Tombés du ciel

Type

Print publication

Published

8 April 2021

The fate of airmen shot down over Europe, 1939–1945

Claire Andrieu

Claire Andrieu, a specialist in the political and social history of the 20th century and a researcher at the Centre d’histoire de Sciences Po, spent many years analyzing the behavior of civilians faced with exceptional situations and very different outcomes. Among the many sources she explored: the archives of the Wehrmacht’s legal service and the German military courts for her study of France in May–June 1940; the records of some 300 trials brought by the Allies for war crimes committed against airmen who had come down on the ground; and more than 4,000 “debriefings” of soldiers and airmen who had escaped from Europe, collected by MI9 (the British secret service tasked with organizing the escape and repatriation to England of Allied servicemen) and MIS-X (its American counterpart). In the latter case, the accounts tell the story, in France, of “34,000 unknown soldiers” — civilians who were not necessarily part of any network but who, through their actions, contributed to the Resistance.

The Sciences Po Atelier de cartographie supported Claire Andrieu throughout her research project, with the backing of Sciences Po’s Scientific Department. The collaboration began with the joint design of the databases compiled from the various sources, then moved through exploratory visualizations. It culminated in the design and production of the maps and diagrams shown below. These documents are published in the book “Tombés du ciel”, released in April 2021 by Tallandier.

Going further: “Visualizing previously unpublished historical data: the case of the helpers”, the interview with Claire Andrieu, which looks back at the collaboration and the design of these visualizations.