L'Affiche Rouge

Voilà, the infamously known "L'Affiche Rouge"--a Vichy France propagandist poster that surfaced in 1944 in the occupied regions of France. The portraits are (yes, this part is copy/pasted from the internet) from left to right, and top to bottom:

-GRZYWACZ: Juif polonais, 2 attentats (Polish Jew, 2 terrorist attacks)
-ELEK: Juif hongrois, 5 déraillements (Hungarian Jew, 5 derailments)
-WASJBROT: Juif polonais, 1 attentat, 1 déraillement (Polish Jew, 1 terrorist attack, 1 derailment)
-WITCHITZ: Juif polonais, 15 attentats (Polish Jew, 15 terrorist attacks - although it is unclear if Witchitz was in fact Jewish or Polish)
-FINGERCWAJG: Juif polonais, 3 attentats, 5 déraillements (Polish Jew, 3 terrorist attacks, 5 derailments)
-BOCZOV: Juif hongrois, chef dérailleur, 20 attentats (Hungarian Jew, chief of derailment operations, 20 terrorist attacks)
-FONTANOT: Communiste italien, 12 attentats (Italian Communist, 12 terrorist attacks. His correct name was Fontano)
-ALFONSO: Espagnol rouge, 2 attentats (Red Spaniard, 2 terrorist attacks)
-RAYMAN: Juif polonais, 13 attentats (Polish Jew, 13 terrorist attacks)
-MANOUCHIAN: Arménien, chef de bande, 56 attentats, 150 morts, 600 blessés (Armenian, boss of the gang, 56 terrorist attacks, 150 dead, 600 wounded)

The bottom features photographs of:

-the right shoulder and right chest of a corpse, riddled by bullet holes
-a dead body lying on the ground
-a derailed locomotive
-a derailed train
-a collection of small arms, grenades, and bomb components, displayed on a table
-another derailed train

The poster sought to denouce the pictured members of the French Resistance. The actions of the Manouchian Group (pictured above) were usually characterized by armed resistance, and Nazi officials sought to quickly shut down the operation. They were interestingly marketed as a sort of underground, terrorist organization. Ironically, of the 23 members of this French Resistance group, only 3 were actually French. The rest were Polish, Armenian, Spanish, Italian, or Romanian. The Vichy government knew and advertized this fact (as made evident in their descriptions of the members on the list) in a hope to tap into a sense of xenophobia in the hearts of the French, which they hoped would turn the movement back on itself:

"Si des Français pillent, volent, sabotent et tuent... Ce sont toujours des étrangers qui les commandent. Ce sont toujours des chômeurs et des criminels professionnels qui exécutent. Ce sont toujours des juifs qui les inspirent. C’est l’armée du crime contre la France. Le banditisme n’est pas l’expression du Patriotisme blessé, c’est le complot étranger contre la vie des Français et contre la souveraineté de la France."

Fact has it though that instead of breaking the movement apart, the ubiquitous poster actaully helped strenghten French nationalism and resistance. All 23 members of the Manouchian Group were eventually captured, interrogated/tortured, tried in a German court, and executed. It is said that after the deaths, French citizens defaced the public posters and placed flowers under them.

However, much controversy remains. Many rumors circulate that it was members of other French nationalism groups that turned in these people, supposedly due to the fact that the forgien origins of the Manouchian Group would undermine the Resistance's idea of "native patriotism."  Still living Resistance members vehemently deny these allegations, but the suspicions remain.


And then of course, they made a movie out of it: