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Authors: Shrabani Basu
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so involved with her writing and her brothers and sister so immersed in their studies and music school that they had not really been following the events in Europe. They never listened to the news on the radio and the political developments had passed them by. The thought of another war in Europe now filled them with gloom and anxiety.
The first few months of the war saw little change in Paris, hence it was dubbed the ‘phoney war’ or the Sitzkrieg (the sitting war) as opposed to the Blitzkrieg (the lightning war). Alexis Danan told Noor it would be impossible to go ahead with the children’s newspaper at this time. It was unlikely that there would be any interest in such a thing in the middle of the war. He was also concerned that the project she had in mind was so beautiful that it would be very expensive to produce and hence quite unaffordable by youngsters. All plans for Bel Age were stalled. Noor’s radio and newspaper work also suffered because of the war as there was less space for children’s stories.
To Noor, the ideology of the Nazis and their pogrom against the Jews was fundamentally repulsive and opposed to all the principles of religious harmony that she had been brought up with by her father. She was Muslim by birth but she had loved a Jewish man, and Noor felt the urge to do something to help the war effort. Her first thought was nursing, and she and Claire signed up for a training course in Nursing and First Aid with the Union des Femmes de France (the French Red Cross). Here the sisters learnt the basics of nursing and first aid so as to be able to help when the time came. When the war began, Noor and Claire remained at work till the hospital was evacuated and they were cut off from the unit.
At this time, Noor also made a significant decision about her personal life. After years of emotional conflict, she finally broke off her engagement with Goldberg. She told Madame Prénat, her closest confidante, that she did so because she wanted to be free to go into action or serve as a nurse on the front line if the need arose. 38
On the afternoon of 4 June 1940, as the German guns pointed towards France, Noor and Vilayat sat down on a sofa near the big window in the living room of Fazal Manzil. Outside they could see Paris stretching out below them. They had to take an important decision.
They had been brought up as Sufis, with the principle of non-violence firmly entrenched in them. Inayat Khan had taught them about Gandhi and his methods of peaceful protest in the freedom struggle. Many of the mureeds thought their first responsibility lay towards the movement. But brother and sister were confused. On the one hand they knew that war meant death and destruction, on the other they had seen the Germans’ activities at first hand.
‘If an armed Nazi comes to your house and takes twenty hostages and wants to exterminate them, would you not be an accomplice in these deaths, if you had the opportunity to kill him (and thereby prevent these deaths) but did not do so because of your belief in non-violence?’ Vilayat asked Noor. ‘How can we preach spiritual morality without participating in preventive action? Can we stand by and just watch what the Nazis are doing? 39
They knew that they could not stand by, and so they decided to act to ‘thwart the aggression of the tyrant’. 40 Noor and Vilayat decided they would go to England and join the war effort. Vilayat would join the services and Noor would volunteer to help in whatever way she could, nursing or services. They went up to tell the rest of the family of their plans, feeling immensely relieved that they had come to a decision at last.
Hidayat was the only one who was married and he said he would take his wife and children to the south of France where he would help the Resistance. The uncles would also stay behind. Noor and Vilayat would take Claire and their mother with them to England. Hidayat would drive them as far as Tours. They decided they
The first few months of the war saw little change in Paris, hence it was dubbed the ‘phoney war’ or the Sitzkrieg (the sitting war) as opposed to the Blitzkrieg (the lightning war). Alexis Danan told Noor it would be impossible to go ahead with the children’s newspaper at this time. It was unlikely that there would be any interest in such a thing in the middle of the war. He was also concerned that the project she had in mind was so beautiful that it would be very expensive to produce and hence quite unaffordable by youngsters. All plans for Bel Age were stalled. Noor’s radio and newspaper work also suffered because of the war as there was less space for children’s stories.
To Noor, the ideology of the Nazis and their pogrom against the Jews was fundamentally repulsive and opposed to all the principles of religious harmony that she had been brought up with by her father. She was Muslim by birth but she had loved a Jewish man, and Noor felt the urge to do something to help the war effort. Her first thought was nursing, and she and Claire signed up for a training course in Nursing and First Aid with the Union des Femmes de France (the French Red Cross). Here the sisters learnt the basics of nursing and first aid so as to be able to help when the time came. When the war began, Noor and Claire remained at work till the hospital was evacuated and they were cut off from the unit.
At this time, Noor also made a significant decision about her personal life. After years of emotional conflict, she finally broke off her engagement with Goldberg. She told Madame Prénat, her closest confidante, that she did so because she wanted to be free to go into action or serve as a nurse on the front line if the need arose. 38
On the afternoon of 4 June 1940, as the German guns pointed towards France, Noor and Vilayat sat down on a sofa near the big window in the living room of Fazal Manzil. Outside they could see Paris stretching out below them. They had to take an important decision.
They had been brought up as Sufis, with the principle of non-violence firmly entrenched in them. Inayat Khan had taught them about Gandhi and his methods of peaceful protest in the freedom struggle. Many of the mureeds thought their first responsibility lay towards the movement. But brother and sister were confused. On the one hand they knew that war meant death and destruction, on the other they had seen the Germans’ activities at first hand.
‘If an armed Nazi comes to your house and takes twenty hostages and wants to exterminate them, would you not be an accomplice in these deaths, if you had the opportunity to kill him (and thereby prevent these deaths) but did not do so because of your belief in non-violence?’ Vilayat asked Noor. ‘How can we preach spiritual morality without participating in preventive action? Can we stand by and just watch what the Nazis are doing? 39
They knew that they could not stand by, and so they decided to act to ‘thwart the aggression of the tyrant’. 40 Noor and Vilayat decided they would go to England and join the war effort. Vilayat would join the services and Noor would volunteer to help in whatever way she could, nursing or services. They went up to tell the rest of the family of their plans, feeling immensely relieved that they had come to a decision at last.
Hidayat was the only one who was married and he said he would take his wife and children to the south of France where he would help the Resistance. The uncles would also stay behind. Noor and Vilayat would take Claire and their mother with them to England. Hidayat would drive them as far as Tours. They decided they
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