Original subtitles

Wedding in Germany Fallingbostel, May 1969

Dear children, even though your stomachs are full, you can stand a little speech.

Thirty years ago, when your mother and I married,

the sky was blue, but dark clouds were already looming on the horizon:

the clouds of World War Two.

All of us gathered here today

hope with all our hearts that you be spared such suffering.

Clermont-Ferrand: 134,000 residents in the Puy-de-Dôme region.

The capital of Auvergne is 240 miles from Paris and 37 miles from Vichy,

which was the capital of France from 1940 to 1944.

Gergovie, a nearby Gallic town, used to be

the fortified town of Vercingétorix, conquered by Julius Caesar.

A father tells his children about a more recent defeat.

In 1939, I was 27 years old.

I was the father of a large family, so I hadn't been sent to the front.

The front was the Maginot Line.

I'd been sent to Montferrand, near Clermont,

and my wife's dairywoman, Mrs Michel,

had criticised me for not going to the front.

So, after the débâcle,

I told her that there was no point in me going to the front,

since the front came to me.

Was there anything other than courage in the Resistance?

Of course. But the two emotions I experienced the most frequently

were sorrow and pity.

The Colonel was from Action Française

The Major was a moderate,

The Captain was all for the diocese,

The Lieutenant couldn't stand the church.

THE SORROW The adjutant was a fervent extremist

AND THE PITY The sergeant, a convinced socialist

CHRONICLE OF A FRENCH CITY The corporal, inscribed on all the lists

UNDER THE OCCUPATION And the private at the bookie's!

All these men made excellent Frenchmen.

Excellent soldiers who march in time.

Thinking that the Republic

is still the best thing going.

Now most of these strapping lads

A FILM BY MARCEL OPHULS don't share the same political views.

But they all agree, no matter what their view

Part 1: THE COLLAPSE is just to be left in bloody peace!

Two brothers, both local farmers, live a few miles from Clermont.

They have many memories of German occupation.

Is that your village?

That's where I was born.

I was born near that church there,

and later I lived on the farm facing the school.

You can't help but love your country.

Did you think about it in Buchenwald?

Not much.

- You didn't? - No.

- What did you think about? - Surviving. That's it.

That's mainly what I thought about.

But I'm talking about me, about how I saw things.

I'm not talking about those who...

There were some people who cried.

When I saw them cry, I knew that they would never make it.

No way. You had to think about yourself first,

and think about others after.

This politician also has reasons to remember.

For me, it was an experience that I will never forget.

This experience may have had a few secondary effects,

but I don't believe it has affected my attitude or behaviour.

Has it not made you feel bitter towards certain French people?

No, I wouldn't say that.

It showed me that there are certain tendencies and habits,

which, when they are fired, fed, or stimulated,

crop up like weeds, and so we must always be on the defence.

We have to protect our youth from this type of propaganda.

We have to talk to them about it

more than we talked about it a generation or two ago.

The manager of the Philips company also has reasons to remember.

As I was saying, his friends would ask me why I joined the Resistance.

Why? Because going into a restaurant and seeing Germans at a table,

and being told there's only four steaks left for the Germans and none for us

was a little frustrating,

seeing as that steak came from our cows in Auvergne.

So it was our right to eat it before giving it away.

That's my first reason.

My second reason was that the Germans were forever imposing curfews.

It was, after all, a Nazi regime, a totalitarian regime,

no matter how you look at it.

It was worth fighting for,

it was even worth dying for, rather than to live as slaves.

Hence, the Resistance.

Lasting peace is what we need.

There's nothing more senseless than fighting.

That's what I think.

- Depends on what you're fighting for. - Do you think they really knew?

- They didn't know? - I doubt it.

There are a few fanatics who know why.

- Did you know why? - Yes, I did.

- But you weren't a fanatic? - No, but...

But when I went off to war in 1940...

I left in 1939, on September 2, and I was sent to Modane.

What could I have clone?

I knew nothing. I was going to kill guys I'd never seen before,

who had never harmed me.

Later, they did harm us when they arrived in France. They messed us up.

Even in moments of calm, the soldiers are ready to fight.

Faced with the enemy, they have the winning qualities of

patience, courage,

vigilance, determination,

and confidence.

In right-thinking circles, in high society in Paris,

they sympathised with our soldiers,

whose troubles were unfortunately nothing compared to what came later.

And consequently, during this period,

people sought to distract them, to entertain them,

to relieve them from the boredom of the Maginot Line,

where time passed at a snail's pace. It must've been painfully boring.

So the right-thinking women of the Parisian bourgeoisie

decided to form a committee to entertain our valiant soldiers,

to provide them with a more pleasant view.

The idea was to plant rosebushes on the Maginot Line,

to make it look prettier, to create a nicer atmosphere.

And there were people who donated money towards these rosebushes,

so that our soldiers didn't have to look at the horrid, concrete walls,

and to give them a flowery environment in which to live.

It's pathetic when you think about the awful things that came later.

The infantry is advancing at great intervals.

In Oisemont, the enemy has set fire to the tanks of an oil factory.

It took two weeks in Poland.

We felt it would be just as quick in France,

as we were anxious to go home.

And,indeed, we took France in just one month.

...and onwards it goes. Next stop: Paris.

Naturally, we attacked on several occasions,

but the hardest time was in Oing, on the Belgian border.

The Belgian blockhaus weren't ready, but we had to take position in them.

The Germans arrived equipped with tanks.

All that we had were machine guns.

They proceeded to kill everyone inside,

because it made such an easy target. There were no battlements.

They hadn't even put up reinforced doors.

I'm telling you, we walked... We withdrew,

and we must have walked at least 20 miles,

without running across any troops. Not one single troop.

Nothing, nothing, nothing.

First of all, I'd like to emphasise the fact that the German staff

was not expecting to achieve such a quick, resounding success.

We soldiers, unlike Hitler,

were convinced that we were facing the same adversary as in 1914-1918,

a determined, brave adversary, prepared to fight to the bitter end.

Unfortunately, I must admit that Hitler was right in this case.

He was always saying how the French were incapable

of repeating their performance in World War I,

and he never missed an opportunity to add to this statement

a few disagreeable and derisory remarks or comments

on the general emotional and moral state of France.

GERMAN NEW S

Near Noyon, General Stummel, taking the vanguard with his troops,

with his adjutant, took several prisoners.

It began with two.

Later, many others surrendered.

The prisoners come from every nation and every walk of life.

So-called defenders of the great nation.

In fact, a shame for the white race.

These are the black brothers of the French.

In the words of Chamberlain,

"We, together with our allies, are the guardians of civilisation."

"Together we fight medieval barbarism."

These are the guardians of civilisation.

These are the barbarians.

This is the war of the Franco-English plutocrats.

They began this war rashly without taking any heed of the consequences,

to fight for the English lords,

not only until the last Frenchman, but until the last French house.

Mrs Tausend, you stayed in Germany.

Did you read the papers? Did you watch the German news?

Yes, we followed the events closely.

Naturally, we were a bit frightened.

But the news of victory made us happy.

These cars are stopped for a lack of petrol.

The Jewish warmongers and Parisian plutocrats,

with their suitcases full of gold and precious stones, have fled.

This shortage of petrol put a crimp in their plans.

The streets were hopelessly blocked.

Yet these English-loving traitors and deserters

continued their journey on foot.

These are the French people who have been mercilessly evacuated

and dragged along in the flood of the routed French army.

Soon, these people will be able to go home.

The German people were spared such a trial,

thanks to the Fuhrer and his German soldiers.

During that time, there was an enormous upsurge

of the people, who were completely panicked, terrified.

Fate willed that I should be given leave

in the last few days of the month of April.

Consequently, I was in Paris in early May when the Germans invaded.

On the roads, people were going mad, terrified by the bombings.

With them, they brought what they could:

children, pets, precious objects...

Some rode on wagons, others on bicycles.

It was a mish-mash of everything and everyone. It was awful to see.

It was all the more awful in that

the Germans, in an effort to block and ruin the roads for the soldiers,

didn't hesitate in bombing these columns of refugees.

As a result, and I can attest to this fact,

there were bodies strewn all over the place: men, women, horses.

Car wrecks sprinkled the roads. It was a scene from hell.

And yet this wave, this flood of people, continued to move south.

Our impressions? We saw destroyed villages, burned lands...

It did have a certain effect on us.

- And the people on the roads? - They were fleeing the bad guys.

What do you mean? Weren't you the bad guys?

At first, we were seen as the enemy who was set to destroy the country.

Then they began to see that we just wanted to help,

and that reassured them.

The officers or the staff were clearly out of their depth.

Having the trains, the roads, and all telecommunications cut off

led to a situation in which

any plans the soldiers had made were suddenly completely ruined.

In addition, certain military circles

shared the attitude of many civilians,

and tackled the war unenthusiastically.

After all, they were living in... I'm not saying they were traitors.

In any case, there were very few traitors.

But this attitude of preferring Hitler to Léon Blum

was an attitude that had become very popular in bourgeois circles.

And this was a circle to which many of the soldiers belonged.

THE GREAT BATTLE OF FRANCE

On June 14, 1940, the Germans occupied Paris.

In Clermont, the papers went mad.

Le Moniteur took a stand,

asking the people to stand up and fight, to resist,

to remain free.

The owner of this anti-defeatist paper, Pierre Laval,

a deputy for Auvergne, was, at the same time, preparing for surrender.

The last government of the Third Republic

slowly moved southwards.

Paul Reynaud wanted to keep fighting,

but Philippe Pétain was already taking charge.

In Briare, Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden

met with their allies for the last time.

I've always felt that Reynaud wanted to continue,

that he remained calm and firm.

Everyone was in a very difficult position then.

I also believe, and this is something he told both Churchill and me,

that he wasn't very happy having Pétain as a part of his government.

- He 'd foreseen the difficulties? - Yes, already in Briare.

Now, I was a young soldier in World War I,

and for me, Pétain was the hero of Verdun.

But his character had changed. That's to be expected with age.

I'm sure he was opposed to the idea of your cities being destroyed,

because he spoke of it at dinner,

saying, "It's awful seeing our lovely cities destroyed."

and I had to answer, “Yes, I understand.

"It's hard for an Englishman to say this, but there are worse things

"than the destruction of cities."

But I don't think he was convinced.

We flew over France at a very low altitude.

- Hedgehopping? - Yes.

In June, there's nothing quite like the Norman and Breton countryside.

And I remember, as if it only happened yesterday,

I remember thinking it was lovely, but would I ever see it again?

And it seemed rather unlikely that I would.

Then the political climate changed and became unbearable in Bordeaux.

Suddenly, treason was everywhere.

There was a will to surrender,

and a desire to get along with the victors at any price.

Anglophobia, ever-present in France, resurfaced with new vigour,

and all this went hand in hand with a horrible kind of cynicism.

The military leaders, the ones who had messed up, weren't even mentioned.

Instead, people blamed absolutely everything on Léon Blum,

the Front Populaire and so forth.

And so we consoled ourselves for the downfall of our nation

by getting petty revenge in matters of internal affairs,

a trend which, as you know, continued long afterwards.

On June 16, the government met in Bordeaux.

Paul Reynaud was defeated by the deputies who refused to leave France

and Marshal Pétain became the head of government.

Adolf Hitler's elite SS troops have invaded Vichy.

I felt terribly humiliated,

as I had been sent on a mission on an English motorcycle

and was heading to Paris, when I saw the Germans going the other way.

Now, being rather absent-minded,

I saw there were some people following these German troops,

and assumed it was the English.

So they were going one way, and I was going the other.

I saw the swastikas on their helmets,

and I thought I should go no further.

But no one asked me to stop.

Everyone was too busy going their own way.

If I didn't like it, tough.

The Resistance in Clermont was quickly crushed.

But the struggle, albeit subdued, continued.

Hitler's SS division conquered Clermont-Ferrand.

German troops occupied the city for three days.

Zepp Dietrich, division commander, declared victory on the Place de Jaude,

as his troops polished their boots in front of the locals,

before heading off to new victories.

The Germans didn't return to Clermont until November 1942.

Our aim now is to take the arms depot in Etienne.

An entire infantry regiment has simply surrendered.

At first, I did the same as everyone. I hadn't understood.

On the morning of June 24,

the lieutenant declared that Marshal Pétain had requested an armistice.

I knew what he meant by armistice, but I wasn't sure about "Marshal."

I was never particularly in favour of Pétain's regime.

Nonetheless, like the other 40 million Frenchmen

who experienced that same moment,

when I saw the rout, when I saw that the Germans were in Biarritz,

and that France had been completely invaded,

I thought, like everyone else,

"Will anyone be able to end this massacre?"

People of France, as requested by the President of the Republic,

I shall henceforth be the leader of the French government.

Convinced of the affection of our admirable army,

whose heroism stands as testimony to our long military tradition

as they fight an enemy which outnumbers them,

convinced that our army's resistance

has fulfilled our duty towards our allies,

convinced of the support pledged by the former soldiers I led,

convinced of the French people's faith in me,

I give France the gift of myself,

to ease its troubles.

In these difficult times, I think of the poor refugees,

who, in the depths of despair, trudge across our roads.

I extend my compassion and concern for them.

My heart is heavy as I tell you today that the fight must end.

Last night, I spoke with our adversary

and asked if they were prepared to help me, between soldiers,

after the fight, with honour intact,

to find a way to end the hostilities.

From the Fuhrer headquarters a historical piece of news:

The prime minister of the new French government, Marshal Pétain,

has declared, in a broadcast to the French people,

that France should lay down its arms.

Of course, I was happy to hear we'd won.

The defeat gave me the same feeling I would get when I played rugby.

I don't like losing, especially when it's 60 to O.

I hate drawn-out defeats.

This stone is a reminder

of the humiliation of Germany on November 11, 1918.

Is it true

that France had given England its word of honour

that it wouldn't agree to a separate truce?

I think we... That was before I was a member of government.

I think we had reached an agreement

whereby neither party would cease fighting.

- Without the other party's consent. - Right.

But we didn't discuss that at all

when Churchill and I were there,

because we accepted the position France had taken.

- In Briare, he said... - That he'd accept an armistice?

No, he said we accepted the fact that you may not be able to go on.

Nothing was said about an armistice.

It's clear that between a ceasefire and an armistice, there's a big difference.

Exactly.

He simply said, "We understand that you cannot go on any longer."

That was clear.

The question was quite simply, "What are you going to do?"

I even sent Churchill a short letter after we returned from Briare,

which has since been published,

saying that we must make a clear distinction.

If the French can no longer fight, that's one thing.

But if they make it easy for the enemy, that's another.

La Madeleine. Early today in Paris, the Fuhrer made an unexpected visit.

During his tour of Paris, he also visited this building.

Place de Ia Concorde.

The Arc de Triomphe.

Trocadéro.

A look at the Eiffel Tower.

On the Fuhrer's left, Professor Speer.

One thing we should remember

is that when France agreed to an armistice,

even though we didn't want to lose,

how many Frenchmen said,

"It's well that ends well. So much the better."

As for Marshal Pétain, he knew what he was doing in Vichy.

In every canton and every town,

he formed what was called the French Legion.

- The Legion of Companions. - It was meant for us veterans

who'd fought in World War I.

Everyone, except me, went on Sundays.

I'm the only one who never set foot in there.

It's true.

They would attend the raising of the colours on the market place

every Sunday, wearing their hammer and francisc. No, not hammer.

I don't mean the hammer and sickle. What was it called again?

- The sword. - Whatever.

They'd all been given a beret. Can you imagine?

Of course, I never set foot there. Not on your life.

But when I saw what happened, I understood.

So suddenly, this old marshal

suggests an armistice with French honour intact and so forth.

As a young Frenchman, do you feel the defeat was justified?

Does it not disgust you?

No, defeat was the inevitable consequence of French politics.

In fact, this was the theme propagated by the Vichy government.

If we were defeated, they claimed,

it was because for so many years, we had to put up with party politics,

which is the reason France is in this situation today.

How did that phrase go?

"The parties which have harmed us so much..."

It was... No, that's not it.

- Something about lies. - The lies that harmed us.

Right. "I hate the lies that have harmed us so much."

At the same time, there was another appeal launched by de Gaulle,

an appeal which apparently very few people in France heard.

I certainly didn't hear it.

But as a pilot, weren't you slightly tempted to...

I imagine that a certain number of people in the same unit as you

chose to "continue the struggle," as they said.

There weren't many who did.

Let's get it straight.

It's true that some people attempted to flee to North Africa.

Later, the situation stabilised. Not so many fled.

Did it ever cross your mind to flee?

Of course. But I didn't think about it for long.

My father quickly made me understand

that Marshal Pétain guaranteed a new order, renewed honour, etc.

The victor of Verdun guaranteed France's honour

and the establishment of a new order.

This seemed not only desirable, but necessary, to many Frenchmen.

They respected and had faith in the Marshal.

In Clermont, the spirit of renewal filled Pierre Laval's Le Moniteur.

Editorials sought those responsible for defeat and found them.

"Let's be French.

"Too much foreign influence has led to many problems."

On June 26, 1940, in the magistrate's court,

René Mons was sentenced to three months in jail for defeatism.

Editorial.

We demand those responsible be tried and an analysis of our problems ensue.

This quickly led to xenophobia, Anglophobia and anti-Semitism.

Gaining French nationality became harder.

Vichy came out with the decree:

"The French elite must be restored."

On that day, July 29, 1940,

Clermont butcher Antoine Labronne was tried

and given a large fine for having sold rotting ham.

Did you ever speak about what the papers said back then?

- Never. - Never?

We were totally cut off from the world,

because there was one value that we all shared,

and that was caution.

We didn't know what the butcher thought, or the milkman,

or the engineer or the intellectual. We had no idea.

Like everyone else, we stayed on our guard.

What do you think people's main concern was back then?

Food.

That took up most of your time?

Definitely. Animals were illicitly butchered.

One needed a bit of meat to survive.

As you know, the French are very good at cheating.

One had to have a bit more bread than the usual ration,

or a bit more tobacco by smiling nicely at the tobacconist.

A bit more of everything.

So every weekend, a regular parade of cyclists would go for supplies.

They had devised a system based on tickets, on ration cards.

Personally, I was a smoker,

and it was awful not having cigarettes.

It was a horrible situation.

People would do anything, even steal.

I got so desperate that I even rolled artichoke leaves and smoked them.

The children who were born during that time,

between 1942 and 1944,

should have suffered from rickets, and I say this as a doctor.

In our family, it was ironic.

These young ladies have a brother,

who is 27 years old, and was born in 1942.

He's six foot one!

We fed him so much to avoid rickets that he turned into a giant.

He's a great tennis player, an architect, and a giant to boot.

Are you what they call "a bourgeois" in a large provincial town?

If being bourgeois means eating properly, hunting in the Sologne,

having a hunting ground in Sanscoin and in Sérye,

and a son-in-law who owns Lake Mont-Cinére,

then I'm a bourgeois.

When did you first begin to experience

the consequences of the times, in other words, persecution?

How did you feel about that? Did anything happen?

Not before 1942.

The only extraordinary event that occurred

is that before the children were born,

once again,

in September 1942, the hunting season was re-opened.

What an event.

It was important to the hunters.

Game had been untouched for two years so there was an abundance of it.

It was a very satisfying experience for those who owned a gun.

In their little nests in the backyard, my little rabbits are so sweet.

Until recently, I hated hutches,

and I despised and insulted our gentle little friends,

now the centre of our attention.

Just think, a rabbit!

Firstly, it will delight the cook.

and as its skin dries in the wind, the whole family rejoices.

Follow my example and give rabbit breeding a try.

As you can see, I love, you love, we all love rabbits in every form!

In reality, the French

aren't normally very involved in politics.

Once in a blue moon, they decide to take action and storm the Bastille,

or to fight religious wars for 50 years,

or to initiate the French Revolution, or to set off to conquer Europe.

But, normally speaking, they're just as peaceable as anyone else.

One thing is for sure: the French, in general,

like a peaceful regime, a regime which has authority,

but is preferably humane.

In any case, they feel the need to be protected.

They're quite paternalistic.

Does this explains Pétain's popularity?

Definitely. I might add that, as a sergeant in the French army,

I've seen a routed army. and it's not a pretty sight.

There's no denying that, for some time, Pétain was extremely popular.

He was viewed as one of the good old guys, perhaps a bit senile,

but after all, he had given himself to France.

That was a clever way of putting it. He gave the gift of himself.

So everyone thought that an old guy like him couldn't do any harm.

He could only help France. At his age, what harm could he do?

These arguments, albeit feeble, were how people justified Pétain.

THE MARSHAL'S VISIT

When we went all over the world,

we were dying to get back on the train.

Our nose on the window, we open the door

and embrace everything like good bread.

The old bell tower in the setting sun.

Oh, France smells so good!

Those big meadows with their wild flowers.

Oh, France smells so good!

This little garden sign, "Beware of clogs".

Oh, France smells so good!

At each station stop you catch the words:

"All aboard for the Paris Express"

Oh, France smells so good!

And oh so gently, life starts again,

You'd promised yourself to swallow it all.

But these blue dreams, these gigantic projects,

for a few days we let them slide.

This pretty brunette with heavenly eyes.

Oh, France smells so good!

The betting office which shuts at noon.

Oh, France smells so good!

Running a tab at the little bar.

Oh, France smells so good!

It's Saturday, lie back, no worries till Monday,

A game of Belote or Dix de Der.

Oh, the country smells good! Which country?

Our country smells so good, of course!

I missed Mers-el-Kébir.

I only heard about what happened two weeks later.

I never understood Mers-el-Kébir.

Even now, having read many books on the subject of Mers-el-Kébir,

I still don't understand.

It was always a mystery to me.

Mers-el-Kébir was a mystery indeed.

Do you mean you don't understand why the English did what they did?

No, I never really understood the English.

After leaving Churchill, I was a member in the House of Commons,

I went to the House of Commons, got my car,

and drove myself through Hyde Park.

In the middle of the park, I saw a group of French sailors,

with their little red pompoms on their képis.

They were running and playing with an equal number of girls,

or "young ladies" rather.

They were running and playing and screaming.

They couldn't understand a word of what the other was saying.

Then a horrible feeling swept over me.

It was sheer luck that I didn't crash the car,

because suddenly I remembered Churchill's ultimatum I'd just read,

and I thought of those French boats in Mers-el-Kébir,

where there were other sailors,

also wearing képis with little red pompoms,

and I wondered what was going to happen to them tomorrow.

These are the victims of the most base and loathsome attack ever.

Clearly, France's former ally only attacks those who cannot fight back.

On the morning of the attack,

Admiral Gensoul received the English ultimatum.

Admiral Somerville proceeded to send several delegations,

in order to explain to Gensoul the options proposed by Churchill:

they could join the Free French, allow themselves to be disarmed,

or head to a neutral port which was out of German reach.

Admiral Gensoul refused all three options,

as he considered them dishonourable solutions.

What we didn't dare to risk happening

was letting the boats fall into enemy hands.

We simply couldn't take the risk.

But wasn't there also a psychological risk?

Yes, a considerable risk.

It allowed the Germans to spread propaganda.

And Vichy, too. Lord knows they used the opportunity.

I think we understood that, but at the time,

we had very little choice in the matter.

There were 1,600 sailors

killed by the British Navy.

The British Navy attempted to take over the French Navy.

That was clear to us at the time.

We thought that...

We believed the armistice would be respected by the Germans.

In France, we thought, as the Vichy government had told us,

that the French Navy would never be given over to the Germans.

For us, that was a fact.

I was brought up to believe that promises were kept,

and I just couldn't imagine that there could be political dealings

that would eventually lead to the French Navy being given away.

There was no way.

So we viewed it as a brutal attack.

There was also an additional moral problem,

in that, according to many testimonies,

the sailors whose boats were shelled by the British

believed at that moment they were going to cast off

in order to join the British fleet.

That's terrible.

Had we felt there was any hope of that, we would never have attacked.

But there was no hope.

Everything we said about the Germans

was proved in Bizerta,

where the Germans proceeded to give the French admiral

twenty minutes to surrender,

to surrender boats and all,

on pain of an immediate bombing attack,

or of being taken prisoner.

Our predictions all came true.

We knew who we were dealing with.

It was then, shortly after these events,

that the French, whose faith in the English had been greatly shaken,

made contact with us for the first time, through General Huntziger

at the Armistice Commission in Wiesbaden,

to discuss the possibility of changing the armistice clauses

to allow military collaboration.

And it was the discussion of such options,

for which each side undoubtedly had its own personal motivations,

that initiated the negotiations,

which are now known as "collaboration."

While the talks were beginning,

Hitler and Pétain agreed to meet in Montoire.

In our first meeting, Laval told me he was a Germanophile.

And as he had known me for years,

he asked me to put in a good word for him with Hitler, and I did.

I think Hitler felt Laval was sincere,

at least in one aspect: when he spoke of collaboration.

And that was the main issue at the second meeting.

In such cases, the defeated want to know what will become of them.

What will the peace treaty be like?

Whereas the victors I've often seen

generally don't know what's next and cannot answer such questions.

That's how it went in Montoire.

Hitler didn't know how to answer Pétain's questions

about boundaries or the fate of prisoners.

So it ended with everything up in the air.

Ah, Montoire... Now that was quite a story.

Where was this Montoire, anyhow?

Everyone was looking it up in the atlas to see where it was.

When we heard what had transpired, it was depressing.

Some even cried the next day.

- People were crying? - Yes.

Soon afterwards, a new slogan became popular,

"Collaboration is..."

"Give me your watch, I'll give you the time."

That was the slogan.

That was collaboration.

He often said, also in my presence,

that he hadn't yet decided

whether England or France should pay for the war.

On the basis of his "race ideology,"

or whatever you can call this point of view,

many felt much more related to the English than to the French.

I am convinced that France, as Hitler saw it,

could only play a minor role

in a National Socialist Europe.

He had never been in France or anywhere else in Europe.

Whatever knowledge he had was derived from books,

which had first been adapted to his point of view.

In his mind, he felt that a decline of the French people

was unavoidable, and this idea was confirmed by the French defeat.

During his travels, Hitler sometimes shared his thoughts with others.

April 5, 1942. Suppertime.

The Fuhrer says that if one plans on ignoring the terms of a contract,

no use quibbling over details.

Hence, we must assure ourselves that the French are sincere.

No point in trying to pickpocket an experienced pickpocket

like the Fuhrer himself.

In any case, France's main task for the next 50 years

is to repair the damage done at Versailles.

April 24, 1942. Suppertime.

The Fuhrer says he is against marriages between

the Wehrmacht and foreigners in occupied lands.

Such demands are generally based on sexual frustration,

which is common in troops abroad.

He is struck by the contrast between the photos of the German men,

and those of the women, who are very shabby looking.

The Fuhrer feels that such marriages are doomed from the start,

both in terms of individual happiness and racial purity.

He is more in favour of harmless passing fancies,

which are inevitable in this type of situation.

The conditions created by National Socialism

within German structures at that time

made it impossible for us to respect the clauses of the armistice.

We couldn't help what happened,

any more than we could have helped all the other horrible things

which continue to haunt any rational human being.

We couldn't stop Hitler and company from invading Alsace and Lorraine,

making them a part of the Third Reich,

and eventually incorporating their youth into the Wehrmacht.

This was all out of our hands.

We can reproach ourselves until kingdom come,

but there was nothing we could do.

You say that after Russia, you were sent to Alsace, and then France.

Why? Was Alsace not France?

No. For us, it wasn't French territory. The people were pro-German.

I even brought my whole family.

There were some people with bad intentions,

some patriots who were ready to do anything.

But there weren't many.

So I felt like I was in a country of German origin.

And now?

I've never gone back.

No, but what do you think of it now?

I think it's true. I think it belongs to Germany.

Here a show is being put on for the SS.

Bruno Fritz's amusing ice hockey report.

The German player is taken by surprise and falls down on...

...on the ice!

He stands up again. It feels too cold.

Thanks to Franco-German economic collaboration,

100,000 French workers now work in Germany.

Four trains leave the capital weekly

and head for German industrial regions.

Today, at the Gare du Nord, the war councillor Michel

has come to shake the hand of worker number 110,000: Edouard Lefebvre.

Tell us, Mr Lefebvre, were you unemployed?

- That's right. - For how long?

It's been two years now.

- Are you married? - With children.

This vast organisation has already had good results:

Lower unemployment rates, and understanding between workers.

I'd worked for the Finance Minister and the State Secretary since 1923.

In 1940, Mr Lansfried requested that I go to Paris,

as head of the military-controlled finance division in occupied France.

He didn't want a National Socialist party member in this position.

Were you not a member of the party?

Yes, shortly before, I had joined the party,

again at the request of Mr Lansfried.

We tried to be as reasonable as possible, and as fair as possible,

not only in our own interests, but in those of France as well.

This famous democracy, in the past 20 years,

has proved itself incapable of eliminating such poverty.

The Third Reich, however, aims to provide its workers

everywhere in Germany with healthy and beautiful hometowns.

This is a new settlement in a small industrial town,

which naturally has a daycare centre,

a clinic, a centre for mothers and children and an X-Ray lab.

One gets the impression from such reports

that German propaganda was quite open in its racial prejudice,

and often implied that German discipline and structure

were necessary qualities to clean up what was considered

to be "the French mess“.

Yes, there is some truth in what you say.

In our offices in Paris, we also had a propaganda department.

But it received orders directly from Berlin.

And I would like to point out that, from the outset of my job...

It was the first ministerial-level visit from the French government,

the Minister of Transport visited in September 1940.

He was accompanied by the owner of a racing stable,

who wanted permission to begin horse racing again,

as it was a very popular national pastime.

The races are ever-popular.

One thing is clear, Paris has become Paris once again.

I listened to my collaborators and said, "Why not?"

And so the races started up again, and continued until 1944.

Thanks to us, the theatres were able to open their doors again.

We often went to the theatre, alone or with friends.

The Germans also attended the races,

which is how the different parties made contact quite spontaneously.

Personal relationships developed between the different sides,

probably for various reasons.

I'm sure you're aware there has been a tendency in France since the war

to deny that such contact ever existed.

Yes, but it did exist.

Germany was triumphant, and there wasn't a single front

from which it failed to come home victorious.

There's no denying that the German army made quite an impression

on the youth in France. Seeing that army of young men,

stripped to the waist...

After all, I'm the son of a soldier and I was a soldier myself.

Sense of responsibility, hierarchy and discipline mean a lot.

A well-disciplined army was important to people like us.

This was the first time we had seen such an ideal army.

The French army was nothing compared to

this army who could put the fear of God into an entire people.

It sounds awful to say, but it's the truth of the matter.

We solemnly swear

to unite

and to place our forces,

our faith,

our ardour,

at the service of the Marshal,

at the service of France.

This campfire draws a three-day meeting to an end,

during which the discipline and dedication of these young men

were proved once again.

The French believe servicemen should be tough as nails,

and at the end of the day, they always turn to servicemen,

whether it be to restore order, to prevent a coup-d'état,

or to organise a coup-d'état.

But the serviceman is omnipresent,

with his cap, his pompom, his sabre,

no matter what his rank may be.

The French love their army.

VICHY, APRIL 1969 Poem by Officer C. Languillon,

published on the front page of Le Moniteur on November 24, 1940.

"His name rings as a gun shot.

"Pétain ready for the challenge? The soul is willing.

"But goodness is ever aloof.

"The great victor, even greater in defeat.

"Schemers, foreigners, buffoons and fools,

"have brought you to your knees, O France.

"The hero of Verdun, cleaning the slate,

"Is setting our house in order from top to bottom.

"A Herculean labour, a difficult recovery.

"From the ruins come muffled groans.

"Former profiteers writhe in the rubble."

Pétain, in a series of speeches, drew conclusions from this defeat,

and he did so with skill. He could woo his audience.

If one was to read the texts now, I haven't read them in years,

but I bet if you read them now, you would be quite surprised.

Yes, the texts relied heavily on the people's collective unconscious.

Absolutely right.

- He blamed the parliament. - Yes, the parliamentary system...

Certain employers were suspect... foreign...

- Cosmopolitan... - ...not to mention dark-skinned.

And, of course, he blamed the Communist Party.

The Communist Party was the cause of all evils.

All hotels were requisitioned,

and the Hôtel du Parc was occupied by Marshal Pétain and his staff.

This is where I met my friend, Colonel de Gorostarzu, who lived with Pétain.

He was the chief of staff for his aviation department.

Consequently, I was often at the Hôtel du Parc.

It was always busy, with lots of people milling around.

Everyone kept their voices down and spied on their neighbours.

Personally, I wasn't used to their system,

but when I spoke, I followed everyone's example.

They were forever shushing one another.

- Everyone was very suspicious. - Of the enemy or of one another?

A bit of both.

Are you a Republican?

Not really.

- Not really? - No.

You're more of a Monarchist?

Yes, that's right.

French news, late 1940.

Pilot-sergeant Gontier de Vasse, veteran of WWI,

volunteer in '39, hurt in Dunkirk,

has, of his own free will, agreed to make the following declaration:

Ever since my return from England aboard The Sphinx on October 5,

I've been surprised by the number of my compatriots who still believe

the wounded in Narvik and Dunkirk were all well-treated by our ex-ally.

And this is why I've decided to share my memories with you.

When we arrived in England,

we harboured no grudge against our English comrades.

But after the tragedy in June,

when we were invited to come and serve under a new flag,

when they offered to pay us our dues in pounds sterling,

we could only reply with disdain and indignation.

We French soldiers can only serve under our own colours.

Anything else would be treason.

Fellow Frenchmen, comrades,

our duty is to stand side by side behind our leader, Marshal Pétain,

to guarantee France a place of honour in a new Europe,

and to allow the prisoners to return home immediately.

It is a difficult task.

Those who try to divide us are enemies.

United we stand, divided we fall.

The idea was to get out of the war, come what may,

as quickly as possible.

There were 15,000 French sailors in Liverpool.

I went and spoke to them.

I tried to persuade them to continue the war.

But there was no way.

We were so low on people that we needed them to dig the trenches,

and we offered them wages to do so.

They said no.

They said, "France is no longer in the war.

"We no longer have the right to dig trenches."

You see... the kind of attitude they had.

Their desire to get out was almost spiteful.

As for what would become of England, they didn't give a care.

That's the kind of attitude they had.

They felt that it was inconceivable

that the English succeed where the French army had been beaten.

On June 17, 1940, the steam liner Le Massilia,

headed from Bordeaux to Morocco.

Several parliamentarians were aboard.

This event caused much ink to flow.

I boarded Le Massilia without suspecting that it was a big trap.

Those who stayed behind in Bordeaux quickly understood

that they could exploit the circumstances,

and influence the public to think that the departure of the boat

and the fact that a number of politicians were aboard,

was a sign we were panicking, running away, abandoning them.

In other words, deserting.

The people aboard Le Massilia who actually wanted to fight

were quickly judged to be cowards who were fleeing the fight.

It was paradoxical that some of us,

including [Pierre] Viénot, Jean Zay, [Alex] Wiltzer and I,

were tried for desertion,

when in fact their original plan had been to go and fight.

And as far as I was concerned, I was almost obliged to go,

seeing as my unit had gone, and it was my duty to follow them.

Everyone wound up in Rabat. There were tons of people.

Once there, I went to lunch

at "Balima", Rabat's best restaurant, where everyone met.

One of my cousins, Du Jonchay, a pilot, was there,

and naturally we discussed what had happened.

He showed me Pierre Mendés-France,

who was sitting at a table with a lovely woman, who was his wife.

My cousin turned to me and said,

"Our State Secretary there is responsible for our defeat."

There he sat, our little lieutenant, drinking champagne.

That champagne completely infuriated me.

I walked up to him,

and told him this was no attitude to have, after being defeated,

drinking champagne in public as if he was delighted

about what had happened.

Then what?

I told him

if I saw him again, I would kick him out.

And I gave him my card.

- It caused quite a stir. - You were picking a fight.

No, I simply gave him my card to let him know who I was.

Not to hide my identity.

How did he react?

He got up, stood to attention, and said nothing.

I was a captain, he was a lieutenant.

I SEE.

There was surrender and treason.

But anti-Semitism had also begun to rear its ugly head.

Many who used to hide their feelings openly declared their anti-Semitism

to the point that France began adopting certain German values,

and sought to get closer to Hitler,

in the hope of creating a Europe where France and Germany would collaborate

and obviously anti-Semitism became a common element

between many Germans and Frenchmen.

And, of course, Jean Zay and I had the misfortune of being Jewish.

Actually, I was Jewish. Jean Zay was only partly Jewish.

He had converted, as had his father, but he was of Jewish origin.

This didn't detract from the atrocious campaign against him,

which, as you know, ended in his being killed.

Jean Zay was arrested. His pregnant wife was in Casablanca.

She had a very tough time to find a hospital bed,

or even someone willing to help her give birth.

There was such hatred.

When clinics or hospitals heard that she was Jean Zay's wife,

they didn't have the courage to admit her.

You can't imagine how rampant sectarianism had become.

In any case, Mrs Zay's pregnancy was certainly a very trying time.

She lived with my wife and they spent many long hours together

during which they were abused and insulted.

My wife also had a very rough time of it.

Anyhow,

Madeleine Zay eventually gave birth to this baby,

whom I had the opportunity to meet,

as I was arrested shortly after the baby's birth,

and when I was transferred to Clermont-Ferrand,

where I met up with Jean Zay, I'd seen his daughter and he hadn't.

JEAN ZAY To Appear in Court Tomorrow

The committing magistrate was Colonel Leprêtre.

I don't want to name names, but this man's reputation lives on today.

The man was very intelligent, very bright, clever and cunning,

but he had a very perverse side to him,

in that he harboured great hate for the accused,

especially if the accused was left-wing.

He got a certain morbid pleasure from seeing an important man accused.

Even outside of cross-examination, he would sometimes visit the prison,

just to sit and chat with the prisoners.

He would go in their cells, and sit on their beds,

pretending to speak with them simply.

He clearly got a great deal of pleasure out of holding the fates

of such formerly important men in his hands.

There was something very sick, very odd about it.

A strange man.

So he would confess to certain things in moments of relaxation?

One day, he said to me, "I know what you think of me."

The man was bright enough to understand. Very intelligent.

He said to me, "I know what you think of me,

"but in an organised society, there are certain tasks,

"tasks which must be done, and which require people to do them."

"Every society needs bin men." He chose that word.

Were you able to emphasise

the racial and political background and motives to the trial?

No, our main concern was to obtain satisfying results,

and we knew that these judges wouldn't appreciate such arguments.

Even if we had said that his being Jewish

should have nothing to do with the trial,

we knew perfectly well that it would be a major issue.

The hearing was extremely tense.

It began at 9am with an introduction by Pierre Mendés-France,

which the Colonel received with obvious contempt.

He had been given a table and a jug of water.

He began with the following introductory statement:

"Colonel and gentlemen, I am Jewish, I am a Freemason,

"but I am not a deserter. May the trial begin."

The court was presided over by a rather frenzied man,

called Colonel Perret,

a colonel in charge of tanks,

who harboured a particular hatred for General de Gaulle,

because they had served in Saint Cyr together and were both competitive.

He hated anything to do with de Gaulle, Gaullism or Gaullists.

Furthermore, he was a very frenzied character,

who ran the hearings in an atrocious manner.

My sentence was nothing compared to the death sentences he gave out.

He was responsible for executions, which is considerably worse

than the sentence he gave me.

I must say that those present at the hearing were extremely hostile.

The audience had been rigged, no two ways about it.

Women whose faces were filled with hate.

I won't name any names,

but they were hateful people,

people who were hoping for the cruellest of sentences,

who were hoping I'd be killed immediately,

who didn't think I should even be allowed to defend myself.

Some 300 or 400 entry cards had been delivered,

but only six were for the defence.

The cards were quite a story.

As only a limited number existed, and they were in high demand,

a new black market developed.

There were bistros in Clermont that hawked the cards.

Flatteringly enough, they were very expensive,

twenty francs for the show. It cost more than the cinema.

There's no denying that public opinion was strongly influenced

by the papers at that time,

which felt that the politicians who were accused

should automatically be declared guilty.

My colonel, my lieutenant-colonel and my general

all took the stand and said, "He didn't desert."

When the commissioner, whose name I won't give either,

stood up and announced in a choked voice

that he was sentenced to six years for desertion,

Mendés told him, "Sir, I'm sure you'll be rewarded.

"You've served the master well."

Former State Secretary Sentenced to Six Years in Jail for Desertion

I don't know if Rochat told you that a man came to see him the next day.

And this man told him, "I'm a Pétain supporter,

"and I am appalled by what happened yesterday. It's scandalous.

"The Marshal must not be aware that such things are happening.

"The Marshal must be informed of such goings-on.

"I saw you stenograph the hearing." Which indeed he had.

"Could you get a copy for me to bring to the Marshal himself?"

Rochat gave him a copy which he took to the Marshal.

Naturally, nothing ever came of it.

But the man who took the copy was a certain Mr Giscard d'Estaing.

It is these children, the pupils of French schools,

in whom the Marshal sees hope for our country.

He has come to speak simply, as only he can,

in a modest school in the town of Périgny.

You may sit down now.

You don't have to stand to listen.

Young pupils of our French schools,

the reason I wanted to speak to you today

on this day as you begin a new school year,

is that it's important for you to know that I am counting on you

to help me rebuild our country, France.

So work hard, stand firm, and do your best.

All rise.

To arms, citizens!

Form your batallions!

We march, we march!

Let impure blood water our furrows!

I had to pass through Vichy to reach my posting in Billancourt

in the first two weeks of August 1940.

Many people told me that Marshal Pétain was very tired,

and was only lucid for two hours a day.

Imagine my surprise when I met this man,

who, although elderly, stood bolt upright,

with his look of steel, which many people have commented on,

and with the greatest of ease,

politely asked me to sit down and make myself comfortable,

then said, "Mr Lamirand, there's been much talk about you here."

The secretary general of youth, Mr Georges Lamirand

recently visited Lavalette camp, the main goal of which

is to train the men of tomorrow. He visited these young men

who are united by a common ideal, and live life

in continual contact with nature, work and simplicity,

these values upon which we must rebuild our country.

We talked and I thought to myself,

"What bad luck.

"They say he's only lucid two hours a clay, and I chance upon those."

The problems of youth are fascinating,

but I had absolutely no idea that,

in the position Marshal Pétain wanted to grant me,

there were so many fascinating subjects and problems to solve.

Repeat after me: Long live France!

Long live the Marshal!

Louis Renault finally agreed to give me leave,

saying to Pétain, "I'll lend him to you for a month."

and Marshal Pétain, in his infinite cleverness,

"Fine, one month.

"But if you don't mind, let's make the job renewable."

and he renewed it 30 months.

Mr Lamirand is inaugurating

an exhibition of drawings sent to Pétain by French schoolchildren.

The little ones wanted to answer the Marshal's call,

they wanted to show the Marshal their towns, villages and homes,

hence sharing a piece of their daily lives with him.

A school girl, perhaps the youngest in France, had the luck

of being allowed to give Pétain her lovingly written letter in person.

It was about adding a new element

to the famous triptych of the time: Work, Family, Nation.

Honour your work, your family, and your nation.

A national revolution?

You said it.

Marshal Pétain has already told you several times

what he meant by social revolution.

He feels that our social system is unfair.

There is too much poverty, too much injustice.

And that is what he wants to change.

He is bound and determined to bring happiness to France,

and asks us all to join in a communal effort.

Dear friends, this is his social revolution.

That was when he started planning his escape.

He grew his beard, shaved it off, grew it out again,

and one fine clay, he left.

I must admit I'm not very athletic,

but I prepared myself by working out for several months beforehand.

I was high up, so I had to jump off a high wall.

But I had to run the risk.

And once I had jumped, I would be a free man again.

Just as I was about to jump...

There were trees planted along the avenue.

I heard the unexpected sound of voices.

I tried to see in the semi-darkness.

There was a couple sitting under a tree.

You can imagine what they were discussing.

He knew what he wanted, but she hadn't decided yet.

It seemed to last an eternity to me.

She ended up saying yes,

but I had the impression she had put up a great deal of resistance.

Finally, they left, and so I jumped.

And let me assure you that I was even happier than he was.

I'd really like to meet him some clay and let him know

how much I experienced with the two of them that night.

How you admired his audacity.

Yes, and how her lack of audacity struck me as being so untimely.

Anyway,

love, fate and escape eventually won the day.

Did you disguise yourself?

I was disguised, but not very well.

You see, many people back then

who wanted to disguise themselves would let their beards grow.

So, bearded men automatically aroused suspicion!

I let my moustache grow,

I gave myself a new hairstyle, parted straight down the middle.

I got a pair of glasses.

And of course, I changed the way I dressed and so forth.

The next day, I went for my daily visit with him,

to see if he had escaped or not.

I arrived and saw all these people with decametres in hand,

taking all sorts of measurements. They were hysterical.

They asked me what I wanted. I said I was there to see my client.

They asked if I knew Pierre Mendés-France had left. I said no.

I burst out laughing, which made them angry.

They carried out a huge security check of all the roads and trains.

But my plan was to not contact anyone, to not count on anyone,

to be cut off from everything and everyone.

I must say that life in France at that time

is very difficult to imagine, and even more so to describe.

You had an old pair of shoes you hoped would last.

If they got a hole, there was no leather to fix them.

There were no plates, there were no matches, there was nothing.

It is very difficult, in hindsight, to describe

what it was like living in a country

where everyone was always searching for everything.

The new rage in Paris is silk stockings without the silk.

All you have to do, ladies, is dye your legs.

It's easy and practical, a great idea.

The ladies are trading in their garters for paintbrushes.

Worried about what will happen when you bathe?

No problem. Paint-on stockings are waterproof.

On top of that, Elizabeth Arden guarantees they won't run!

That's a Parisian habit which will disappear.

Where is France headed? Where is Europe headed?

Some 3,000 people in Chaillot will hear

Mr Alphonse de Chateaubriant discuss The French Drama.

At this very moment, a huge continental unit

is slowly taking shape.

It will be one gigantic geographical piece in the puzzle,

with one single political and economical doctrine,

stretching to the very tip of Europe,

the very tip of which is France.

Therein the importance of France becomes clear,

as France becomes, in this new division, the outer edge,

the last bastion on the Atlantic of this immense continent,

faced with another large continent, America,

which is ready to take over the ancient order of things,

the ancient riches and capitalist creeds,

the ancient gold and the ancient man,

in order to make it their last refuge,

their last fortress,

and their last army.

I sincerely hope that everything I have said tonight

will give the word "collaboration" new meaning in your eyes.

It's not surprising that, at first,

such poison won over many new converts.

Little by little, people began to realise it was propaganda,

and to see that the government was practicing a policy,

which they themselves called collaboration with the enemy.

Slowly but surely, people began to open their eyes,

and change their minds.

But this propaganda still won over many new converts.

You know as well as I do that anti-Semitism and Anglophobia

are never hard to stir up in France.

Even if reactions to such things are dormant or stifled,

all it takes is one event, one incident,

one international crisis or one Dreyfus affair,

for feelings we thought long gone to suddenly re-emerge in full force,

for beliefs we thought dead to be simply dormant.

Edouard Drumont was the first in France to examine the Jewish question.

The Institute of Jewish Questions celebrates his memory today.

Mr Laville has agreed to say a few words.

Out of 100 Frenchmen of old stock,

at least 90 are pure white, free of any other racial mixture.

This isn't true of the Jews.

The Jews are born of a mixture which dates back thousands of years,

between Aryans, Mongols and Negroes.

Therefore, Jews have unique faces, bodies, attitudes and gestures.

It is reassuring to see that the public is interested

in studying the characteristics presented

in the morphological section of "Jews and France".

In October '40, when I came home on leave,

I heard that a good friend of mine, a teacher,

wasn't allowed to keep teaching that autumn,

because his mother was Jewish, making him half-Jewish.

I'd met Jews before,

but I treated them the same as Catholics, Protestants,

or people with no religion in particular.

It wasn't a revolution yet, but it did give me food for thought.

- Did you have any Jewish teachers? - Let me see...

We did have one.

Yes, he was fired.

The same old story. No one ever told us anything.

Listen, I think we should make a little nuance here.

I think that when you take cases like this teacher we mentioned,

I think that we tried, to the best of our ability,

to get these people some work tutoring and so forth.

We did that for another colleague, too.

Like you say, it wasn't much, but we did have sympathy for them.

Did you really try?

Did every single teacher in Clermont hand in their resignation?

No way. You've no idea what the mentality was like back then.

Collective resignation? Come on!

In 1940, Vichy came out with the Jewish decrees.

In the small ads of Le Moniteur, a local merchant announced

that he was 100% pure French.

Sir, are you Marius?

Yes, I'm Marius.

You're weighed down with medals.

I fought in World War I.

- They're all medals from WWI? - That's right.

You must be a very brave man.

I followed the others. I did my duty.

When France was demobilised,

when France was defeated in the 2nd war, how did you react?

We certainly weren't very happy.

As veterans of World War I, the defeat affected us deeply.

Were there many Jewish stores?

Yes, there were.

So you must have seen a lot?

You could say that. They all packed up their bags and left.

They went into exile.

And there weren't any arrests?

There were arrests everywhere.

And you saw them?

Yes, unfortunately.

Tell me, when what were called "the Jewish decrees" came out,

apparently you took out an ad.

That's correct.

It was an ad in Le Moniteur.

You're certainly well-informed.

You see, sir, we were four brothers.

It was the solution I found, as people thought we were Jews.

My name, Klein, sounds quite Jewish.

But I'm a Catholic.

And this was a real source of concern. I had some problems because of that.

Four of my brothers fought in the war. It was important that I tell people

that I am really French.

In other words, you wanted your clients to know you weren't Jewish.

That is correct.

Why?

Because some said I was Jewish.

Jews were being arrested, and they said we were Jewish.

Do you see? I couldn't very well allow myself

to be labelled as a Jew since I'm a Catholic.

So that's why, as you said, I took out an ad.

Four of my brothers fought in the war. One was killed.

- The other three were imprisoned. - But Jews fought in World War I, too.

That's true. I realise that.

I've never been a racist.

Jewish or Mahometan, all that mattered to me

was that the man did his duty,

in which case, he was as French as the rest of us.

You understand?

You weren't high on the priority list

of those persecuted by Hitler's regime.

But did you know any Jews, Communists, or Freemasons who were?

I met more Jews than I'll ever meet again.

I had two girls working at the pharmacy,

who were considered to be evil just because they were Jewish.

One was the daughter of an amazing man, a Parisian polytechnician.

She was a pretty amazing girl herself.

The other was the daughter of Hirsch, a colleague in Strasbourg.

Nobody wanted anything to do with these girls.

He had warned every pharmacy in Clermont not to hire these girls.

- Who is "he?" - The pharmacy inspector.

The film industry gave them a chance to steal billions of francs.

Tannenzaft, better known as Nathan, who in the eyes of the world,

was the ultimate symbol of French cinema,

has cost the public nearly 700,000,000 francs.

Mr Pierre Mendés-France, did you enjoy going to the cinema back then?

I went to the cinema because I enjoyed it,

but I had yet another reason, as I had quickly discovered

that cinemas provided a refuge which was both fun and comfortable,

you could sit down in a cinema at 3:00 in the afternoon,

and stay there in the darkness for hours on end,

without anyone ever seeing you.

It was a great hiding place. In many pre-war French films,

there were Jewish actors or Jewish directors.

And in the credits of these films, the Jewish names had been erased.

Today World News was able to film a part of the trial

of the Jew Tannenzaft, Bernard Nathan.

Our presence clearly disturbed the accused who wanted his privacy.

He raises an objection, but is overruled by the court.

Go away. Leave me alone.

This is a tragedy, not a comedy!

The Germans were discreet about it, but they wanted to see their films.

There were operettas. There were the first films in colour.

Some, like La Ville Dorée, weren't propaganda, others were.

Films like Le Juif Suss were pure propaganda.

And the thing that I found most revolting

was that they weren't only German productions,

which would have been understandable

since they had occupied us,

but that they were made with the blessing of the French authorities,

on behalf of French organisations, dubbed by French actors.

The events in this film are based on historical fact.

At first, audiences probably thought these films were

just like any other German film.

But people very quickly began to realise

that it was just typical propaganda,

in the worst sense of the word.

This led to a kind of strike among viewers.

Even those who weren't especially interested in the Free French,

who had got into the habit of seeing normal German films,

were extremely revolted and refused to have any part in it.

Gentlemen, this Jew's criminal record shows nothing

of the suffering of our people during his tyranny.

This is why I give the floor to the person who has suffered most.

I ask for nothing. You are the judges, not me.

Please, Sturm, you are the one with the most right to judge him.

It is not my decision to take.

Suffering is too subjective.

It would be unfair.

However, I see an ancient article of criminal law which applies:

"If ever a Jew commits a sin...

"If ever a Jew commits a sin of the flesh with a Christian woman,

"he shall be publicly hung without further ado."

"If ever a Jew commits a sin of the flesh with a Christian,

"he shall be publicly hung without further ado,

"as punishment, and as an example for all others."

Have mercy! I've done nothing wrong!

I've always acted in the name of my saviour!

It's not my fault that your duke wanted to betray you!

I can fix everything, I swear. Everything!

Take all that I own. Take all my money. But don't take my life!

I am innocent!

I'm just a poor Jew. Let me live.

I want to live!

I want to live! Live!

The State Council and I speak for all Wurttembergers in decreeing

that all Jews must leave Wurttemberg in the next three days.

This is valid across the entire country.

This decree has been taken in Stuttgart on February 4, 1738.

May our descendants remember this,

for in doing so, they will spare themselves much pain and suffering,

and will keep their blood pure of the influence of this accursed race.

THE END

There were only certain people who actually enjoyed Le Juif Suss,

the anti-Semites who saw their beliefs confirmed in the film.

The collaborators would also see it.

Then there were those who were taken by surprise.

I'd say that 80% of the people who came to see Le Juif Suss

assumed it would be just like any other light-hearted film.

The German films weren't particularly good.

However, they featured many French film stars,

as Continental had made many French films before the war.

Tino Rossi and the like filmed at Continental.

As an artistic endeavour, several actors are off to Germany.

At the Gare de l'Est, we've spotted Albert Préjean,

Danielle Darrieux,

Suzy Delair,

Junie Astor,

Viviane Romance.

Dr Karl Frohlich, president of the German Cinema Corporation,

has invited them on a 12-day studio tour of Vienna, Munich and Berlin.

Paris. The arrival of Mr Heydrich, SS general, head of security,

the Reich's Prague representative, asked by Mr Himmler, SS and police chief,

to officially install Mr Oberg in his new post in occupied territory.

Mr Heydrich is president of the International Criminal Police,

a commission to which France has always belonged.

Mr Heydrich visited Mr Bousquet, secretary general of the police,

and Mr Hiller, secretary general of administration.

He also had a chance to see Mr Dartier de Pellepoix,

in charge of Jewish Questions, as well as Mr de Brinon.

What was Paris like back then?

There were two sides to Paris.

There were those struggling to survive,

and there was high society.

All we were missing was Régine.

There's no doubt about it.

Everyone's ashamed to say it today,

but for some, life in Paris was great.

Maxim's and Le Boeuf sur le Toit did a booming business.

The film industry was in full swing.

From what I've heard, actually, or so they say,

French films were so good then

because a certain category of producers had fled to the States.

Many directors have gone on to do very well in their careers,

but they forget what they said then.

Paris was a fun and crazy place.

Let me assure you that there were some wild and crazy times back then.

All right, boys. This way.

We'll go straight to the source to wet our whistles.

What happened to you in 1937?

You can't even begin to imagine.

- It's a long story. - Be careful...

First give us a drink, then we'll see what's up.

I think we're going to earn our drink today.

- Is that red wine? - Yes, it's as Red as I am.

So what happened in here?

This cellar has seen everything.

The Resistance in Auvergne began here.

The night the first weapons arrived, we met in this very cellar,

and we sang the Internationale. We weren't Communists,

but as Pétain sang the Marseillaise, we had to sing the Internationale.

You see, people attended the raising of the colours reluctantly.

- Yet they still came? - They had no choke.

It is in times like those when you begin to realise

what people are really like.

- How do you mean? - They were scared stiff.

With only a few exceptions.

- Was it really a risk not to come? - Risk or no risk, they still came.

- So they thought there was a risk? - They thought so.

I was under the impression that there were quite a few students here

who ardently supported General de Gaulle.

For example, there was the son of a colleague

whose name escapes me, among others.

What about among the teachers?

I really can't say how many teachers supported him.

We were sympathetic to the young people's cause,

but there wasn't the same enthusiasm...

the same enthusiasm which was gaining momentum

among the young people.

Why do you think that is? It often seems to be the case in life.

Young people are, in general, more sincere and more dynamic.

They don't think things through.

I think it would be fair to say that they are less cautious.

They are more open and friendly. What do you think?

- They're not as scared. - True.

Some of my students got caught.

I can't really say who. Not so many, just a few of them.

In fact, many of them now have streets named after them here.

There was Bacaud.

The street going to Fontgieve is named after him.

- I taught this charming boy. - He was in the Resistance?

These people,

as Dionnet was saying earlier, had created a network.

We only found out about it later.

They continued to pretend they were just your average students.

But we only found out about this later.

Perhaps Dionnet, who was in the Resistance, knew.

What was it like for the others?

How did the others react when someone's desk was empty?

I don't know. I can't remember.

When a student's parents were arrested,

and the son showed up at school the next day, how did they react?

- I can't remember. - How can you forget?

Can you remember?

No, I can't.

No specific examples.

I see some examples on the wall.

Those are our former students...

Aren't those the students who died in World War I?

It says World War ll.

I'm trying to remember, but I can't.

Clermont-Ferrand is giving Marshal Pétain a warm welcome.

He has come to approve the constitution of the Peasants' Union,

and the end of the winter crusade for National Aid.

The head of state will then receive the donations to National Aid

brought by peasants from all over the region.

It is a symbolic ceremony for the French mutual aid campaign.

A great day for France as our hearts beat together in collective hope.

END OF PART 1