Scandal in France after the tribute to Pétain, convicted of treason after the Second World War. “I think of all the victims of Nazi barbarism”
the president of the Association for the Defense of the Memory of Marshal Pétain (ADMP), Jacques Boncompain. Credit: Jean-Christophe VERHAEGEN / AFP / Profimedia
A senior French official said on Saturday he would take action after an event honoring Philippe Pétain, France's World War II head of state, who was convicted of treason for collaborating with the Nazis.
It is just the latest controversy surrounding the memory of Pétain, a French World War I hero who fell from grace for collaborating with the Nazis.
Xavier Delarue, the government prefect of the Meuse department in eastern France, said he would take action over the remarks made on the sidelines of a service organized for Pétain by an association that aims to rehabilitate his reputation.
The comments were made by the president of the Association for the Defense of the Memory of Marshal Pétain (ADMP), Jacques Boncompain, who told journalists that the former head of state was “France's first resistance”. Moreover, he also challenged the decision of the High Court of Justice to convict him of treason after the war, saying that it was not a fair one.
The service was held Saturday in the Church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Verdun, the site where Pétain won a famous World War I battle in 1916.
Around 20 members of the association took part in Saturday's event. About 100 people gathered outside to protest the ceremony.
The reaction of French officials
Boncompain's comments were condemned by Prefect Delarue, who promised action and said the claims were “clearly revisionist”.
The French interior minister also criticized the statements.
“The remarks made today on the sidelines of a service in the 'tribute' to Philippe Pétain in Verdun go against our collective memory,” said Minister Nunez, who condemned any attempt to rehabilitate people associated with Nazi collaboration and World War II oppression.
The mayor of Verdun, Samuel Hazard, had tried to ban the pro-Pétain event, but was prevented by a ruling by an administrative court on Friday.
“I am deeply hurt, because I think of all the victims of Nazi barbarism and … the ideology of Marshal Pétain,” the mayor said after Saturday's ceremony.
Pétain's admirers point to the role he played as a general in the First World War. He is considered the architect of France's victory over German forces at Verdun, the longest battle of the war.
At the end of World War II he was convicted of leading the Vichy collaborationist government, but avoided the death penalty due to his advanced age. Pétain died in 1951, six years after he began serving his life sentence in exile on the Atlantic island of Yeu.
