Summary
"Thousands of Frenchmen volunteered to provide military help to the Nazis during World War II, fighting in such places as Belorussia, Galicia, Pomerania, and Berlin. Utilizing these soldiers' memoirs, The French who fought for Hitler examines how these volunteers describe their exploits on the battlefield, their relations to civilian populations in occupied territories, and their sexual prowess. It also discusses how the volunteers account for their controversial decisions to enlist, to fight to the end, and finally to testify. Coining the concepts of "outcast memory" and "unlikeable vanquished," Philippe Carrard characterizes the type of bitter, unrepentant memory at work in the volunteers' recollections and situates it on the map of France's collective memory. In the process, he contributes to the ongoing conversation about memory, asking whether all testimonies are fit to be given and preserved, and how we should deal with life narratives that uphold positions now viewed as unacceptable"--Provided by publisher.
Contents
Backgrounds
From the LVF to the Charlemagne
Iteraries
The historians' take
Authenticity
Verifications and guarantees
The Sajer case
Internet debates
Authorship
Veracity
The French in Berlin
Possibly too much
As good in bed as on the battlefield
Possibly too little
Textualization
Total recall
Perspectives
Frameworks
The demonization of the enemy
Frenchness
The lens of culture
Bearing witness
Enlisting
Fighting to the end
Testifying
From the outcasts' point of view
Vanquished
Estranged
Unrepentant
Appendix A: Biographical notices
Appendix B: Maps.