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News

Talk centers on WWII France

British scholar Richard Vinen discusses how identity functioned 
in occupied society

By GUILHERME CUNHA
The Daily Cougar

A renowned British historian discussed the hardships French society suffered under the German occupation during WWII on Thursday at The Honors College. 

Richard Vinen, a British scholar from King's College London, gave a lecture titled "Identity and Impersonation in Wartime France" in front of faculty and students.

Vinen discussed how, under the pressure of an alien power, much of the French populace deceived the state. According to his studies, some groups dissatisfied with their positions in society falsified their identities in order to survive the occupation.

"Identities are favorable topics for historians today -- first, people's self-construction, second, the state power and ID cards. Not just looking at race or nationality, but people's efforts to make false identities," Vinen said. "They are not always passive victims."

He explained how identity was used as a protest against the state. 

"When the yellow star was introduced, some Gentiles chose to wear the yellow star with Christian marks (as a sign of protest)," he said.

Vinen said some took advantage of this ability to change identities for different purposes -- some citizens impersonated policemen to take money from civilians. 

"You have a society of enormous upheaval -- a society where people are sent to work in Germany with varying degrees of coercion," Vinen said. "It gives people a chance to try to deceive the state. People find means to belong to categories that are more beneficial than others."

Turmoil in France among groups that feel marginalized shows that people are still trying to change their place in French society, Vinen said. 

Vinen has also taught at Cambridge University and published The Unfree French: Life Under the Occupation in 2006.

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