Yvonne Block (1920-2007)
The diary of Yvonne, a woman from Strasbourg born in 1920, offers a glimpse into the experiences of local adult spectators. In it, she recounted the disrupted daily life of a young woman who found herself facing the Second World War at the age of twenty. Her account began at the time of the invasion of France in 1940 and recounted the events she experienced in a region that was swiftly annexed by Nazi Germany.
As the pages turn, Yvonne emerged as a clear-thinking, rebellious figure who is deeply attached to France. Rejecting the annexation imposed by the Nazis, she expressed constant hostility towards the Germans, notably by helping French prisoners despite the risks involved. Her diary thus blended historical account with personal insight, revealing a courageous young woman torn between hope, anger and concern for her loved ones.
Despite everything, Yvonne tries to lead as normal a life as possible through various leisure activities: dancing, going out to restaurants, reading… These activities seem to offer her a real escape. Amongst these pastimes, going to the movie theater played a specific important role.
Yvonne went there regularly, sometimes several times a month. For example, on January 10, 1941, she noted that she went to see Kleider machen Leute (1940, Helmut Käutner), then on January 16, Hochzeitsreise zu dritt (1939, Hubert Marischka). She then went on to see other films, such as Falschmünzer (1940, Hermann Pfeiffer) on April 10, and Über alles in der Welt (1941, Karl Ritter) on April 16. She also mentioned the films So gefällst du mir (1941, Rudolf Schaad) and Hauptsache Glücklich (1941, Theo Lingen).
This spectator’s recollections illustrate that it was possible to watch propaganda films despite holding staunchly anti-German views, as demonstrated by her experience on February 27, 1941 when she watched Sieg im Westen. The documentary film recounted the Battle of the West waged by the Nazis in the spring of 1940, which led to the annexation of Alsace-Moselle and the occupation of France. Yvonne written that she ‘really suffered’ and that she ‘relived that war, step by step’, to the point of wanting to ‘scream and shout’. If cinema is a refuge from reality for Yvonne, it sometimes also becomes a mirror of the war, intensifying her anxiety and her defiance.
Photo 89 : Coll. Part. Anthony RESCIGNO – Portrait of Yvonne Block.
Photo 90 : DR – Poster of the documentary propaganda film Sieg im Westen.
Photo 91 : Archives cinématographiques de l’est – Portrait of Kristen Heiberg (1907-1976), the lead role in Falschmünzer (1940, Hermann Pfeiffer).