Résistance (2019) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Marcel's decision to join the Resistance grows from his deepening connection with the Jewish community in Strasbourg. After meeting Emma and witnessing the arrival of 123 Jewish orphans, he forms bonds with the children through his humor and leadership. When Germany invades Poland and France is occupied, the threat to these children he cares about becomes personal. His love for Emma and his growing sense of responsibility for protecting the orphans transform him from an aspiring mime artist into an active resistance member willing to risk his life.

• marcel marceau
• resistance
• jewish children
• emma
• strasbourg

Mila is captured during a Gestapo roundup in Lyon in 1943. Klaus Barbie tortures her brutally to extract information about the Resistance network. She dies under torture, and her death represents one of the film's most devastating losses. Her capture also leads to Barbie using Emma as a pawn, forcing Emma into coerced collaboration with the Gestapo under threat of further harm.

• mila
• emma
• klaus barbie
• torture
• lyon
• capture

Emma is coerced into collaboration after Barbie captures and tortures her sister Mila to death. Barbie uses Emma as a pawn, extracting information about the Resistance under duress. The trauma of this betrayal and her complicity drives Emma to attempt suicide. Marcel saves her, and together they renew their vow to protect the remaining children, using their guilt as fuel for the mission to smuggle Jewish children to safety.

• emma
• gestapo
• collaboration
• barbies coercion
• suicide

Alain narrowly escapes capture during a Nazi sweep of Lyon's train station thanks to Marcel's quick thinking. While Alain attempts to flee, Marcel creates a distraction by setting a German soldier on fire, giving Alain the window he needs to vanish into the crowd. The act demonstrates the dangerous, improvised bravery required to operate within the Resistance network.

• alain
• marcel
• lyon station
• escape
• german soldier

Barbie arrives in Lyon in 1942 with a mission to eradicate the Resistance, and Marcel and Emma have become central figures in the network smuggling Jewish children to safety. Their operation threatens the Nazi goal of rounding up Jewish populations. Barbie uses his notorious brutality, including bribery, betrayal, and executions, to dismantle their network. His pursuit intensifies as they plan the smuggling operation to Switzerland, ultimately catching up to them at the border.

• klaus barbie
• marcel
• emma
• lyon
• resistance leader

Marcel, Emma, and Alain escort a dozen Jewish children, including Elsbeth, on a covert journey disguised as a Scout hiking trip. They travel by SNCF train toward the French Alps, attempting to hide their true mission. When Barbie and his SS unit close in at the last station before the border, Emma hides while Marcel evades interrogation. The group then flees through icy forests along the Swiss border, where Emma is fatally shot by Barbie. Despite this loss, the remaining children and Marcel reach safety in Switzerland.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes established that Marcel had guided other children across the Alps multiple times, making this escape route his established expertise.

• switzerland
• children
• escape
• alps
• train
• barbie

Elsbeth survives the Nazi raid on her Berlin home in 1938 that kills her parents. She becomes one of the 123 Jewish orphans brought to Strasbourg, where she comes under Marcel's care. Throughout the war, Marcel and Emma maintain contact with her as she is dispersed to various safe locations. Elsbeth is included in the final group of twelve children smuggled to Switzerland, successfully reaching safety despite Emma's death at the border.

• elsbeth
• berlin
• orphans
• saved
• switzerland

After the war ends in 1945, Marcel serves as a Liaison Officer with the United States Army in Nuremberg. General Patton introduces him to troops and reveals the full scope of his wartime actions: Marcel crossed the Alps multiple times to rescue hundreds of Jewish children, many of whom were orphans. The ripple effects of these rescues saved thousands more through survival and lineage. His mime performances, which the film shows throughout, become a symbol of resilience and memory of those he saved.

• marcel
• hundreds of children
• alps
• nuremberg
• patton
• mime

Emma is shot and killed by Klaus Barbie during the pursuit at the Franco-Swiss border in 1944. As Barbie and his SS unit close in at the last station before the border, Emma hides while the group attempts to continue. During the final chase through the icy forests, Barbie fires his pistol, wounding Emma fatally. She dies just as freedom is within reach, but her sacrifice allows Marcel and the children to continue and ultimately cross safely into Switzerland.

• emma
• death
• barbie
• swiss border
• shot
• sacrifice

In 1945, after the war ends, Marcel performs mime for American soldiers occupying Nuremberg. General Patton introduces him as a hero who crossed the Alps to save hundreds of children. His performances, becoming the iconic white-faced mime in blue and white clothing, serve as a tribute to the children he saved and a symbol of hope emerging from devastation. The mime represents how art sustained hope during catastrophe and continues to honor those lost.

• mime
• nuremberg
• patton
• performance
• postwar

Georges is Marcel's cousin who rallies Jews preparing for the worst as war approaches. He brings the Scout troop of 123 Jewish orphans to Strasbourg and helps establish them in a castle. Together with Emma, Georges coordinates the early resistance efforts and helps disperse the children to churches and families when the occupation intensifies. He represents the foundational network that Marcel and Emma later expand.

• georges
• cousins
• orphans
• strasbourg
• resistance network

Klaus Barbie arrives in Lyon in 1942 with a specific mission to crush the Resistance. He employs brutal methods including bribery, betrayal, and brutal executions. The film shows his forces carrying out mass executions in an empty swimming pool at Gestapo Headquarters. His ruthless efficiency in dismantling resistance networks and his torture and murder of captives, including Mila, earn him the infamous epithet "The Butcher of Lyon."

• klaus barbie
• butcher of lyon
• executions
• torture
• lyon