A moving letter from Josephine Baker, ready to fight for France.

Josephine Baker (1906.1975)

Autographed letter signed to Valentine Fauchier Magnan.

Two large quarto pages.

Missing item in the upper corner, but does not affect the text.

[Château des Milandes] August 18, 1940

"I love our country more than anything."

A deeply moving letter from Josephine Baker, both devastated and defiant in the face of the recent French surrender to Hitler's armies. Abandoned by her husband, who, according to her, left her because of her skin color, the artist demonstrates her sense of honor and courage, qualities that would make her a valiant member of the Resistance: " Keep your head up. Courage and patience."

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"My dearest Val, you can never imagine my joy when yesterday the postman brought me your letter dated June 2nd, it was my birthday present, it was June 3rd my birthday, how happy I am to know that you have not forgotten me, thank you.

So much has happened since we last met on the Champs-Élysées. I'm glad you're still working for the Red Cross. Yes, so many prisoners and so many other unfortunate things, my poor Val. There's one thing that weighs heavily on my heart: the day I left, I called Madame Menier to see her and tell her everything, but alas, she wasn't free that day, and I had to leave immediately. Since then, I've been thinking about her, the poor woman all alone there. I can't stop thinking about her. Where is she? What is she like? I couldn't speak to her on the phone, of course, and it's been weighing on my conscience ever since.

I'm here in the countryside, alone but at peace. Jean [Jean Lion, her husband] left with his family, scared because of me. I'm Black, and the other thing, you understand? Anyway, I won't leave the boat, Val, I can't. I love our country more than anything.

I'm so glad to know that our little Claude is doing well […] Write to me soon, Val darling. Lots of love to you both. Your Jo. Keep your head up. Courage and patience .

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Having become French through her marriage in 1937 to Jean Lion, Josephine Baker decided to resist the Nazis and refused to sing in Paris as long as the Germans were there.

From 1939 onwards, she undertook several tours along the northeastern border to boost troop morale. In September 1939, Daniel Marouani, brother of Josephine Baker's agent, introduced her to Jacques Abtey, an officer of the 2nd Bureau, the Army's intelligence service. Abtey, who was head of military counter-espionage in Paris at the outbreak of war, was then tasked with recruiting "Honorable Correspondents"—trustworthy volunteers who could travel anywhere without arousing suspicion to gather information on the activities of German agents.

It was then agreed that Josephine Baker would use her connections to get invited as often as possible to cocktail parties held at embassies in order to gather information on enemy troops. She thus succeeded in obtaining, at receptions held at the Italian and Portuguese embassies, valuable information on German troop movements and Mussolini's intentions at the beginning of the war.

In June 1941, Josephine Baker fell seriously ill. Her hospitalization, which lasted 19 months, did not put an end to her intelligence work; quite the contrary, as her room became a center for the exchange of secret information. She also worked to convince every American official she met to support General de Gaulle and Free France.

During the Allied landings in North Africa on November 11, 1942, she left her hospital room to experience the long-awaited event.
Barely recovered, Josephine Baker went to boost troop morale and organized shows, donating all her earnings to the French army. (Reference: Pascale Chardonnet and Françoise Firmin, Société d'Histoire du Vésinet, April 2014.)

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For easier reading, we have corrected the spelling of J. Baker.