After Germany established control of France in 1940, many French citizens collaborated with the Nazi regime, while others resisted. When France was liberated in 1945, the French Resistance initiated the “épuration” — the purge of those who collaborated with the Nazis. The tension between resistance and collaboration within France is seen today in the different representations of the épuration in their national museums.
The Memorial de Caen is a groundbreaking museum dedicated to demonstrating the atrocities of war and the destruction of society as a consequence of human conflict. The museum describes the Vichy Government, led by Marshal Pétain, and its collaboration with Nazi Germany. The museum discusses the épuration executed by the French Resistance movement after the liberation of France, during which “La Resistancé” lynched, executed, or deported collaborators. The Memorial de Caen is critical of the French Resistance and its épuration during the post-war years.
This is different from the depiction of the épuration in the Musée de l’Ordre de la Libération in Paris. The museum is located within the Robert de Cotte Building of the Hôtel National des Invalides, an 18th-century Parisian compound that houses museums commemorating French military history. Musée de l’Ordre de la Libération’s prestigious setting indicates the importance of the French Resistance. According to this museum, the Resistance was significant both actively and symbolically. The Musée de l’Ordre de la Libération represents the épuration as the Resistance punishing those who were corrupted and collaborated with the Nazis. It praises the Resistance in their efforts to purge collaborators and create an image of France wholly resistant to the Nazi regime.
Although both museums discuss the épuration, their interpretations of the French Resistance’s intentions differ. The Memorial de Caen’s display of the French Resistance is critical of the Resistance’s role after the war. However, the Musée de l’Ordre de la Libération praises the Resistance’s efforts in carrying out purges against collaborators. The strikingly different depictions of the relationship between collaboration and resistance within France by the two museums show the difficulty that French society still faces in coming to terms with its past. The Memorial de Caen represents the more critical sector of French society that is open to taking witness of its past, while Le Invalides represents the more nationalistic and patriotic sector that is only willing to remember the most heroic aspects of the past.