The Unfree French: Life Under the Occupation
During the years 1940-44, the French were forced by circumstances to adjust personally to the German occupation, and circumstances worsened (lethally for French Jews) as the war lengthened. Therefore, the historical distinction between collaboration and resistance is questionable when it comes to understanding French society in these years, and Vinen stresses the tough circumstances in both material and psychic terms. In the humiliation of the 1940 defeat, Vinen discerns the emasculation felt by two million captured French soldiers taken back to forced labor in Germany. These imprisoned men were a major influence on how those back in France coped, as their absence compelled a substantial number of women to shift for themselves. Exploring French society operating under the restrictions of occupation, Vinen refrains from overgeneralization and draws sympathy, especially for those women with liaisons to Germans, who were denounced after liberation as collaborators. Privation and loneliness are the dominating moods of Vinen's social history, which offers an alternate perspective to the political and military histories that dominate the subject of occupied France.Gilbert TaylorCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.