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France Collaboration From the 1970s on, the forms of remembering World War II have undergone fundamental changes in France. The student revolts of 1968, the retiring of General de Gaulle and the succession of new generations in culture and politics had led to a situation where the master narratives of the post-War period were being questioned. Young intellectuals began to examine the questions of collaboration and the specific form of French anti-Semitism. The Vichy regime became an object of prime importance for historical research. Subsequently, the period of German occupation was used to discredit political opponents. The most important transformation in this period was that the question of the genocide of European Jewry was finally addressed. Then the question of the participation of the Vichy regime was raised and in the 1980s and 90s several actions were brought against perpetrators on grounds of crimes against humanity. The legal "restitution" was followed by restitution on a symbolic political level. The partial responsibility of the French state for the deportation of Jews was officially recognized. In 1993 the 16 th of July was officially declared a day of commemoration in memory of the big raid to round up Jews that took place on July 16/17, 1942, at the Vélodrome d'Hiver in Paris. |
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The film "Le Chagrin et la pitié" ("The Sorrow and the Pity") by Marcel Ophüls offered a completely different view of the occupation than had previously been seen. By means of a collection of interviews with eyewitnesses from different professions and social classes as well as excerpts from newsreels and propaganda films, Ophüls showed how a large part of French society had arranged itself during the occupation. It ranged from the attempt to continue living a "normal" life to active collaboration with the occupation forces. The collage-like structure of the film was taken over in the poster, which shows a number of individual shots from the film. These photographs document various public notices. They announce Germany's victory on all fronts, call for volunteers for the fight against Bolshevism and appeal to the French people to maintain law and order and not let themselves be dragged into a revolution. |
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After the day of commemoration for the victims of anti-Semitism was introduced and the French state recognized its responsibility, a memorial postage stamp was issued. The design shows a stylised flower whose petals look like flames, in front of a deep blue background. A yellow star with the word "Juif" can be seen behind two rows of barbed wire; a pair of eyes looks out over it. The title "Friend, do you hear?", the beginning of the famous Résistance song "Chant des Partisans", refers to the lack of action taken by the witnesses. It can also be understood as a warning for the future. |
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