This weekend, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art will host “Art & Aperitifs: Paper Bullets and Queer Resistance,” examining LGBTQ artists during World War II, led by author, historian, and Rhodes College professor Jeffrey H. Jackson.
The event is centered around Jackson’s book, Paper Bullets: Two Artists Who Risked Their Lives to Defy the Nazis, which tells the true story of two avant-garde photographers who carried out a psychological resistance campaign against Nazi occupation.
The program will explore how art, identity, and political defiance intersected during one of the most dangerous periods of the 20th century. Through discussion and historical context, the event highlights how creative expression became a form of resistance when traditional means were not possible.
Paper Bullets is a work of nonfiction recounting the stories of Lucy Schwob and Suzanne Malherbe, better known by their artist names Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore. The two queer, gender-nonconforming artists lived on the British Channel Island of Jersey, which was occupied by German forces during World War II. Isolated from the mainland and under constant surveillance, the island offered limited opportunities for organized resistance.
Cahun and Moore responded by using what they knew best: language, art, and psychological provocation. Writing various anonymous notes filled with satire, anti-Hitler messages, and calls for rebellion, they covertly placed the messages in soldiers’ uniform pockets, cigarette packs, newspapers, and public spaces. Their goal was to undermine morale and plant seeds of doubt within the occupying forces.
The notes were signed by a fictional persona they called “The Soldier With No Name,” giving the impression that resistance was widespread and possibly organized from within the German ranks. Over time, their efforts evolved into a sustained psychological campaign that unsettled authorities and increased suspicion among soldiers.
The risks of their resistance were only amplified by Cahun and Moore being queer partners at a time when homosexuality was criminalized and heavily stigmatized. Their artistic work in Paris before the war was known for its gender-nonconforming imagery and themes of identity. Claude was also half-Jewish, placing her at even greater risk under Nazi racial policies.
Despite the dangers, the pair continued their resistance for years. Their activities eventually drew attention, and in 1944 they were betrayed, arrested by Nazi authorities, and subjected to a court-martial. Both were sentenced to death.
They survived the war, both due to delays and the collapse of German control near the end of the conflict. During their imprisonment, they continued to encourage fellow prisoners and to share messages of resilience, according to Jackson’s research.
Jackson is a professor of history at Rhodes College, where he teaches modern European and French history, cultural history, environmental history and interdisciplinary humanities. His scholarship focuses on how culture and ideas shape historical movements, particularly during times of crisis.
“If you’re not writing about people, you’re not writing history,” Jackson says. “With humanities as a discipline, we’re trying to understand what it means to be human. To do that, we have to understand all of those stories. We have to think of the totality of it. We can’t just privilege some and erase others.”
In Paper Bullets, Jackson draws on archival research, personal letters, and wartime records to reconstruct the story of Claude and Marcel. His work places their actions within a broader history of resistance while highlighting how unconventional methods, including art, humor, and ambiguity, could challenge authoritarian power.
In the decades since the war, both Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore have gained recognition for their contributions to modern art. Cahun’s self-portraits, which often blurred gender boundaries, are now considered influential in discussions of identity and performance. Together, the pair are also recognized for their early articulation of sexual identity as fluid rather than fixed.
Jackson connects their artistic legacy with their wartime actions, emphasizing that their resistance was not separate from their creative lives but deeply intertwined with it.
Readers interested in history, art, and LGBTQ issues will enjoy the breadth of these stories, never before told as they are in Paper Bullets.
Art & Aperitifs: Paper Bullets and Queer Resistance will be held at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art Sunday, January 18th, from 2-4 p.m. Admission is free; advance registration is required.