About this item
Of all the resistance organizations that operated during the war, about which much has been written, one stands out for its transnational character, the diversity of the tasks its members took on, and the fact that, unlike many of the known evasion lines, it was not directed by Allied officers, but rather by group of ordinary citizens. Between 1942 and 1945, they formed a network to smuggle Dutch Jews and others targeted by the Nazis south into France, via Paris, and then to Switzerland. This network became known as the Dutch-Paris Escape Line, eventually growing to include 300 people and expanding its reach into Spain. Led by Jean Weidner, a Dutchman living in France, many lacked any experience in clandestine operations or military tactics, and yet they became one of the most effective resistance groups of the Second World War.
About the Author
When Megan Koreman, PhD, was a little girl, her aunt and uncle told her stories about what they did in the Dutch Resistance in Maastricht. She's been fascinated with the Second World War ever since. She thought about the war while getting her BA at Notre Dame and focused her studies on it in graduate school at UC Berkeley. At that time historians did not think there were any documents about the Resistance.
Archival laws have changed since then, and Megan has been the first historian to consult many of the recently opened and declassified archives about the Resistance in Europe and the US. She writes, lectures, and teaches on the everyday difficulties and moral dilemmas of civilians caught under Nazi Occupation.
Her books include "The Expectation of Justice" (Duke, 1999) about three French towns during the Liberation, and "The Escape Line" (Oxford, 2018) about how 300 men and women rescued thousands of Jews, resisters and Allied aviators from the Nazis. She also publishes a blog about the Resistance at www.dutchparisblog.com.
Megan lives in Michigan with her husband and children.
"The Escape Line" is also available in Dutch translation as "Gewone Helden" (Boom, 2016) .
