French Society Under
Nazi Occupation
For the French and its allied nations, WWII is not only about battles and concentration camps. This course will take a look at France’s daily life and societal changes from the German invasion in 1940 and the following exodus from Paris to the “Free Zone” to the liberation of the French capital in 1945, using historical documents and personal testimonies. What happened to the arts, fashion, and social life amid restrictions of freedoms and rationing of food and clothes? How did the German presence change the way the inhabitants of the occupied zone lived (work, travel, entertainment)? Did anyone resist the orders and changes imposed by the occupier? Did anyone collaborate with them? Those are some of the topics we will discuss, along with the historical events that decided the fate of all involved in the occupation of the northern part of France. While attempting to answer these questions, parallels with similar contemporary situations will be drawn.
This course, while not required, serves as a precursor to “Stories of the Holocaust” (IS 380, Spring 2022).
- Teacher: Marianne Golding