The Sorrow and the Pity (1969)

Pierre Mendès France: Self, Former Prime Minister Of France

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Quotes 

• Self - Former Prime Minister of France : The political climate changed and became unbearable in Bordeaux. Suddenly, treason was everywhere, there was a will to surrender, and a desire to get along with the victors at any price. Anglophobia, ever-present in France, resurfaced with new vigor. And all this went hand-in-hand with a horrible kind of cynicism. The military leaders, the one's who had messed up, weren't even mentioned. Instead, people blamed absolutely everything on Léon Blum, the Front Populaire and so forth. And so we consoled ourselves for the downfall of our nation by getting petty revenge in matters of internal affairs, a trend which, as you know, continued long afterwards.

• Self - Former Prime Minister of France : I was high up, so I had to jump off a high wall. But I had to run the risk. And once I had jumped, I would be a free man again. Just as I was about to jump, there were trees planted along the avenue, I heard the unexpected sound of voices. I tried to see in the semi-darkness. There was a couple sitting under a tree. You can imagine what they were discussing. He knew what he wanted, but she hadn't decided yet. It seemed to last an eternity to me. She ended up saying yes, but I had the impression she had put up a great deal of resistance. Finally, they left. And so I jumped. And let me assure you that I was even happier than he was.

• Self - Former Prime Minister of France : There was surrender and treason. But anti-semitism had also begun to rear its ugly head. Many who used to hide their feelings openly declared their anti-semitism, to the point that France began adopting certain German values, and sought to get closer to Hitler, in hopes of creating a Europe where France and Germany would collaborate and obviously anti-semitism became a common element between many Germans and Frenchmen.

• Self - Former Prime Minister of France : Anti-semitism and anglophobia are feelings that are never hard to stir up in France. Even if reactions to such things are dormant or stifled, all it takes is one event, one incident, one international crisis or one Dreyfus affair, for feelings we thought long gone to suddenly re-emerge in full force, for beliefs we thought dead to be simply dormant.

• Pierre Mendès-France : So the right-thinking women of the Parisian bourgeoisie decided to form a committee to entertain our valiant soldiers, to provide them with a more pleasant view. The idea was to plant rosebushes on the Maginot Line, to make it look prettier, to create a nicer atmosphere. And there were people who donated money towards these rosebushes, so that our soldiers didn't have to look at the horrid, concrete walls, and to give them a flowery environment in which to live. It's pathetic when you think about the awful things that came later.

• Self - Former Prime Minister of France : The officers or the staff were clearly out of their depth. Having the trains, the roads and all telecommunications cut off led to a situation in which any plans the soldiers had made were suddenly completely ruined. Add to this the fact that certain military circles shared the attitude of many civilians, and tackled the war unenthusiastically. After all, they were living in - I'm not saying they were traitors. In any case, there were very few traitors. But this attitude of preferring Hitler to Léon Blum was an attitude that had become very popular in bourgeois circles. And this was a circle to which many of the soldiers belonged.

• Self - Former Prime Minister of France : I must say that life in France at that time is something which is very difficult to imagine, and even more so to describe. You had an old pair of shoes you hoped would last. If they got a hole, there was no leather to fix them. There were no plates, there were no matches. There was nothing! It is very difficult, in hindsight, to describe what it was like living in a country where everyone was always searching for everything.

• Self - Former Prime Minister of France : It's not surprising that, at first, such poison won over many new converts at first. Little by little, people began to realize it was propaganda, and to see that the government was practicing a policy, which they themselves called collaboration with the enemy. Slowly but surely, people began to open their eyes, and change their minds. But this propaganda still won over many new converts.