DOCSLIB.ORG

Esther Delisle on the Liberation of France: Image and Event

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Esther Delisle on the Liberation of France: Image and Event H. R. Kedward, Nancy Wood, eds.. The Liberation of France: Image and Event. Oxford and Washington, D.C.: Berg Publishers, 1995. xvi + 369 pp. $109.95, cloth, ISBN 978-1-85973-082-9. Reviewed by Esther Delisle Published on H-France (December, 1998) The ambition of the editors of this book-- In his thoughtful study of the Resistance which is to open the Liberation of France to close group Carmagnole-Liberte in Lyon, J. C. Sim‐ conceptual analysis--may not have been fulfilled, monds tells us that a large influx of recruits to the but not for lack of trying. The book is a collection FTP-MOI (Francs-Tireurs et Partisans Francais et of twenty-four articles frst presented at an inter‐ Main d'Oeuvre Immigree) Carmagnole occurred, disciplinary conference held at the University of not surprisingly in the summer of 1944, in the Sussex in April 1994 commemorating the fftieth wake of the Allied landing. Who were the brave anniversary of the Liberation of France. The arti‐ men and women who put their lives on the line cles are grouped under fve headings: Resistance well before 1944? Eight-three percent of them Narratives, Gender, Epuration, Outre-Mer, and were not French citizens, but often political--com‐ the Contested and Ambiguous Image. That the munist or anti-fascist--refugees, or immigrants Liberation of France was a pivotal event of mani‐ with no citizenship, toughened up by years of liv‐ fold dimensions--as editors H. R. Kedward and ing in the extremes of poverty. They were young, Nancy Wood (both from the University of Sussex) between 18 and 25 years old, and many of them say in the introduction--is undoubtedly true, were women. Twenty-three percent were Jewish, though so also was the fall of France four years and Polish Jews proved to be the backbone of FTP- earlier. France was liberated by the western Allies MOI Carmagnole. They established the group on 6 as had been expected by the French themselves June 1942. They remained its most loyal long-term well before the summer of 1944. The most inter‐ members and carried most of its actions. Last and esting chapters of this book do not dress these old least: French citizens accounted for 17 percent of facts in new garbs, but instead add interesting the membership of Carmagnole-Liberte, including and painful details to the picture we have of the all the converted of the eleventh hour. The frst to Liberation of France. join Carmagnole-Liberte were the last to be re‐ membered: the French Communist Party has be‐ H-Net Reviews stowed upon them some recognition only recent‐ lates that when Otto Abetz, the German ambas‐ ly. sador in Paris (1940-44) was tried on 64 counts, We learn of other unsung heroes in Tony the main one being the murder of the Georges Chafer's essay "African Perspectives: The Libera‐ Mandel, former French cabinet minister and belli‐ tion of France and its Impact in French West ciste, he successfully claimed that he had engi‐ Africa." French West African soldiers who fought neered Mandel's escape to Germany where he in the battles for the Liberation of France were was safe only to be brought back to France and rounded up in camps in France pending their shot by Joseph Darnand's Milice under orders repatriation to Africa, and because of the "whiten‐ from Pierre Laval, head of the Vichy government. ing" of the French army in 1944-45 they could not This claim dramatically deflated the confidence of take part in the victory marches and celebrations. the prosecution, though Abetz was eventually sen‐ Their mistreatment did not stop there: many had tenced to twenty years (and released in 1954). to fght hard to receive their pay or their full pen‐ In a country where literature and political sions. In Algeria the moderate nationalist leader‐ convictions are apparently important, many writ‐ ship pressing for reforms drew attention to the ers showed an extraordinary ability to switch alle‐ enormous sacrifices made by Muslim soldiers giance at the last minute without batting an eye‐ who made up 90 percent of the force commanded lid. A case in point is the world of comic strips by General Henri Giraud, but to no avail. where many famous authors and especially illus‐ When left to fend for themselves and given trators worked with no hiatus for the Vichy liberation on a silver platter, some French proved regime and for the post-Liberation Fourth Repub‐ to be comically inept. Simon Kitson, in an article lic. In "Plus ca change...? Propaganda Fiction for entitled "The Police in the Liberation of Paris," re‐ Children, 1940-1945," Judith K. Proud relates the lates an episode which forebode the misadven‐ story of a certain Vincent Dancette. He had writ‐ tures of Inspector Clouseau. On Saturday, 19 Au‐ ten Il etait une fois un pays heureux in 1943 (One gust 1944, around a thousand police insurgents upon a time a happy land), a work of propaganda gathered in the Prefecture de police de Paris, be‐ fiction for children in praise of Marshal Philippe coming easy targets for the Germans who lost no Petain, which was published by a company called time in attacking them. The valiant insurgents be‐ La Generale publicite on behalf of Le Bureau de came panic-stricken but luck--if not sound judge‐ documentation du chef d'etat, Petain's personal ment--was on their side: German resolve was propaganda machine. Around the same time weak in view of their impending defeat. So a truce Dancette was publishing Il etait une fois un pays was quickly reached. Thanks to the diligent work heureux, he began working on another book for of French historians, this incident was subse‐ children: La Bete est morte. La Guerre mondiale quently gained mythical proportions. Quickly for‐ chez les animaux (The Beast is dead. The World gotten was the most damning evidence of all, War among Animals) which celebrated the Liber‐ namely that in July 1944 a few weeks prior to the ation, and was published by the same Generale occupation of the Prefecture, the police of Paris publicite in June 1945. Nicholas Hewitt in "The Lit‐ had arrested five hundred foreign Jews. erature of the Right and the Liberation: the Case of the 'Hussards'" demonstrates that young writ‐ Epuration (i.e., the purge of French collabora‐ ers linked with the far right Action francaise be‐ tors after liberation) also raised many questions fore the Second World War enjoyed a consider‐ the authorities did not wish to consider. In his in‐ able measure of success in the post-war era. teresting article entitled "France's Little Nurem‐ Uranus (1948), an anti-Resistance novel by the berg: The Trial of Otto Abetz," Nicolas Atkin re‐ 2 H-Net Reviews right-wing anarchist Marcel Ayme, was, for exam‐ l'ivresse, as a woman Resister, had to lead a dou‐ ple, well regarded. ble life outwitting the Gestapo, but this situation Gender analyses fall short in opening up the was not created by her gender as much as by her Liberation of France to close examination. These activities as a Resister (Claire Gorrara, "Reviewing consist mainly in glorified cliches and the contin‐ Gender and the Resistance: the Case of Lucie uous re-invention of the wheel. In "Women's Aspi‐ Aubrac," p. 149). Male resistants led a double life rations, 1943-47: An Oral Enquiry in Toulouse," too not because they were men, but because clan‐ Hanna Diamond conducted a lengthy and time- destinity was essential for survival and the suc‐ consuming oral inquiry among women on their cess of their missions. A case in point: Raymond aspirations at the Liberation only to learn that Aubrac, her husband, who Lucie rescued many most of them had hoped it would bring back their times from the grasp of the Gestapo. traditional lives as housewives. Some wanted to Shearings of women at the Liberation were continue to work outside the home because they an "enactment of a gender-based violence enacted had enjoyed their frst taste of it. According to the by men on the bodies of women" (Corran Laurens, same oral sources, during the Occupation, women "'La femme au Turban': les femmes tondues," p. had not surprisingly spent an inordinate amount 155). Let this reviewer try her hand at gender id‐ of time searching for the victuals and other life es‐ iom: putting male collaborators in front of a fring sentials for their families. squad was a gender-based violence inflicted by Everywhere in liberated France and in every men on the bodies of men. Stating the obvious sphere of life, women were subject to repressive should not be confused with close conceptual social construction in a patriarchal society. Hilary analysis. Why were women sheared who were Footitt, quoting Genevieve Fraisse (La Raison des suspected of having collaborated with the Ger‐ femmes [Paris, 1992]) claims that the election of mans? Scratch through the jargon and appreciate thirty-three women to the Assemblee constitu‐ the explanation for what it is worth: "they repre‐ ante, was one "of these historic moments where sented both an attempted symbolic reversal of women defined themselves as women, as the sub‐ women's emergent power and an exorcism of the jects of history" ("The First Women Deputies: les image of threatened masculinity from public 33 Glorieuses", p. 131). During the life of the as‐ memory" (p. 177). Because we learn in this book sembly (1945-46), they put gender above politics, that masculine identity stood as another casualty not letting their political rivalries get in the way of the Occupation.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Le Rôle Du Gouvernement De Vichy Dans La Rafle Du Vel' D'hiv' Et Sa Mémoire Aux Yeux De La
    The College of Wooster Libraries Open Works Senior Independent Study Theses 2016 La Trahison et la honte : Le rôle du gouvernement de Vichy dans la rafle du elV ’ d’Hiv’ et sa mémoire aux yeux de la société française Olivia Bolek College of Wooster, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy Part of the Other French and Francophone Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Bolek, Olivia, "La Trahison et la honte : Le rôle du gouvernement de Vichy dans la rafle du eV l’ d’Hiv’ et sa mémoire aux yeux de la société française" (2016). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 6979. https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/6979 This Senior Independent Study Thesis Exemplar is brought to you by Open Works, a service of The oC llege of Wooster Libraries. It has been accepted for inclusion in Senior Independent Study Theses by an authorized administrator of Open Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. © Copyright 2016 Olivia Bolek Abstract While many people know that World War II France was occupied by the Germans, retaining little sovereignty in the de facto Vichy government, many may not realize the extent to which the French collaborated with their Nazi occupiers and how many anti-Semitic measures were in fact created by the Vichy government. After the war, the crimes committed by the French against the Jews became a taboo which slowly transformed over the years into what is today considered to be an obsession with the topic. These events are best demonstrated through the 1942 Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup in which Parisian authorities gathered over 13,000 Jews, detaining over half of them in the Vélodrome d’Hiver, an indoor cycling arena in Paris, for almost a week without food, water, or sanitation.
    [Show full text]
  • Vichy France and the Jews
    VICHY FRANCE AND THE JEWS MICHAEL R. MARRUS AND ROBERT 0. PAXTON Originally published as Vichy et les juifs by Calmann-Levy 1981 Basic Books, Inc., Publishers New York Contents Introduction Chapter 1 / First Steps Chapter 2 / The Roots o f Vichy Antisemitism Traditional Images of the Jews 27 Second Wave: The Crises of the 1930s and the Revival of Antisemitism 34 The Reach of Antisemitism: How Influential Was It? 45 The Administrative Response 54 The Refugee Crisis, 1938-41 58 Chapter 3 / The Strategy o f Xavier Vallat, i 9 4 !-4 2 The Beginnings of German Pressure 77 Vichy Defines the Jewish Issue, 1941 83 Vallat: An Activist at Work 96 The Emigration Deadlock 112 Vallat’s Fall 115 Chapter 4 / The System at Work, 1040-42 The CGQJ and Other State Agencies: Rivalries and Border Disputes 128 Business as Usual 144 Aryanization 152 Emigration 161 The Camps 165 Chapter 5 / Public Opinion, 1040-42 The Climax of Popular Antisemitism 181 The DistriBution of Popular Antisemitism 186 A Special Case: Algeria 191 The Churches and the Jews 197 X C ontents The Opposition 203 An Indifferent Majority 209 Chapter 6 / The Turning Point: Summer 1Q42 215 New Men, New Measures 218 The Final Solution 220 Laval and the Final Solution 228 The Effort to Segregate: The Jewish Star 234 Preparing the Deportation 241 The Vel d’Hiv Roundup 250 Drancy 252 Roundups in the Unoccupied Zone 255 The Massacre of the Innocents 263 The Turn in PuBlic Opinion 270 Chapter 7 / The Darquier Period, 1942-44 281 Darquier’s CGQJ and Its Place in the Regime 286 Darquier’s CGQJ in Action 294 Total Occupation and the Resumption of Deportations 302 Vichy, the ABBé Catry, and the Massada Zionists 310 The Italian Interlude 315 Denaturalization, August 1943: Laval’s Refusal 321 Last Days 329 Chapter 8 / Conclusions: The Holocaust in France .
    [Show full text]
  • Report to the Public on the Work of the 2019 Proceedings of the Symposium Held on November 15, 2019
    Commission pour l’indemnisation des victimes de spoliations intervenues du fait des législations antisémites en vigueur pendant l’Occupation Report to the public on the work of the 2019 Proceedings of the symposium held on November 15, 2019 Speech by French President Jacques Chirac, on July 16, 1995, at the commemoration of the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup (July 16, 1942) Excerpts « In the life of a nation, there are times that leave painful memories and damage people’s conception of their country. It is difficult to evoke these moments because we can never find the proper words to describe their horror or to express the grief of those who experienced their tragedy. They will carry forever, in their souls and in their flesh, the memory of these days of tears and shame. [… ] On that day, France, land of the Enlightenment, of Human Rights, of welcome and asylum, committed the irreparable. Breaking its word, it handed those who were under its protection over to their executioners. [… ] Our debt to them is inalienable. [… ] In passing on the history of the Jewish people, of its sufferings and of the camps. In bearing witness again and again. In recognizing the errors of the past, and the errors committed by the State. In concealing nothing about the dark hours of our history, we are simply standing up for a vision of humanity, of human liberty and dignity. We are thus struggling against the forces of darkness, which are constantly at work. [… ] Let us learn the lessons of history. Let us refuse to be passive onlookers, or accomplices, of unacceptable acts.
    [Show full text]
  • 1961-1962, L'oas De Métropole
    1961-1962, l’O.A.S. de Métropole : étude des membres d’une organisation terroriste Sylvain Gricourt To cite this version: Sylvain Gricourt. 1961-1962, l’O.A.S. de Métropole : étude des membres d’une organisation terroriste. Histoire. 2015. dumas-01244341 HAL Id: dumas-01244341 https://dumas.ccsd.cnrs.fr/dumas-01244341 Submitted on 15 Dec 2015 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Université Paris 1 - Panthéon-Sorbonne UFR 09 Master Histoire des Sociétés occidentales contemporaines Centre d’histoire sociale du XXe siècle 1961-1962, l’O.A.S. de Métropole : Étude des membres d’une organisation terroriste Mémoire de Master 2 recherche Présenté par M. Sylvain Gricourt Sous la direction de Mme Raphaëlle Branche 2015 2 1961-1962, l’O.A.S. de Métropole : Étude des membres d’une organisation terroriste 3 Remerciements Ma gratitude va tout d’abord à madame Raphaëlle Branche, ma directrice de mémoire, qui m’a orienté vers l’étude de cette Organisation armée secrète dont les quelques mois d’activité se sont révélés être aussi agités que captivants. Son aide et ses conseils tout au long de ce travail auront été précieux.
    [Show full text]
  • Jean Cocteau's the Typewriter
    1 A Queer Premiere: Jean Cocteau’s The Typewriter Introduction Late in April 1941, toward the close of the first Parisian theatre season fol- lowing the Defeat, Jean Cocteau’s La Machine à écrire (The Typewriter) opened, then closed, then reopened at the Théâtre Hébertot. Written in the style of a detective drama, the play starred the actor generally known—at least in the entertainment world at the time—as Cocteau’s sometime lover and perpetual companion, Jean Marais, as identical twin brothers. The re- views are curiously reticent about what exactly occurred at the Hébertot, and historians and critics offer sometimes contradictory pieces of a puzzle that, even when carefully put together, forms an incomplete picture. The fragments are, however, intriguing. Merrill Rosenberg describes how, on the evening of April 29, 1941, the dress rehearsal (répétition génerale), sponsored “as a gala” by the daily Paris-Soir and attended by various “dig- nitaries,” caused in the Hébertot’s auditorium a demonstration by members of the Parti Populaire Français (PPF). This disruption prompted Vichy’s ambas- sador to Paris, Fernand de Brinon, to order the withdrawal of the production (“Vichy’s Theatrical Venture” 136). Francis Steegmuller describes the disor- der that greeted the Typewriter premiere and the revival of Les Parents Terribles (at the Gymnase later that year): “stink bombs exploded in the theatres, and hoodlums filled the aisles and climbed onto the stage, shouting obscenities at Cocteau and Marais as a couple” (442).1 Patrick Marsh too notes that these plays “were seriously disrupted by violent scenes fomented by fascist sym- pathizers and members of the Parti Populaire Français” (“Le Théâtre 1 2 THE DRAMA OF FALLEN FRANCE Français .
    [Show full text]
  • Alya Aglan La France À L’Envers La Guerre De Vichy (1940-1945) INÉDIT Histoire
    Alya Aglan La France à l’envers La guerre de Vichy (1940-1945) INÉDIT histoire COLLECTION FOLIO HISTOIRE Alya Aglan La France à l’envers La guerre de Vichy 1940‑1945 Gallimard Cet ouvrage inédit est publié sous la direction de Martine Allaire Éditions Gallimard, 2020. Les bobards… sortent toujours du même nid. Affiche de propagande vichyste, 1941, par André Deran. Collection particulière. Photo © Bridgeman Images. Alya Aglan, née en 1963 au Caire, est professeur d’histoire contemporaine à l’université Paris 1 Panthéon‑Sorbonne, titu‑ laire de la chaire « Guerre, Politique, Société, XIXe‑XXe siècle ». Spécialiste de l’histoire de la Résistance, abordée sous l’angle de la perception du temps aussi bien par les orga‑ nisations que par les acteurs individuels, elle a été chargée par la Caisse des dépôts et consignations, dans le contexte de la Mission Matteoli, d’étudier le mécanisme administra‑ tif des spoliations antisémites sous Vichy. Introduction Parenthèse politique, « quatre années à rayer de notre histoire1 », selon le procureur général Mornet, où seule « une poignée de misérables et d’indignes2 » se seraient rendus coupables d’« intelligence avec l’ennemi », l’Occupation et le régime de Vichy n’ont pas réussi à entamer l’identification de la nation française à son glorieux passé national et impérial en dépit de fractures profondément rouvertes en 1940. Pourtant la continuité inentamée du déroulé his‑ torique, qui s’incarne de manière inattendue dans la France libre, rebelle ou « dissidente », aurait sim‑ plement migré, provisoirement, de Paris à Londres en 1940, puis à Alger fin 1942, avant de revenir dans la capitale des Français.
    [Show full text]
  • Cahiers De La Méditerranée, 62 | 2001 La Prestation Du Serment Du Service D’Ordre Légionnaire (S.O.L) Aux Arènes De
    Cahiers de la Méditerranée 62 | 2001 L'événement dans l'histoire des Alpes-Maritimes La prestation du serment du service d’ordre légionnaire (S.O.L) aux arènes de Cimiez le 22 février 1942 Dominique Olivesi Édition électronique URL : http://journals.openedition.org/cdlm/60 DOI : 10.4000/cdlm.60 ISSN : 1773-0201 Éditeur Centre de la Méditerranée moderne et contemporaine Édition imprimée Date de publication : 15 juin 2001 Pagination : 135-144 ISSN : 0395-9317 Référence électronique Dominique Olivesi, « La prestation du serment du service d’ordre légionnaire (S.O.L) aux arènes de Cimiez le 22 février 1942 », Cahiers de la Méditerranée [En ligne], 62 | 2001, mis en ligne le 15 février 2004, consulté le 08 septembre 2020. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/cdlm/60 ; DOI : https:// doi.org/10.4000/cdlm.60 Ce document a été généré automatiquement le 8 septembre 2020. © Tous droits réservés La prestation du serment du service d’ordre légionnaire (S.O.L) aux arènes de... 1 La prestation du serment du service d’ordre légionnaire (S.O.L) aux arènes de Cimiez le 22 février 1942 Dominique Olivesi “Pour faire accepter, puis comprendre et enfin aimer un Etat totalitaire à un peuple qui a vécu depuis soixante ans dans une démocratie parlementaire, un rassemblement de masse comme la Légion n’est pas suffisant sous sa forme actuelle. Il faut qu’à l’intérieur même de la Légion existe une force réelle, une force agissante qui soit l’instrument révolutionnaire par excellence”. 1 C’est en ces termes qu’au début de l’année 1942, les statuts et les règlements intérieurs du Service d’ordre légionnaire (S.O.L.) fixaient les objectifs de cette nouvelle organisation appelée à devenir le fer de lance de la “Révolution Nationale”, d’“une France nouvelle dans une Europe nouvelle”.
    [Show full text]
  • Collaboration in Europe, 1939-1945
    Occupy/Be occupied Collaboration in Europe, 1939-1945 Barbara LAMBAUER ABSTRACT Collaboration in wartime not only concerns relations between the occupiers and occupied populations but also the assistance given by any government to a criminal regime. During the Second World War, the collaboration of governments and citizens was a crucial factor in the maintenance of German dominance in continental Europe. It was, moreover, precisely this assistance that allowed for the absolutely unprecedented dimensions of the Holocaust, a crime perpetrated on a European scale. Pétain meeting Hitler at Montoire on 24 October 1940. From the left: Henry Philippe Pétain, Paul-Otto Schmidt, Adolf Hitler, Joachim v. Ribbentrop. Photo : Heinrich Hoffman. The occupation of a territory is a common feature of war and brings with it acts of both collaboration and resistance. The development of national consciousness from the end of the 18th century and the growing identification of citizens with the state changed the way such behaviour was viewed, a moral judgement being attributed to loyalty to the state, and to treason against it. During the Second World War, and in connection with the crimes committed by Nazi Germany, the term “collaboration” acquired the particularly negative connotations that it has today. It cannot be denied that collaboration by governments as well as by individual citizens was a fundamental element in the functioning of German-occupied Europe. Moreover, unlike the explicit ideological engagement of some Europeans in the Nazi cause, it was by no means a marginal phenomenon. Nor was it limited only to countries occupied by the Wehrmacht: the governments of independent countries such as Finland, Hungary, Romania or Bulgaria collaborated, as did those of neutral countries such as Switzerland, Sweden and Portugal, albeit to varying degrees.
    [Show full text]
  • Division, Records of the Cultural Affairs Branch, 1946–1949 108 10.1.5.7
    RECONSTRUCTING THE RECORD OF NAZI CULTURAL PLUNDER A GUIDE TO THE DISPERSED ARCHIVES OF THE EINSATZSTAB REICHSLEITER ROSENBERG (ERR) AND THE POSTWARD RETRIEVAL OF ERR LOOT Patricia Kennedy Grimsted Revised and Updated Edition Chapter 10: United States of America (March 2015) Published on-line with generous support of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference), in association with the International Institute of Social History (IISH/IISG), Amsterdam, and the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies, Amsterdam, at http://www.errproject.org © Copyright 2015, Patricia Kennedy Grimsted The original volume was initially published as: Reconstructing the Record of Nazi Cultural Plunder: A Survey of the Dispersed Archives of the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR), IISH Research Paper 47, by the International Institute of Social History (IISH), in association with the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Amsterdam, and with generous support of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference), Amsterdam, March 2011 © Patricia Kennedy Grimsted The entire original volume and individual sections are available in a PDF file for free download at: http://socialhistory.org/en/publications/reconstructing-record-nazi-cultural- plunder. Also now available is the updated Introduction: “Alfred Rosenberg and the ERR: The Records of Plunder and the Fate of Its Loot” (last revsied May 2015). Other updated country chapters and a new Israeli chapter will be posted as completed at: http://www.errproject.org. The Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR), the special operational task force headed by Adolf Hitler’s leading ideologue Alfred Rosenberg, was the major NSDAP agency engaged in looting cultural valuables in Nazi-occupied countries during the Second World War.
    [Show full text]
  • Jean Cocteau and the Occupation of France Ruth Elizabeth Newns Austin UCL M.Phil
    Jean Cocteau and the Occupation of France Ruth Elizabeth Newns Austin UCL M.Phil 1 I, Ruth Elizabeth Newns Austin, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. Signature: 2 Abstract The work of Jean Cocteau continues to be of interest and has been the subject of many studies, with anniversaries relating to the poet’s life and work continuing to prompt new exhibitions of his work and assessments of his work. The fact that the interest in Cocteau so often extends beyond the work itself is a starting point for this study of the poet’s work during the period of the German Occupation of France, 1940-1944, and this will also be explored in this project. The project is divided into three sections which consider ‘l’affaire Breker’, Cocteau’s work for the cinema and his theatre productions of the period. I have worked through the newspaper archives at both the British Library’s collection in Colindale and that of Leeds University, the only two archives in Britain which between them offer a complete collection of the journal Comoedia as well as a number of other newspapers from the period, such as Je suis partout and La Gerbe. I have also read much of Cocteau’s work in parallel with the Journal intime he kept from 1942-1945, which was published posthumously. By examining the article on Breker, Cocteau’s involvement with cinema and the theatre during the Occupation, a view emerges of an artist grappling, not always successfully, with the particular challenges of the wartime context.
    [Show full text]
  • Racial Motivations for French Collaboration During The
    Clemson University TigerPrints All Theses Theses 5-2008 Racial Motivations for French Collaboration during the Second World War: Uncovering the Memory through Film and Memoirs Daniela Greene Clemson University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses Part of the European History Commons Recommended Citation Greene, Daniela, "Racial Motivations for French Collaboration during the Second World War: Uncovering the Memory through Film and Memoirs" (2008). All Theses. 383. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/383 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses by an authorized administrator of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RACIAL MOTIVATIONS FOR FRENCH COLLABORATION DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR: UNCOVERING THE MEMORY THROUGH FILM AND MEMOIRS _________________________________________ A Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University _________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts History _________________________________________ by Daniela Greene August 2008 _________________________________________ Accepted by: Dr. Alan Grubb, Committee Chair Dr. Roger Grant Dr. Donald McKale Abstract After France was defeated by the Germans in June 1940, several politicians of the Third Republic formed a new government under Marshal Philippe Pétain in Vichy. The men in the new regime immediately began to make social and political changes which, in their mind, were long overdue. They believed that they could negotiate with the occupation officials in the North and maintain France‟s sovereignty, at least in the “free” Southern zone. They also believed, as did a large part of the French people, that the inadequacies of the republican system had lost France the war.
    [Show full text]
  • The Escalation of German Reprisal Policy in Occupied France, 1941–42
    Journal of Contemporary History Copyright © 2006 SAGE Publications, London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi, Vol 41(1), 113–131. ISSN 0022–0094. DOI: 10.1177/0022009406058685 Christopher Neumaier The Escalation of German Reprisal Policy in Occupied France, 1941–42 In 2003, the Süddeutsche Zeitung published several articles on Ernst Jünger’s involvement in the escalation of German reprisal policy. Jünger’s memoran- dum on the hostage policy of the military commander in France had recently been discovered and was about to be published in the Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte. Jünger probably wrote most of this between October 1941 and February 1942, the period when Otto von Stülpnagel was responsible for imposing reprisals.1 This is one of many works on reprisal policy in France, which has become a central topic in German historiography in recent years and one on which Ahlrich Meyer wrote extensively. Meyer tried to revise earlier research by arguing that a more severe reprisal policy had been imple- mented by the German armed forces.2 The role of the Wehrmacht during the war of extermination has been a focal point of historiography since the mid-1980s. The discussion gained momen- tum with the end of the Cold War, the opening of archives in the East, and the highly controversial Wehrmachtsausstellung. At first, however, it mainly con- cerned crimes on the Eastern Front, such as those committed in Poland, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.3 Most recently, there has been a debate on I would like to thank Professor Richard J. Evans for his useful comments and Dr Stefan Martens, deputy director of the German Historical Institute in Paris, for his help and advice.
    [Show full text]