Evening star., 1951-07-23
Continued From First Page.


the German commander-forme
Crown Prince Wilhelm-who or
posed him at Verdun. Wilhell
died Friday at Hechingen, Gel
many.
Petain's heroic defense at Ve1
dun in 1916 had made him on
OF Frances greatest militar
heroes. He rallied the French
a memorable stand in one of tn
great battles of modern history
Legend credits much of Petain'
success to the battle cry "the
shall not pass"
But the national hero of Worl,
War I and elder statesman of tn
between-war years became a trai
tor in the eyes of many French
men after Hitler invaded Franc
IN 1910.
Summoned at the age of 81 t,
the helm of France recoiling be
fore the onrushing Nazi armies, i
was his lot to surrender his coun
try to the victorious Germans
Then he became chief of state O.
q semi-puppet government set VI
in Vichy.
After the liberation of France
Petain faced trial in the summer
of 1945. 1t was the first trial ot
the head of a French government
since King Louis XVI was con.
victed and guillotined in 1893 fol
treating with the enemy"
Death Sentence COMMITTED.
The High Court of Justice found
Petain guilty of intelligence with
the German enemy and pro-
nounced a death sentence. But
the court expressed hope the SEN
tence would not be executed.
Gen. Charles de Gaulle, the
wartime Free French" leader who
became president of the French
provisional government immedi-
ately after the war. commuted the
sentence to life Imprisonment.
Petain, a feeble warrior of SO
at the time of the trial. stood in
the prisoners dock at the con-
cluSion Of testimony and told the
jury that ION the threshold of
death, I swear that I always
served France"
Besides the death sentence. the
court sentenced him to national
indignity." and ordered all his
property conf1scated. He re-
tanned his title of marshal. which
under French law is a personal
title lasting for life.
On November Is, 1945, he was
sent to this tiny, sea-lashed is
land of the French Atlantic coast,
southwest of Nantes. to serve out
his sentence.
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer
Joseph Petain-was born April "a,
1856. at Chaucy la Tour in
Northern France. He was a grad
uate of st. Cyr, Frances military
academy.
Petain, at the end of the First
World War. was considered one
of the great military leaders of
the century and a symbol of the
valor of France. He came out
Of World War II branded a ue-
featist and traitor, summing up
In his ancient person the shame
and degradation which attended
his country's collapse in 1910.
It is probable that the long
Judgment Of history will find him
not quite big enough a man to
be wholly deserving of either
reputation.
His legend dates from 1916 on
the Western front, when the
German Gen. Won Falkenhayn
launched what up to that time
was the mightiest assault in his
tory on the French bastion of
Verdun.. Petain took command of
the defending French forces on
February Is. four days after the
attack began. BY the time he
stepped out, on May l, the French
victory was virtually assured.
According to the legend, it was
Petain who rallied the French to
this terrible endurance test with
the battlecry since familiar to
every school boy: They shall not
pass!" In fact, it was Gen. Nivelle,
his successor at Verdun, who put
those words into an order of the
day.
Weak Points in Legend.
Between the two world wars.
critics uncovered other weak points
in the legend of the hero of Ver-
dun" But the memory of a great
moment persisted, and to the
French of 1910 Petain was the
most venerable of their great men.
He was "a when, with France
collapsing under the Nazi blitz-
krieg, he took control of the gov
ernment, surrendered to Hitler
and proceeded to head up the
Vichy regime, through which Ger
many held the beaten country on
a loose rein.
When the war ended in Allied
victory. France called the erect
but tottering old soldier. then 80,
to account for his decision. For
four years, Petain was guilty of
treason" the prosecutor contend
ed. "A nation cannot forgive a.
man who Inundated her in the
eyes of the world" France con-
demned her onetime hero to
death, but the sentence was COM
muted to life imprisonment.
my only thought was to re-
main with the people of France,
as promised, instead of aban-
doning them in their agony, y
Petain said. Whatever happens,
they will know I defended them
as I defended Verdun.'
Many Blame Laval.
To the end, many Q Frenchman
believed Petain had tried to do