The Sorrow and the Pity Page #5

to surrender boats and all,

on pain of an immediate bombing attack,

or of being taken prisoner.

Our predictions all came true.

We knew who we were dealing with.

It was then, shortly after these events,

that the French, whose faith in the English

had been greatly shaken,

made contact with us for the first time,

through General Huntziger

at the armistice Commission

in Wiesbaden,

to discuss the possibility

of changing the armistice clauses

to allow military collaboration.

and it was the discussion of such options,

for which each side undoubtedly

had its own personal motivations,

that initiated the negotiations,

which are now known as "collaboration."

While the talks were beginning,

Hitler and Ptain agreed

to meet in Montoire.

In our first meeting,

Laval told me he was a Germanophile.

and as he had known me for years,

he asked me to put in a good word

for him with Hitler. and I did.

I think Hitler felt Laval was sincere,

at least in one aspect:

when he spoke of collaboration.

and that was the main issue

at the second meeting.

In such cases, the defeated want to know

what will become of them.

What will the peace treaty be like?

Whereas the victors I've often seen

generally don't know what's next

and cannot answer such questions.

That's how it went in Montoire.

Hitler didn't know

how to answer Ptain's questions

about boundaries or the fate of prisoners.

So it ended with everything up in the air.

Ah, Montoire... Now that was quite a story.

Where was this Montoire, anyhow?

Everyone was looking it up in the atlas

to see where it was.

When we heard what had transpired,

it was depressing.

Some even cried the next day.

-People were crying?

-Yes.

Soon afterwards,

a new slogan became popular,

"Collaboration is:"

"Give me your watch,

I'll give you the time."

That was the slogan.

That was collaboration.

He often said, also in my presence,

that he hadn't yet decided

whether England or France

should pay for the war.

On the basis of his "race ideology,"

or whatever you can call this point of view,

many felt much more related

to the English than to the French.

I am convinced that France,

as Hitler saw it,

could only play a minor role

in a National Socialist Europe.

He had never been in France

or anywhere else in Europe.

Whatever knowledge he had

was derived from books,

which had first been adapted

to his point of view.

In his mind,

he felt that a decline of the French people

was unavoidable. and this idea

was confirmed by the French defeat.

During his travels, Hitler sometimes

shared his thoughts with others.

April 5, 1942. Suppertime.

The Fhrer says that if one plans on

ignoring the terms of a contract,

no use quibbling over details.

Hence, we must assure ourselves

that the French are sincere.

No point in trying to pickpocket

an experienced pickpocket

Like the Fhrer himself.

In any case,

France's main task for the next 50 years

is to repair the damage done at Versailles.

April 24, 1942. Suppertime.

The Fhrer says he is against

marriages between

the Wehrmacht and foreigners

in occupied lands.

Such demands are generally based on

sexual frustration,

which is common in troops abroad.

He is struck by the contrast

between the photos of the German men,

and those of the women,

who are very shabby looking.

The Fhrer feels that such marriages

are doomed from the start,

both in terms of individual happiness

and racial purity.

He is more in favor

of harmless passing fancies,

which are inevitable

in this type of situation.

The conditions created by

National Socialism

within German structures at that time

made it impossible for us to respect

the clauses of the armistice.

We couldn't help what happened,

any more than we could have helped

all the other horrible things

which continue to haunt

any rational human being.

We couldn't stop Hitler and company

from invading Alsace and Lorraine,

making them a part of the Third Reich,

and eventually incorporating their youth

into the Wehrmacht.

This was all out of our hands.

We can reproach ourselves

until kingdom come,

but there was nothing we could do.

You say that after Russia,

you were sent to Alsace, and then France.

Why? Was Alsace not France?

No. For us, it wasn't French territory.

The people were pro-German.

I even brought my whole family.

There were some people

with bad intentions,

some patriots who were ready

to do anything.

But there weren't many.

So I felt like

I was in a country of German origin.

and now?

I've never gone back.

No, but what do you think of it now?

I think it's true.

I think it belongs to Germany.

Here a show is being put on for the S.S.

Bruno Fritz's amusing ice hockey report.

The German player is taken by surprise

and falls down on...

on the ice!

He stands up again. It feels too cold.

Thanks to Franco-German

economic collaboration,

100,000 French workers now work

in Germany.

Four trains leave the capital weekly

and head for German industrial regions.

Today, at North Station,

the war councilor Michel

has come to shake the hand of worker

number 110,000:
Edouard Lefbvre.

Tell us, Mr. Lefbvre,

were you unemployed?

-That's right.

-For how long?

It's been two years now.

-Are you married?

-With children.

This vast organization has already had

good results:

Lower unemployment rates,

and understanding between workers.

I'd worked for the Finance Minister

and the State Secretary since 1923.

In 1940, Mr. Lansfried requested

that I go to Paris,

as head of the military-controlled

finance division in occupied France.

He didn't want a National Socialist

party member in this position.

Were you not a member of the party?

Yes, shortly before, I had joined the party,

again at the request of Mr. Lansfried.

We tried to be as reasonable as possible,

and as fair as possible,

not only in our own interests,

but in those of France as well.

This famous democracy,

in the past 20 years,

has proved itself incapable

of eliminating such poverty.

The Third Reich, however,

aims to provide its workers

everywhere in Germany

with healthy and beautiful hometowns.

This is a new settlement

in a small industrial town,

which naturally has a daycare center,

a clinic, a center for mothers and children

and an X-ray lab.

One gets the impression from such reports

that German propaganda was

quite open in its racial prejudice,

and often implied

that German discipline and structure

were necessary qualities to clean up

what was considered

to be "the French mess."

Yes, there is some truth in what you say.

In our offices in Paris,

we also had a propaganda department.

But it received orders directly from Berlin.

and I would like to point out that,

from the outset of my job...

It was the first ministerial-level

visit from the French government,

the Minister of Transport

visited in September 1940.

He was accompanied

by the owner of a racing stable,

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes