More than 80 years after the armistice of the 2nde World War, Ifop, on behalf of the Observatoire Histoire & Vie Publique, conducted a major survey of French people’s perceptions of collaboration.
When it comes to reactions to the period of collaboration, the French first mention the betrayal and treachery of political leaders (19%), followed by the faces and ideologies of the latter: Nazism and Hitler (10%), Marshal Pétain and the Vichy regime (10%). Next on the list is anti-Semitism and genocide (9%).
When we look at how the French perceive the role of Marshal Pétain and the French state, it appears that their opinion is more clear-cut than it was thirty years ago. 54% of those surveyed said he betrayed France, compared with 38% in 1993.
With regard to anti-Semitic persecution and deportations, 62% of respondents consider that “the Vichy regime was an accomplice of the Nazis” (54% 30 years ago).
The proportion of French people who do not question the policies of the French State and Marshal Pétain is also lower. Indeed, the proportion of respondents who defend the fact that Marshal Pétain simply sought to safeguard France’s interests has halved (14% vs. 30% in 1993). The opinion that he tried to limit the number of victims follows the same trend (11% vs. 19%). On this last point, RN and Reconquête sympathizers are more likely to defend this interpretation (17%).
The vast majority of French people also agree with the statement that “France bears some responsibility for the arrest and deportation of French Jews during the Second World War” (76%). This consensus, and the fact that some French people are unable to express an opinion on certain issues linked to collaboration (27% of respondents did not express an opinion on the Vichy regime), seems to indicate a desire for a greater duty to remember. Indeed, 74% of French people would like to see the memory of collaboration taught more extensively in secondary schools. 73% of respondents consider that the history of collaboration is still important to them, and 69% think that it deserves a more significant place in the national memory.
