He Didn't Know
Much as 1 detest the crimes to which ex- General Jouhaud has lent himself, I was moved by the accounts of his trial. The picture of him which emerged was that of a man not particu- larly wicked or dishonest, but placed in a posi- tion where a failure in intelligence, and an inade- quate sense of what was due to the State and to his official superiors, led him to apologise for the most cowardly forms of murder. 'We were in a revolutionary situation. . . . In the Resis- tance it was the same thing. . . . One defends oneself as one can.' This type of phrase brings home the harm done in France by the legend of clandestine action, subversion and assassination. Of course, there is nothing in common between the OAS and the French resistance movement against the German occupation. But myths are double-edged things, and this one has drawn blood. The absurd contradiction of Jouhaud's 'resistance' was symbolised by his reply when questioned about the murder of a captain of gendarmerie: 'I didn't know. 1 didn't know.' Alas, there were many things he did not know.
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