COMMENDATION FOR A WOMAN WHO ASSISTED THE FRENCH RESISTANCE
An undated letter from a leader in the French Resistance commending a French woman for her role assisting the opposition group during World War II. The typed text is in French, and the translation reads: “I, the undersigned, Pierre Stibbe, certify that Miss Charlotte Evrard has rendered the greatest services to the Resistance with complete devotion and incurred the greatest dangers.”
The next typed line reads: “Pierre Stibbe, delegate to the Consultive Assembly, Member of the Steering Committee of ‘Those of the Resistance’ Director of ‘Volontes’ of the Resistance.”
Evrard (1917-2011) does not appear in any obvious list of members of the French Resistance, a network of groups that fought the Nazi occupation of France during the Second World War. According to newspaper reports, she was a professional singer in France and moved to the Pasadena, California, in 1949. She worked as an attaché for the French Consulate in Los Angeles, then for United Airlines travel services, and later as North American representative for the Tahiti Tourist Development Board. Evrard’s last name changed in 1956 to Hyde, following her marriage to J. Stuart Hyde (1890-1985), a British officer who emigrated to the United States in the 1940s.
The French Resistance was critical to the liberation of France. The members provided first-hand intelligence information and escape networks that helped Allied soldiers and airmen. It’s estimated that the proportion of French people who participated in organized resistance was one to three percent of the total population.
The letter is typed on stationary for the Assemblee Consultative Provisoire, Republique Francaise. It measures approximately 5” x 6” and has been professionally matted and framed. Tears along the edges have been mended with non-archival tape that has browned. Not inspected outside the frame. Item #78638
Price: $250.00