The queer Jewish couple who stuck it to the Nazis in 1937
Opposing oppressive regimes, such as the Nazis, is always a brave thing to do. For those targeted, just existing under them is a sign of strength. Thus, a whole lot of people like me are press-ganged into doing the brave thing by a quirk of fate, whether we can or can’t take it.
It’s why we need all the help we can get and why, a lot of the time, we don’t get it. Most people who have to choose to put themselves at the mercy of a power higher than themselves will wilt at the first sign of genuine oppression. I’d love to be more judgmental than that, but I can’t, since that’s just basic self-preservation. It’s hard to go against your nature, just ask anyone who’s tried to present themselves as someone they’re not.
With that in mind, this makes the story of Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore even more incredible. In so many ways, they were the people who would have had every reason to hide from the world. Not simply because they were both queer, genderfluid Jewish artists completely unconcerned with hiding their romantic partnership. That would be a tough enough thing to be open about at the best of times, but they lived at the worst of times under a Nazi occupation of their home country.
Cahun and Moore were born in 1894 and 1892, respectively, and started a romantic relationship in their teens. Refreshingly, this was welcomed by both families, who were progressive to their core and encouraged both to pursue not only their relationship, but their artistic passions as well. The two families would actually become one in 1917 when Cahun’s divorced father and Moore’s widowed mother decided to marry, meaning that their deeply unconventional family unit could move around together with ease.
After tooling around Europe, they fled their native France for Jersey in 1937, only for the Reich to follow not long after that. Cahun and Moore decided, in their own way, to fight back rather than keep running.
How did Cahun and Moore fight back against the Nazis?
Both of them had been active in anti-fascist circles for decades and saw it as their responsibility to fight back not only by convincing other citizens of their humanity but by actively trying to show the German occupiers just what they were doing. Their first major act was sneaking bits of paper into the pockets of Nazi soldiers on patrol. These notes saw Cahun and Moore pretend to be German soldiers having second thoughts about their duties, signing off each of them as “The Soldier With No Name.”
The duo continued this process for years, until they were caught in 1944. The pair were interrogated, with the Nazis demanding to know just how deep the rabbit hole of their supposed resistance network went. The truth is that it was nothing more than the two of them, and the Reich didn’t believe that these two were anything more than friends. However, they were both sentenced to death, but thankfully, Jersey was liberated before their execution came to pass.
Cahun only lived another nine years after the end of WWII, but Moore lasted longer until 1972 and took all that they’d learned from their experiences into the world. After all, it’s a lot easier to live authentically and bravely in the face of people who don’t respect you when you’ve lived authentically and bravely in the face of people who want you dead. Maybe one day soon, a day will come where being part of certain communities doesn’t make you brave or dead by default, but it’s not coming soon.
Until then, at least try to support us while you can.