Army of shadows (French l'armée des ombres) is a 1969 french film about the fights of the French resistance during WWII. I saw this movie recently, which reminded me of my own memories of the period 1939-1945.

I was 10 years in 39 and 16 years in 45. Living in a neutral country, surrounded on all sides by German forces, we expected every day the Nazi invasion. Our army of 600,000 soldiers strong, was ready. But we had enemies within the numerous members of the Swiss Nazi party, which wanted Switzerland to become a member of the "Greater Germany". Other Swiss, anti-Semitic or economically dependent on Germany, sought to undermine the spirit of resistance of army officers.Many Jews fleeing the occupied countries were trying to flee to Switzerland, but many were repressed, the government refusing to accept them to please the Nazis. I was a member of a Jewish organization that fought against the decisions of the government and tried to help as many refugees as possible and bring them through the Swiss borders. To do it through young people was easier because the Swiss and German soldiers did less care than to adult people.

So, in my own modest way, in spite of my age, I was also a member of this Army of Shadows.

Today, after WWII, Korea, the Cold War, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Operation United Shield in Somalia, the KFOR in Kosovo, it seems to me that war has always been somewhere in the world since my birth.

The American people, among others, since 1941, has always had soldiers fighting against the enemies of the free world and dying.So today the real “Army of Shadows” , with all his millions of dead soldiers, is standing, looking at us, the young and the old people still alive, and asking : was their deaths really necessary ?

We are responsible to find the right answer to their question. I didn’t yet. It’s why I’m asking here.