The Rage

In the Rage, book two of All the Silences, the Germans have consolidated their hold over Paris. The apparently benign cooperation of the early days gives way to brutal force on the part of the occupier. The fledgling Résistance gathers in strength. Adolescents are no longer content to scrawl Vs for Victory on walls and tear up posters. Many of them want action. Julie suffers a deep trauma, which makes her even more determined to fight the Nazis. The task of leading Jewish children and downed airmen to the non-occupied zone becomes riskier. She has several narrow escapes. Still pursued by the SS officer, Kurt Meinhard, Julie has to leave Paris. François, now seventeen and still impulsive, ends up in trouble. He and his sister Pierrette, together with their cousin and friends form a group, which represent the resisting youth of the time.The acrimony between Bernard and his pro-Vichy wife escalates. She considers denouncing him. His réseau becomes endangered. There is a Gestapo spy in one of the cells. The traitor is exposed and dealt with, but the Gestapo now knows too much.After the Vel d'Hiv raid in July 1942, public opinion, until then complacent, shifts toward anger and the Résistance, despite the awful death toll of hostages. The prevalent anti-Semitic feelings are eroded as repression increases. The de Montregard family endures privations and heartaches with resilience and determination.