Sylvia Beach interviewed on Teilifís Eireann in 1962

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So precious this video!

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This document has literary quality. I knew that Jean Gavin had liberated Paris as a panzer commander, declining to parade on the "défilé de la victoire" on account of his celebrity so as not to "voler la vedette" of his warrior companions, but I had no idea that Hemingway had done so too. This is a truly beautiful story. Sylvia Beach is the second American I know of that remained in France while the Nazis invaded it, the other one being Josephine Baker, who was also a spy smuggling messages in her papers. That was extraordinary courage in the face of danger. All the more so, when we consider what other French celebrities did: Coco Chanel mingled with the Nazis and Mistinguett with others fled Paris. By the way, Jeanne Moreau and Serge Gainsbourg lived in Paris throughout the occupation as teenagers, which left an indelible mark in their characters. Also, Gainsbourg was officially Jew but I think he was living under a double identity all the way through. Also Picasso remained in Paris during the whole occupation.