Editing French Resistance (section)

===Clandestine press===
{{Main|Clandestine press of the French Resistance}}

The first action of many Resistance movements was the publication and distribution of clandestine press material. This was not the case with all movements, since some refused civil action and preferred armed resistance by groups such as [[Ceux de la Résistance|CDLR]] and [[Ceux de la Libération|CDLL]]. Most clandestine newspapers were not consistent in their editorial stance and often consisted of only a single sheet, because the sale of all raw materials—paper, ink, stencils—was prohibited.

By 1942, however, about 300,000 copies of underground publications reached around two million readers. Resistance workers used friendly print-shop facilities at night. Staff risked the Germans noticing that a resistance newspaper used the same type face as officially sanctioned documents. Profession-specific newspapers also existed. ''Le Médecin Français'' advised doctors to immediately approve known collaborators for ''Service du travail obligatoire'' while medically disqualifying everyone else. ''La Terre'' advised farmers on how to send food to resistance members. ''Bulletin des Chemins de Fer'' encouraged railroad workers to sabotage German transportation. ''Unter Uns'' ("Among Us"), published in German for the occupiers, printed stories of German defeats on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]].{{Sfn|Breuer|2000|pp=131–134}}

In September 1940, [[Agnès Humbert]] and [[Jean Cassou]], then employed at the ''[[Musée national des Arts et Traditions Populaires (France)|Musée national des Arts et Traditions Populaires]]'' in Paris and finding they were to be replaced by German-approved staff, used a roneo machine belonging to the Museum to publish an open letter by [[Paul Rivet]] to Marshal Pétain. This was followed by their first tract, ''Vichy fait la guerre'' ("Vichy Wages War"), written by Cassou.{{Sfn|Humbert|2008|p=17}} At the end of 1940, a group of 10, including Humbert, Cassou, Marcel Abraham and [[Claude Aveline]] founded a clandestine newsletter called ''Résistance'', respecting and supporting De Gaulle but circumspect in references to "that ridiculous old fool Pétain".{{Sfn|Humbert|2008|p=23}} It ran to five issues before the arrest of the editors in March 1940.

In the northern zone, ''Pantagruel'', the newspaper of [[Franc-Tireur (movement)|Franc-Tireur]], had a circulation of 10,000 by June 1941 but was quickly replaced by ''Libération-Nord'' which attained a circulation of 50,000, and by January 1944 ''[[Défense de la France]]'' was distributing 450,000 copies.{{Sfn|Jackson|2003|p=480}} In the southern zone, [[François de Menthon]]'s newspaper ''Liberté'' merged with [[Henri Frenay]]'s ''Vérité'' to form [[Combat (newspaper)|Combat]] in December 1941, which grew to a circulation of 200,000 by 1944.{{Sfn|Weitz|1995|p=3}} During the same period ''Pantagruel'' brought out 37 issues, ''Libération-Sud'' 54 and ''Témoignage chrétien'' 15.

The underground press brought out books as well as newspapers through publishing houses, such as [[Les Éditions de Minuit]] (the Midnight Press),{{Sfn|Jackson|2003|p=405}} which had been set up to circumvent Vichy and German censorship. The 1942 novel ''[[Le Silence de la Mer]]'' ("The Silence of the Sea"), by [[Jean Bruller]], quickly became a symbol of mental resistance through its story of how an old man and his niece refused to speak to the German officer occupying their house.{{Sfn|Weitz|1995|pp=74–75}}{{Sfn|Jackson|2003|p=240}}