“I am now their father too”: the multi-layered meanings of family letters from the Jewish Maquis in France during the second world war

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article highlights a specific type of ego-document, where the personal and institutional are deeply intertwined and can only be understood together. It analyses a collection of letters sent between the head of the Jewish Scouts in France, Robert Gamzon, and his wife and children in hiding during the Second World War. These letters held a dual purpose: to emotionally connect a family and to pass secret encoded details about maquis activity. Decoding the letters to reveal their true meaning, this article offers a vivid window into the daily life of the resistance and the ways that Jews experienced it.