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9 - Patriotic scrutiny

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2009

Pieter Lagrou
Affiliation:
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris
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Summary

Chapter 4 mentioned briefly the rudimentary ‘Nuremberg of the masses’ which occurred during the repatriation from Germany. Repatriation brought back an explosive mixture of the most wretched victims of the Nazi regime – the concentration camp survivors – and its most detested accomplices – collaborators who had fled with the Germans, volunteers for the Wehrmacht and the SS. Indignation over Nazi crimes, personified in the returning martyrs, was channelled on to the black sheep in the DP herd, creating a generalised atmosphere of suspicion. Screening in the transit centres was alleged to be inadequate, letting through Gestapo agents, miliciens and even ordinary German citizens trying to obtain the repatriation grant, returning to Germany and in some cases repeating the same operation several times. It is interesting in this context to observe that transfer to Germany and repatriation were not always a straightforward round trip, and that some cross-migration occurred. Belgian collaborationists, fearing to return to an environment reminiscent of their wartime behaviour, migrated to France instead and bought farms vacated by their occupants, benefiting from the rural exodus that was itself accelerated by the wartime population displacement. Their concentration in particularly deserted departments – reports in some localities indicate that they took over 50 percent of the farms – caused resentment in the local population and suspicion as to what had made them flee their own country.

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The Legacy of Nazi Occupation
Patriotic Memory and National Recovery in Western Europe, 1945–1965
, pp. 157 - 166
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1999

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  • Patriotic scrutiny
  • Pieter Lagrou, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris
  • Book: The Legacy of Nazi Occupation
  • Online publication: 02 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511497087.010
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  • Patriotic scrutiny
  • Pieter Lagrou, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris
  • Book: The Legacy of Nazi Occupation
  • Online publication: 02 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511497087.010
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Patriotic scrutiny
  • Pieter Lagrou, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Paris
  • Book: The Legacy of Nazi Occupation
  • Online publication: 02 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511497087.010
Available formats
×