France during World War II Historiographic analysis based upon the

5th Conference on European Historical Bibliographies, Prague, 7-8 november 2013
France during World War II
Historiographic analysis based upon the Annual bibliography of the French
history (Bibliographie annuelle de l’Histoire de France) 1964-2010
Résumé
La France dans la Seconde Guerre mondiale
Bilan historiographique à partir de la Bibliographie annuelle de l’Histoire de France (1964-2010)
L’historiographie de la Seconde Guerre mondiale en France n’a cessé d’évoluer. Ces évolutions peuvent être étudiées à
partir des recensements de la BAHF (de 1964 à 2010), permettant de poser un regard statistique face à la masse
considérable de publications et de mettre en évidence l’évolution des champs de recherches.
Dans les années 1964-1965, marquées par l’anniversaire de la Libération, de nombreux ouvrages, articles et
témoignages étudient les mouvements de Résistance et les maquis.
Dans les années 1970-1975 la Résistance est présentée dans sa vision patriotique, communiste et gaulliste. Les
premiers écrits sur les Juifs dans la Résistance font leur apparition ainsi que de nombreux articles sur la déportation.
Le gouvernement de Vichy est au centre des recherches des années 1980-1985. Les institutions ne sont plus
représentées seulement par l’armée de terre, la marine mais également par des études sur la justice et
l’administration. De nombreux livres sont publiés à compte d’auteurs, témoignages d’anciens prisonniers de guerre.
L’étude du sort des Juifs est au cœur de l’historiographie de la période 1990-1995 et de nouveaux thèmes sont
étudiés : la collaboration, les camps d’internements français, la vie culturelle sous Vichy et d’abondantes
monographies sur le débarquement de Normandie sont publiées.
Dans les années 2000-2010 les thèmes de recherches concernant le gouvernement de Vichy sont désormais élargis et
nuancés par les chercheurs. On assiste à l’émergence de la notion de mémoire, à un renouvellement de
l’historiographie grâce à de nouvelles sources, de nouvelles méthodes avec un déplacement de la macro- vers la
micro- histoire et un intérêt pour des parcours personnels et des lieux précis.
Abstract
Historiography of World War II never stopped evolving. The BAHF's overviews (from 1964 to 2010) allow to study
through a statistic approach these evolutions despite the large amount of publications, but also highlight the evolution
of research fields.
The years 1964-65, years of celebration of the Liberation and Victory, a large number of books, articles and
testimonies study the Resistance movement and the Maquis.
During the years 1970-1975, Resistance is presented through a patriotic perspective, either communist or Gaullist.
First writings about Jews in the Resistance appear as well as many articles on the Nazi mass deportation.
The Vichy government is at the center of researches in the years 1980-1985. Institutions are represented not only by
the Army, or the Navy but also by studies about Justice and administration. Number of books are self-published,
testimonies of former war prisoners.
The study of the fate of Jews is the main focus of the historiography of the 1990-1995 period, and new topic are being
studied: French "collaboration" with the Nazis, French captivity camps, cultural life under the Vichy government and
numerous monographs about the Invasion of Normandy are published.
In 2000-2010, research themes regarding the Vichy government are now extended and tempered by researchers. The
notion of "Memory" (Mémoire) arises and there's a renewal of historiography due to new sources, new methods with
a transfer from macro to micro history and an attention to personal experiences and specific places.
5th Conference on European Historical Bibliographies, Prague, 7-8 november 2013
Since the end of World War II, France never stopped wondering on these years of war also called
in French “black years, dark, troubled or grey years”. Based upon these reflections, studies,
monographs, articles, testimonies and memoirs, were produced, as well as numerous novels and
films.
Historiography of World War II in France never stopped evolving. These evolutions can be
studied through the overviews of the Annual bibliography of the French history from 1964 to
2010 (Bibliographie annuelle de l’Histoire de France), since it allows a statistic approach despite
the large amount of publications, and also brings to light evolutions of research fields.
On September 1st 1939, France joins World War II. From late September 1939 to May 10th 1940,
France goes through what was called “the Phoney War” (la drôle de guerre), marked by a lack of
major military operations on its territory and an endless inactivity for the troops standing on the
Maginot Line.
On May, 10th 1940, the launching of the offensive led to a mass exodus (l’exode): from May to
June 1940, 8 to 9 millions of civilians mostly French but also Belgians and North Europeans are
thrown on the roads, trying to flee the German troops progress.
“La défaite s’abattit sur la France comme la foudre sur un arbre. La vue d’une armée aussi
considérable jetée à terre en quelques semaines ébranla les Français jusqu’au fond d’eux-mêmes”1.
The Third Republic didn’t survive the defeat. The Marshal Pétain was given full authority to
implement a new constitution.
The new government, often called the Vichy Government is named after the town where they
had settled their headquarters. Therefore, the Vichy Government steps into collaboration with
the Nazis and begins a National Revolution. Meanwhile, the General de Gaulle, from London, in
his Appeal of 18 June exhorts the French people to keep on and fighting the enemy, and marks
the beginnings of the resistance organization “Free France” (la France Libre).
As early as 1944 was created the History Commission of the Nazi occupation and of the
Liberation of France (Commission d’Histoire de l’Occupation et de la Libération de la France) and
in 1945 is founded the War History Committee (Comité d’Histoire de la guerre), their fusion in
1951 would led to the creation of the Committee of History of the Second World War (Comité
d’Histoire de la Seconde Guerre mondiale) whose works would be published in the World War II
Historical review (Revue d’histoire de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale) following the War Historical
Records (Cahiers d’histoire de la guerre).
The War History Committee was dissolved at the end of the seventies, and was replaced in 1978
by the History of present time Institut (l’Institut d’histoire du Temps présent), a CNRS research
unit.
In 1964, The Annual bibliography of the French history (Bibliographie annuelle de l’Histoire de
France, BAHF) broaden its inventory to the World War II period, twenty years after the end of
this conflict. The 1975 edition will see the introduction of the French Fourth Republic (19461958).
In the political history chapter, Second World War entries are classified into 9 sections. This
classification was progressively established from 1964 to 1980 because of the increase of
publications about the Second World War, and was therefore achieved in the 1985’s edition of
the BAHF.
“The defeat stroke France like lightning hits a tree. The sight of this major army being knocked out in only a few
weeks hurt the French deeply” in Burin (Philippe), La France à l’heure allemande, 1940-1944. Paris. Éditions du Seuil,
1995, p. 11
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5th Conference on European Historical Bibliographies, Prague, 7-8 november 2013
1/ General studies
2/ The “Phoney War” (September, 1st 1939- May, 9th 1940) (la Drôle de guerre)
3/ The exodus (L’Exode)
4/ Military operations
5/ The German occupation and the Vichy Regime
6/ The Resistance
7/ The Deportation
8/ The Liberation
9/ The legal purge (l’épuration)
Diagram #1: Political History of the Second War, number of entries
350
300
250
General studies
"Phoney War" (Drôle de Guerre)
200
Exodus (L'exode)
Military operations
Vichy Regime
150
Resistance
Deportation
100
Liberation
the legal purge
50
0
The topics’ evolution from 1965 to 2010-11 in these entries shows:
A meaningful growth of the number of entries from 1965 to 1990.
An over-representation of these entries during the year 1995 (twice the 2000’s entries).
A stabilization of the entries’ growth starting in 2000 without getting up to 1995 figures.
Major topics
Three topics explain this over-representation in 1995: Military operations, the Resistance
Movement, and above all the Vichy Government.
But as the first two topics then decrease, the Vichy section diminishes a little but still represents
more than half of the 2010-11’s entries (206/384, that is 53,6%).
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5th Conference on European Historical Bibliographies, Prague, 7-8 november 2013
Minor topics
The “Phoney War” is concentrated during the years 1970 to 1975.
The exodus is a major topic specific to the year 1980 (almost a third of all the entries: 75/225).
In 1995, the deportation section has the larger number of entries (45 for an average of 19,1 all
periods together).
Same scheme regarding the Liberation or the legal purge in 1995, as the “anniversary
celebrations” seems to prevails.
Finally the hypertrophy of the General studies in 1965 most likely reveals a problem in the
nomenclature.
Diagram #2: Second World War: thematic repartition expressed as a percentage of the cases found items in
the chronological indexes
16
14
Institutions
12
Economy
Society
10
The press
8
Overseas territory
Judaism
6
Catholicism
Teaching
4
Protestantism
2
Art
Medecine, sciences
0
Diagram #2bis : thematic repartition of the found items (only politics)
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
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5th Conference on European Historical Bibliographies, Prague, 7-8 november 2013
The entry "Politics" prevails during the period 1965-2010/11.
Three topics: protestantism, art and medicine/sciences only appear in the entries later on (only
in 1990), as it is in 1980 that appear Catholicism and teaching. In 1965 only one topic exists
"politics.
Details
Some entries can be considered as stable in their repartition during the whole period:
- Institutions (from 7,2% in 1970 to 9,8% in 2010-11), The Press from 2,8% to 2,8%, and
to some extent protestantism, the arts, the medicine and sciences.
Catholicism undergoes a three-fold increase between 1980 and 2010-11, judaism and Overseas
undergoes a four-fold increase.
And finally the economy (three-fold increase) and above all the society (eleven-fold increase)
catching up “the institutions” in 2010-11 to become the three major topics, in 2010-11 but still
really behind the “Politics” section.
Diagram #3: Studied periods, all historiographic fields mixed, expressed as a percentage of the
cases found in the chronological indexes
25
20
Middle Age
16th century
17th century
18th century
15
French Revolution
First Empire
1815-1851
10
Second Empire
Third Republic
Second World War
Fourth Republic
5
0
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010-11
Periods with an increased interest:
Mainly all the periods starting with the French “Restauration”:
- 1815-1851: 4,1% in 1965 to 10,3% in 2010-11, that is a two point five-fold increase
- Second Empire: 2,7% en 1965 to 8,9% in 2010-11 that is a three-fold increase
- Third Republic: 9,2% in 1965 to 20,2% in 2010-11, that is a two-fold increase, becoming
the preferred period in 2010-11.
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5th Conference on European Historical Bibliographies, Prague, 7-8 november 2013
Periods with a growing lack of interest:
It concerns the post ancient periods:
- Mainly the Middle Age, with the greatest fall, since it prevailed in 1965 with 23% of the
entries, reduced to the fifth position in 2010-2011.
- But also the 17th century (drops from 18,1% to 8,7%), 16th and 18th centuries also go
through a minor drop.
Periods relatively stable:
- French Revolution, First Empire, Second World War, and Fourth Republic.
Diagram #4: Political History, studies period, expressed as a percentage of the entries number
found in the chapter
45
40
35
Middle Age
16th century
30
17th century
18th century
25
French Revolution
First Empire
20
1815-1851
Second Empire
15
Third Republic
Second World War
Fourth Republic
10
5
0
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010-11
The French Revolution sees a growing interest over the overviews, with an increase of 15,6% to
14,2% between 1965 and 2010-11.
Two periods: The Third Republic and the Second World War growing up in the representation
along all the studied periods, to finally become in 2010-11 the two major topics, before the
French Revolution.
In 2010-11, those three studied periods represent more than 60% of the center of interests.
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5th Conference on European Historical Bibliographies, Prague, 7-8 november 2013
Diagram #5: political history of the Second War : form and origins of the works, after the entries of the
BAHF
600
500
French books
400
Foreign books
Total books
300
French articles
Foreign articles
Total articles
200
Colloquiums
100
0
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
2000
2005 2010-11
Books:
It is noteworthy that the book production is remarkably stable over this period, even if a slight
weakening of foreign books production can be noticed during the last years of observation.
Articles:
On the contrary, articles are a growing form of expression, in French as well as in foreign languages.
It is noteworthy that if in 1995 French articles reach their maximum production, 2000 sees the
foreign articles’ production becoming more important, it would be interesting to ponder the analysis
of their respective content.
Colloquium:
Finally, since 1970-75, there’s a growing number of colloquium being organized. There is a peak in
1995 and then a slight decline at the end of the observation period, yet without getting back to the
70-75 year’s figures, as if the year 1995 had been a turning point or had domino effect.
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5th Conference on European Historical Bibliographies, Prague, 7-8 november 2013
In 1964 and 1965 notices were gathered in the World War II section: 120 entries are gathered in
1964 and 136 in 1965 in the political history chapter.
The 1964-65’s are commemoration years of the Liberation: Numerous local periodicals mention
the Normandy landings and battles.
1964 also sees Jean Moulin’s ashes being transferred to the Pantheon (senior official,
representative of Charles de Gaulle designated to unify the Resistance movements, arrested by
the Gestapo on June, 21st 1943, he was tortured to death), and an exhibition about Jean Moulin
and the Resistance2 is held in Paris.
Many works, articles and testimonies study the Resistance movements and the different Maquis.
Only one article about Jews in France during the Second World War is published in an Italian
periodical: Rassegna mensile di Israel3.
The Committee of History of the Second World War publishes its Bulletin: mass deportation’s
statistics of each department, in 1964 more specifically in Ariège, Tarn and Indre-et-Loire
departments4. Those statistics will be continued till 1980.
Several editions of testimonies and memoirs about the German occupation period are
published5.
The Seventies
The Resistance movemen is presented through a patriotic, communist6 and Gaullist7 filter. The
communist’s memory insisted on the PCF’s action (French communist party). Local periodicals
present their regional Maquis. Numerous testimonies of Resistance fighters.
The first writings about Jews in the Resistance movement appear: one entry in the review
Judaism8: French-Jewish Resistance to the Nazi and one book written by A . Latour9: La Résistance
juive en France, 1940-1944 (The Jewish Resistance in France, 1940-1944).
About the Holocaust: Charlotte Delbo, member of the Resistance movement, deported to
Auschwitz in 1943 publishes Auschwitz et après (Auschwitz and After)10. A book is also published
about the Struthof camp11: “On May, 1st 1941, in the Struthof locality, Nazis opened a
concentration camp, named KL-Natzweiler. The central camp, the only concentration camp in
France, was located in the then annexed Alsace department.”12, as well as an article/testimony
about Buchenwald13.
Exhibition Catalog: Jean Moulin et la Résistance, la Libération de Paris, organised in Paris, in the Hôtel des
Invalides, August-December 1964. Paris, Ministère des Anciens Combattants, 1964, 71 ff.
3 Ariel (Joseph), « L’autodifesa e la resistanza degli Ebrei in Francia durante l’ultima guerre ». Rassegna
mensile di Israël (Padua-Rome), 1964, vol. 30, n° 3, p. 129-135
4 « Statistique de la déportation. Département de l’Ariège ; Département du Tarn ; Département de l’Indreet-Loire ». Bulletin du Comité d’Histoire de la deuxième guerre mondiale, 1964, n° 130, p. 10-14 ; n° 135, p.
6-9 ; n° 127, p. 10-13.
5 Bizardel (Yvon), Sous l’Occupation, souvenirs d’un conservateur de musée (1940-1944), Paris, CalmanLévy, 1964, 261 p.
6 Willard (Germaine). « L’Humanité clandestine : une source essentielle pour l’historien ». Cahiers de
l’Institut Maurice Thorez, 1970, year 4, # 18, p. 43-48
7 Hervé (colonel). « L’île de Sein répond à l’appel [du général de Gaulle] ». Revue historique de l’Armée
(Paris), 1970, year 25, # 3, p. 129-134
8 Ariel (Joseph), “French-Jewish Resistance to the Nazis”. Judaism (New york), 1969, vol. 18, # 3, p. 299312
9 Paris. Stock, 1970, 301 p.
10 Delbo, (Charlotte), Auschwitz et après. Tome 1: Aucun de nous ne reviendra ; Tome 2: Une connaissance
inutile. Paris. Éditions de Minuit, 1970, 2 vol. of 184 and 192 p.
11 Spitz (Aimé). Struthof. Bagne nazi en Alsace. Reportage mémoires du déporté résistant NN n° 4596. Raonl’Étape, Nouvelles Éditions, 1970, 42 p.
12 http://www.struthof.fr/fr/le-kl-natzweiler/introduction-a-lhistoire-du-camp/
13 Lecoq (Jules). “Souvenirs de Buchenwald”. Mémoires de l’Académie des Sciences, belles-lettres et arts
d’Angers, 1968, series 9, tome 2, p. 55-67
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Mid-seventies
1975 commemorates the opening of camps and several articles are published in local
periodicals.
Eberhard Jäckel14, in his book La France dans l’Europe de Hitler (France in Hitler’s Europe), had
shown, as early as 1968, that collaboration hadn’t been a German request, but had sprung from
the French State itself, but it didn’t get much attention at the time.
In 1973, is published in France, the French translation of the American historian Robert
Paxton’s15 La France de Vichy causing public scandal. R. Paxton explains his viewpoint in his
work Why France? American Historians Reflect on an Enduring fascination16: “I had discovered
that nothing of what I had found in German archives or other contemporary documents could
back up the common ideas the French people had about the Vichy government. The common
viewpoint, since 1954, when Robert Aron had published his classic’s Histoire de Vichy (History of
Vichy)17 was that all initiatives taken during the German Occupation had come from the German
side, as Vichy had only complied with these directives, the German archives showed that Vichy
had some autonomy during the first year and that they had used this autonomy gap to
vigorously fulfill its double project: National revolution in France itself and, abroad, and a
policies of neutrality…”.
This book had a great impact on the French community of historians.
A new law enacted in 1979, started opening archives and many historians started looking at the
history of Vichy under a new perspective.
The question of the fate of the Jews and Vichy involvement in the Shoah soon took an increasing
importance among studies. (On the Hebrew term “Shoah”, see Annette Wieviorka18,
“Comprendre, témoigner, écrire” (“Understand, testify, write”): “Today the event has a name
according to its strong specificity “Shoah” in France and Israel, “Holocaust” in the Anglo-Saxon
world and in most of the texts and international authorities (even if part of researchers prefer
the word genocide). The locution “Final solution” (Endlösung)… is still in favor among German
historians: since it emphasizes the Nazis mechanisms of destruction”.
The periodical Le Monde juif, published an article about “Les évasions de Juifs des trains de
déportation de France”19 (“Escapes of Jews from deportation trains in France”). Created in 1946,
this review studies the history of the destruction of the Jews in Europe. In 1997, it changed its
title to Revue d’Histoire de la Shoah (History of the Shoah Review)20.
In 1978, Serge Klarsfeld publishes Le Mémorial de la déportation des Juifs de France : listes
alphabétiques par convois des Juifs déportés de France, historique des convois de déportation,
statistiques de la déportation des Juifs de France21 (The memorial of Jewish deportees of France:
alphabetic list of Jewish deportees of France by train numbers, historic of trains for deportation,
deportation statistics of French Jews) under the authority of Sons and Daughters of Jewish
Deportees from France (FFDJF).
Frankreich in Hitlers Europa – Die deutsche Frankreichpolitik im Zweiten Weltkrieg, Stuttgart, Deutsche
Verlag-Anstalg, Stuttgart, 1966 ; french translation : La France dans l'Europe de Hitler. Paris, Fayard, 1968,
554 p.
15 Paxton (Robert O.), La France de Vichy : 1940-1944. Paris, Éd. du Seuil, 1973, 375 p. Translated from:
Vichy France: old guard and new order, 1940-1944. New York, A.A. Knopf, 1972, 339 p.
16 Why France? American Historians Reflect on an Enduring fascination. Ithaca, Cornell University Press,
2006, 242 p. French translation: Pourquoi la France ? Des historiens américains racontent leur passion pour
l’Hexagone, Under the direction of Laura Lee Downs and Stéphane Gerson. Paris, Éditions du Seuil, 2007,
377 p. Translated from American
17 Aron (Robert), Histoire de Vichy, 1940-1944. Paris, Fayard, 1954, 766 p.
18 Annette Wieviorka « Comprendre, témoigner, écrire », in Nouvelles perspectives sur la Shoah. Paris,
Presses universitaires de France, 2013, p. 5-6
19 Rutkowski (A.), « Les évasions de Juifs de trains de déportation de France ». Le Monde juif, JanuaryMarch, 1974, p. 10-29
20 Afoumado (Diane), «1946-2006 : 60 ans dans l’histoire d’une revue », Revue d’Histoire de la Shoah,
2006, n° 185, p. 485-518
21 Paris, B. et S. Klarsfeld, 1978, no pagination
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The eighties and nineties
Progressively the Vichy government will become the heart of most studies, growing from 75
entries in 1975 to 124 in 1985.
Institutions are now not only represented by the Army, the Navy or Air Force, but are also
studied the Justice, the Administration and the police.
The role played by the Catholic Church is also being studied.
More and more articles analyze the subject of the Compulsory Work Service (Service de Travail
Obligatoire, S.T.O.) and the Malgré-nous (“in spite of our will”), men of the Alsace-Moselle region
whom were forced to conscript into the Wehrmacht; and above all a large number of books are
being self-published, testimonies of former war prisoners about their captivity.
Some studies appear based upon the history of a city or a province.
From the nineties to ninety five
The collaboration, the National Revolution, the French anti-Semitism, the French internment
camps, function played by foreigners in the Resistance movement are topics now being studied.
In 1990, indexing of the symposium: De l’exil à la Résistance. Réfugiés et immigrés d’Europe
centrale en France, 1933-1945 (From exil to Resistance. Refugees and immigrants form cental
Europe in France, 1933-1945).22. The book written by Anne Grynberg: Les camps de la honte : les
internés juifs des camps français, 1934-194423 (Camps of infamy: Jew prisoners in French camps,
1939-1944) is published.
The fate of Jews is at the heart of the historiography of this period: Condition of the Jews and
their exclusion, roundups, especially the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup on the 16th and 17th of July 1942 in
Paris.
Another topic appears: the cultural life under Vichy government, with the thesis of Michele
Cone: Art and politics in France during the German Occupation24 and the book supervised by
Jean-Pierre Rioux25 is also published.
Intellectuals and Vichy is another topic studied with studies about Céline26, Robert Brasillach27,
Pierre Drieu La Rochelle and François Mauriac28.
1995: 50th anniversary of the Liberation. With 917 entries, that is 29,1% of the political history
chapter, The Second World War becomes the first studied period before the Third Republic and
the French Revolution (19,3%).
Military operations include 244 entries with numerous monographs of local and regional history
on the Normandy landings.
Researches on the Resistance Movement, are presently studying the different movements,
through a social viewpoint rather than a military one: are now studied the status of women, of
immigrants, of Jews, of simple activists (see, The Resistance a social history29).
De l’exil à la Résistance. Réfugiés et immigrés de l’Europe centrale en France, 1933-1945. International
Symposium, Paris VIII-Institut d’Histoire du Temps présent, 1986. Vincennes, Presses universitaires de
Vincennes, 1989, 283 p.
23 Grynberg (Anne), Les camps de la honte : les internés juifs des camps français, 1939-1944. Paris, la
Découverte, 1991, 399 p.
24 Cone (Michele), Art and politics in France during the German Occupation, 1940-1944. Thesis, New York
University, 1988. Ann Arbor, UMI, 1988, 455 p.
25 La vie culturelle sous Vichy, under Jean-Pierre Rioux’s direction. Bruxelles, Ed. Complexe, 1990, 412 p.
26 Ferreux (Christian), Le vocabulaire de l'antisémitisme dans les pamphlets de Louis-Ferdinand Céline.
Thesis, Besançon University, 1995. Besançon, 1995, 352 p.
27 Hickey (Sean), The Vichy régime and its National revolution in the political writings of Robert Brasillach,
Marcel Déat, Jacques Doriot and Pierre Drieu La Rochelle. Montréal, McGill University, 1991, 118 p.
28 Mauriac entre la Gauche et la Droite. Proceedings of the Sorbonne Symposium, May 24-26, 1994. Paris,
Klincksieck, 1995, 290 p.
29 La Résistance une histoire sociale, under Antoine Prost’s direction. Paris, Les Éditions ouvrières, 1997,
250 p.
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In 1995, is published a new review: Clio. Histoire, Femmes et Sociétés (Clio, History, Women and
Society) (nowadays Clio. Femmes, Genre, Histoire) centered on women’s history and gender’s
history. The theme chosen for the first issue is Resistances and Liberation: France, 1940-1945. In
her introduction Françoise Thébaud30 wonders about women historiography during World War
II in France because it is less taken into considerations as in Italy for examples.
This feature explores through different point of view this same topic: “the neglect of women in
the Resistance movement”31, “Women in the Mediterranean Resistance”32, and an under-studied
subject, almost a taboo subject, the feminine collaboration with two articles about the Official
purge after the Liberation: “The tondues (women whose head were shaved for alleged
collaboration) at the Liberation”33 and “Repression against women guilty of collaboration during
the Occupation”34.
Laurent Douzou, the same year, publishes in the Cahiers de L’Institut d’Histoire du Temps présent,
an article untitled: “La Résistance, une affaire d’hommes ?” 35 (“The Resistance, a men’s
business?”).
In the years 2000 to 2010, researchers have now broadened the Vichy government research
fields and have more subtle approaches. Are taken into account: History of museums and
libraries36, History of teaching and universities, and archeology.
Several local or regional studies are published about the everyday life difficulties of French
people, especially problems to get fresh supply, the black market, rationing, hours of long wait in
front of stores. The movie theaters and theaters, only heated places, are very busy. In 2009, an
exhibition is organized in Paris about fashion accessories and objects, as testimonies of women
life in Paris, from 1940 to 194437, and presenting fashion during the German Occupation.
In 2007, Isabelle von Bueltzingsloewen publishes a book about starvation in psychiatric hospital
during the German Occupation38.
Numerous testimonies and personal diaries are published, like Albert Grunberg’s Journal d’un
coiffeur juif à Paris sous l’Occupation39 (Diary of a Jewish barber in Paris during the German
Occupation): during more than two years, from 1942 to 1944, A. Grunberg stayed hidden in an
attic room (chambre de bonne) on the 6th floor of a building, protected by the concierge and his
wife, and several neighbors.
Is also published the Journal, 1942-1944, left by Hélène Berr, studying English in Paris and who
died in Auschwitz40.
Thébaut (Françoise), « Résistances et Libérations », Clio. Femmes, Genre, Histoire, 1995, n° 1. [Online]
Thalmann (Rita), « L'oubli des femmes dans l'historiographie de la Résistance », Clio. Femmes, Genre,
Histoire, 1995, n° 1. [Online]
32 Chaubin (Hélène), « Femmes dans la Résistance méditerranéenne. », Clio. Femmes, Genre, Histoire, 1995,
n° 1. [Online]
33 Virgili (Fabrice), « Les « tondues » à la Libération : le corps des femmes, enjeu d'une réaproppriation »,
Clio. Femmes, Genre, Histoire, 1995, n° 1. [Online]
34 Leclerc (Françoise) et Weindling (Michèle), « La répression des femmes coupables d'avoir collaboré
pendant l’Occupation », Clio. Femmes, Genre, Histoire, 1995, n° 1. [Online]
35 Douzou (Laurent), « La Résistance une affaire d’hommes ? », Cahiers de l’Institut d’Histoire du Temps
présent, 1995, no 31, p. 11-23
36 Poulain (Martine), Livres pillés, lectures surveillées. Les bibliothèques françaises sous l’Occupation.( Looted
books, censored reading: French libraries under the Occupation). Paris, Gallimard, 2008, 587 p.
37 Accessoires et objets, témoignages de vies de femmes à Paris, 1940-1944. Exposition au Mémorial du
Maréchal Leclerc de Hauteclocque et de la Libération de Paris – Musée Jean Moulin, Paris, May 20thNovember 15th, 2009.
38 Bueltzingsloewen (Isabelle von), L'hécatombe des fous. La famine dans les hôpitaux psychiatriques sous
l'Occupation. Paris, Aubier, 2007, 512 p.
39 Grunberg (Albert), Journal d’un coiffeur juif à Paris sous l’Occupation. Paris, Éditions de l'Atelier, 2001,
250 p.
40 Berr (Hélène), Journal, 1942-1944. Suivi de Hélène Berr, une vie confisquée par Mariette Job. Paris,
Tallandier, 2007, 300 p.
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5th Conference on European Historical Bibliographies, Prague, 7-8 november 2013
The fate of hidden children (French or foreign Jews) by assistance networks is the subject of
many articles.
We witness the emergence of the concept of memory (mémoire) and the history of memory is
studied. In his book: La mémoire désunie41 (The dismantled memory. Political recollection of the
dark years from the Liberation to nowadays), Olivier Wieviorka makes an assessment: “The
memory of the war has, over the seasons, varied, following a chronology, which Henry Rousso42
established the main lines, for the Vichy period. Therefore, France went through an incomplete
period of mourning (1944-1954), then a phase of denial (or psychological repression) (19541971), before the mirror broke (1971-1974), leading to a memory shaped mainly by the Shoah
and the Vichy Government”43.
In 2010, Nicolas Mariot and Claire Zalc published a study following the fate of 991 Jews from the
small Jewish community in Lens, in the North of France from 1940 to 1945, day after day, family
by family44.
Historiography is regenerated by new sources, new methods, with a shift from macro- to microhistory, and a renewed interest for personal stories and precise locations.
Brigitte Keriven
Institut d’Histoire moderne et contemporaine (CNRS/ENS)
[email protected]
Wieviorka (Olivier), La mémoire désunie. Le souvenir politique des années sombres de la Libération à nos
jours. Paris, Éd. du Seuil, 2010, 307 p.
42 Rousso (Henry), Le syndrôme de Vichy, de 1944 à nos jours. 2nd edition revised and expanded. Paris, Éd.
du Seuil, 1990, 404 p. English translation: The Vichy Syndrome. History and Memory in France since 1944.
Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1991 and 1994, 392 p.
43 Wievorka (olivier), op. cit., p. 280
44 Mariot (Nicolas), Zalc (Claire), Face à la persécution : 991 juifs dans la guerre. Paris, O. Jacob ; Fondation
pour la Mémoire de la Shoah, 2010, 302 p.
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