World War II

This book examines the varied responses of six French authors to war, the French occupation and imprisonment. Jean Cassou was imprisoned as a member of a Résistance network and held incommunicado. During this time lie composed sonnets in his head which lie was able to publish later. Jean Cayrol's deportation to Mauthausen concentration camp as a result of his Résistance activities inspired his poems and novels.
Madeleine Riffaud, aged only 18 in 1942, portrayed her Résistance experience, imprisonment and torture in her post-war prose and poems. A well-known literary critic and writer, Pierre-Henri Simon, composed poetry in his Stalag and wrote fiction after the war. Max Jacob, who lied in Drancy, wrote poems and letters reflecting his personal views and feelings on the " imprisonment " of the Occupation itself.
Philippe Soupault was actively engaged in Résistance with the founding of Radio Tunis to combat the Italian Fascist station Radio Bari, broadcasting across the Mediterranean and North Africa. Imprisoned for these activities in 1942, he used poetry to keep a spirit of résistance alive. Each of these authors sought to maintain the spirit of the Résistance, bear witness to the times, and contribute to the future, using literature as their instrument.