Historians Blog
My final project in Spring semester was a study on Paris under the occupation. Parisians suffered increased intervention from the government in their daily lives, including the German occupying forces. The Memorial de Caen provided a comprehensive exhibit dedicated to World War II, which enhanced my understanding through its display of war’s effect on a nation and its people. It also corroborated my research on specific topics such as how French citizens bore food shortages and the prisoner of war camps.
United States Naval Monument Utah Beach
The Memorial de Caen also showed that France has a problem truly assessing the character of its occupation. I found significant facts omitted regarding the French Jewish experience during World War II. The museum seldom acknowledged that the Vichy collaborationist regime played an active role in Jewish suffering, ignoring the 38,000 who were rounded-up by French police and deported to Auschwitz in 1942, including 13,000 men, women, and children detained during Operation Spring Wind in July of that year. This was the largest round-up of Jews that occurred in France.
Remnants from bombing at Omaha Beach
I found a general absence of accountability throughout France with regards to the collaboration. My experience at the Memorial de Caen exemplified the issues in gaining an unbiased historical account of a country’s experience during war. France praised resisters who fought against German occupation, but this clouds the reality that many French citizens were either collaborative or appeased the Vichy regime, including those who actively carried out violence, such as the French police. The evident French difficulties with honesty positioned me to be more attentive to how the U.S. handles dark moments in our history, such as how we grapple with slavery or Native American removals. It demonstrates the challenge nations have in balancing pride while accepting truth and faults.
