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Since I can't live in Paris at the present, one way I get my Paris "fix" is through cinema.  In the odd chance that there is anyone else like me out there (that is, ridiculously obsessed with the City of Light), I thought I would post a little about my go-to movies about Paris for when I am missing it most.  There are tons of movies out there in which Paris is the backdrop. But there are few movies, in my humble opinion, in which Paris is the star. The three movies below are ones that, to me, really capture the true essence and beauty of Paris and leave me feeling both satisfaction and yearning for my beloved city. 1. Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain ( better known as just Amélie ) Amélie is not only a great Paris movie, it's an outright great movie - period. (probably my favorite movie of all time). And while I think it's the cat's meow, I have come to understand that it is not for everyone. It is very quirky in a very French kind ...

Paris at Sunset - (Boyer-Switala)  It has been just over a week since I was last in Paris, but it feels like a lifetime ago. For the first time, I opted to lead our students (instead of using a courier through the educational travel company). I loved the fact that my husband and I could control what we did, but I also sacrificed my "alone time" with the city I love. Any free time I had was spent scouting out the next destination to make sure I didn't get lost. Not that getting lost in Paris is a bad thing...it's how I've made some really amazing discoveries. However, wandering aimlessly through the rues de Paris with 30 people in tow would have lost its charm very quickly! But please don't get me wrong, and certainly do not feel sorry for me! It was still an amazing trip. Any time I get to share Paris with my students and friends is always rewarding. For me, my best day in Paris was my last day there. I had planned a special book club, and twelve stu...

Memorial at Dachau Photo Credit Jennifer Boyer-Switala (2009) Recently, someone inquired about my seemingly morose obsession with the Holocaust. “It’s in the past!” they said, “Why drudge up such horrors?! Why upset yourself so much?!” All I could do was iterate the plea of all who lived and died in one of history’s most tragic events, “Never again…” I am somewhat philosophical (and, yes, obsessive) and this inquiry had planted a seed. I began to question myself. Why AM I so interested in something that ALWAYS makes me cry and NEVER has a happy ending? As a historian and former psychotherapist, I figured it best to go back to the beginning… Dachau Gate   Photo Credit: The Switalas (2009) My fascination with the Holocaust began when I was ten years old. A neighbor loaned me Corrie Ten Boom’s autobiography, The Hiding Place . I was riveted and wanted to read more. Books like The Diary of Anne Frank and The Upstairs Room followed and my budding obsession grew....

This past fall I read Americans in Paris: Life and Death Under Nazi Occupation by Charles Glass. Meticulously researched, the book described the collaboration, resistance, and survival stories of several Americans during the Occupation. Of all the fascinating Americans Glass discussed, I felt an instant connection to one, and have been mildly obsessed with her ever since… Sylvia Beach Photo Source: donswaim.com/ripley-lawrence.htm The Woman Nancy Woodridge Beach was born on March 14, 1887 in Baltimore, Maryland.  She spent much of her childhood and young adult life living throughout Europe. Her first encounter with Paris came at a young age when her father, a pastor, was appointed assistant minister of the American Church in Paris, as well as director of the American student center. As a young adult she spent time in Spain and even served a stint in Serbia in the Red Cross. Although her birth name was Nancy, she would become known to the world as Sylvia Beach. ...

Irène Némirovsky - photo source: obit-mag.com I recently finished reading Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky. The novel offers a glimpse of what it was like to live through the arrival of the Nazis and the early days of the occupation. However, its true beauty lies in its stark and brutally honest look into the psyche of the French during the early years of Nazi occupation. Némirovsky’s Story No one knew better than Irène Némirovsky the dangers of living in Nazi occupied France. Némirovsky was born in Russia in 1903 to a wealthy Jewish banker. She learned French at an early age, which came in handy in 1919 when she and her family settled in Paris, France after they were forced to flee Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution. She studied at the Sorbonne and in 1924 met a dashing fellow Russian-Jew, Michel Epstein. They fell in love and were married two years later. Their first daughter was born in 1929 and that same year, Némirovsky’s first book, David Golder, was pu...

Photo Source: 1 st Art Gallery Every Holocaust survivor – every ghost of those who did not survive - has a story to tell. Each story is unique, yet equally tragic. Some we have heard more than once, while others lay silent, buried in the dusty pages of a nation’s shame… Occupation and Anti-Semitism 14 June 1942 marked the two-year anniversary of the Nazi occupation of Paris. By this point, many French had joined the Résistance , while others felt it in their best interest to collaborate with the Nazi regime. Many Jews had fled France, and those who remained behind lived in chronic fear. The Jewish Decrees (France's version of the Nuremberg Laws) saw the Jews of Paris stripped of their livelihoods, property, and rights. As in other occupied areas of Europe, the French Jews were required to wear the yellow stars of David. Inscribed with a single word in the center, Juif (Jew), the badges had to be sewn neatly on the left side of the chest. Failure to do so coul...