Description
Book Synopsis Basing his extensive research into hitherto unexploited archival documentation on both sides of the Rhine, Allan Mitchell has uncovered the inner workings of the German military regime from the Wehrmacht’s triumphal entry into Paris in June 1940 to its ignominious withdrawal in August 1944. Although mindful of the French experience and the fundamental issue of collaboration, the author concentrates on the complex problems of occupying a foreign territory after a surprisingly swift conquest. By exploring in detail such topics as the regulation of public comportment, economic policy, forced labor, culture and propaganda, police activity, persecution and deportation of Jews, assassinations, executions, and torture, this study supersedes earlier attempts to investigate the German domination and exploitation of wartime France. In doing so, these findings provide an invaluable complement to the work of scholars who have viewed those dark years exclusively or mainly from the French perspective.
Trade Review “Outstanding Title! This succinct, tightly organized, and meticulously researched---in both German and French archival sources---monograph presents a thematic treatment of the German side of the occupation that includes such issues as the economy, the maintenance of order, culture and propaganda, and the Jewish question… This splendid volume, a worthy continuation of Mitchell's 40 years' work in Franco-German history, will have great utility for all levels of readership. A must for all collections. Summing Up: Essential. All levels/libraries.” · Choice
“...an essential book. It provides precise facts and figures for many issues that have heretofore been presented in impressionistic terms.” · The International History Review
Table of Contents Preface
List of Tables
Introduction
PART I: TAKING OVER (JUNE 1940 - JUNE 1941)
Chapter 1. Law and Order
Chapter 2. Rules and Regulations
Chapter 3. Economy and Armament
Chapter 4. Culture and Propaganda
Chapter 5. Germans and Jews
PART II: CRACKING DOWN (JUNE 1941 - NOVEMBER 1942)
Chapter 6. The Hostage Crisis
Chapter 7. A Dangerous Place
Chapter 8. Strict Controls and Stringent Quotas
Chapter 9. A Lost Battle
Chapter 10. Eichmann in Paris
PHOTOS
PART III: HOLDING ON (NOVEMBER 1942 - JUNE 1944)
Chapter 11. A Turn of Fortune
Chapter 12. A Police State
Chapter 13. A Deep Contradiction
Chapter 14. A Waning Hope
Chapter 15. A Wretched Conclusion
PART IV: PULLING OUT (JUNE - AUGUST 1944)
Chapter 16. The Twilight Weeks
Epilogue: The Long Handshake
Appendix: Classified French Police Files at the Archives Nationales in Paris
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Name Index
Subject Index
