Les Brûlures de l’Histoire - 1940-1944 : Les collabos

A documentary by Patrick Rotman A clear and informative account of these four dark years—1940-1944—which began with the Statute on Jews, promulgated in October 1940 without any German intervention, and ended with the Charlemagne Division, remnants of the Waffen-SS and the Milice, sent to fight on the Eastern Front in German uniforms. In the meantime, we witnessed the rise of the most extreme collaborators, disillusioned by a lackluster "National Revolution": figures like Marcel Déat, Jacques Doriot, Robert Brasillach, Lucien Rebatet, Drieu la Rochelle, and Céline. We saw French factories operating at full capacity for German industry, and French publishers agreeing to blacklist books condemned by the occupiers. Laval invented the "relève" (the forced labor program), and then the STO (Service du Travail Obligatoire, or Compulsory Work Service). A few days after the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup, René Bousquet was congratulated by SS officer Oberg. Those who called themselves "collaborators" finally seized power: Joseph Darnand became Secretary of State for the Maintenance of Order. Philippe Henriot was appointed head of propaganda. The latter's lavish funeral, killed by the Resistance in June 1944, would be the final act of defiance by the "collaborators." KUIV PRODUCTIONS - 1997