NEVER PETAIN!

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20637, 18 August 1941, Page 7

NEVER PETAIN!

BETRAYAL OF FRANCE AMERICAN'S CHAGRIN “KEEP ALIVE THE SOUL” As an indication of how many Americans feel about Vichy collaboration with the a letter published in the correspondence section of the magazine Liberty, as long ago as March 1, is illuminating. It takes the form of an address to Marshal Petain, head of the Vichy Government, from a United States veteran of the last war. “One day in 1918 I received, at the hands of General Le Boue of the 161st French Division, a recognition which I have cherished for 22 years—a citation for the Croix de Guerre. Returning to my billet after the ceremonials of that day, I laboriously tried to translate it. I must confess that there was only one word in the citation that meant anything to me —the word at the bottom. That word was ‘Petain.’” So the letter begins. “Here in America one does not talk about one’s medals, mon general, but often on winter evenings, when my son and I had little confidential visits with one another, he would bring out my Croix de Guerre and dangle it proudly. Then I would get out the citation, yellowed with age. ‘See son,’ I would say. ‘See. It is signed by Petain himself.’ Then he would crawl up on my lap and ask me to tell him about Petain. “And I would tell him. I would tell him how Petain loved this France better than his own life; how he inspired his soldiers to fight better than they knew lidw; how, when the enemy threw overwhelming numbers against Verdun, Petain said: ‘They shall not pass!’ Then I would repeat: ‘Yes, that’s the same man—the Petain who signed my citation. See, son, P-E-T-A-I-N! Invasion of France “When the invasion of France began last May, I could not help thinking that Gamelin might be all right, but that I’d feel better if Petain were there. Then things looked bad. Then one day the report came over the radio that Petain was in the Government. I fairly shouted with joy. I said: ‘Now, things will be different. They’ll never whip Petain.’ “Well, mon general, the battle of France was lost. It was lost before Petain could play a decisive part, and as we Americans say, that’s water under the bridge. Anyway, Petain was still there. Petain would never kowtow to a Nazi dictator. They might bully him, put him in a concentration camp, even kill him, but Petain would remain a Frenchman. In any case, he would keep alive the soul of France. “Then shocking news began to appear in the press. The French Government under Petain had renounced the inspiring motto, ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.’ France under Petain would be rebuilt along Nazi lines. The patriots who tried to forestall the Nazi domination of Europe— Daladier, Reynaud, Mandel, Gamelin and all the others—would be tried for treason. The property of French Jews would be confiscated. The French Government had turned on its former ally, in whom the only hope of a resurrected France remains, had pledged complete co-operation with the German Government, and bad even threatened to declare war on England. Every communication reaching America from Vichy sounded like the slavish parroting of the conquerors’ words.

“Is this the same France which lost a war to Bismarck 70 years ago, which paid its indemnity with the sweat of its brow, and then set to work to build a new France? Is this the France of ‘They shall not pass!’? Is this the France of Joan of Arc? No, mon general, this is not the same France. It is not even France. “Not the Real Traitors!” “It is all terribly depressing. Gamelin, Daladier, Reynaud, and Mandel were not the real traitors. They may have made grave mistakes, but if you want to try someone for treason, find the real traitors, those who actually connived with the enemy to bring about the destruction of France. And don’t turn on your friends. Germany may be victorious for a day, a year, five years; but as sure as the sun rises over the Alps of Savoie she will, in the end, be destroyed- “ And if somebody must serve as Hitler’s mouthpiece, if somebody must play the role of leader for a nation of slaves, let it be Laval, but never Petain!

“The lad who used to crawl up in my lap and ask to be told almpt Petain is now ,16. I have spent many uneasy moments since last spring wondering what I could say if he asked me whether the Petain of Vichy is the same Petain whose name is on my citation. I think I should have to reply: 'No. That is a different Petain. The Petain of Verdun, the Petain of “They shall not pass,”' the Petain who signed my citation, is dead.’ “But my son never mentions Petain —at least, never in my presence. I know he understands. He is considerate of my feelings. I have a firm faith that time will vindicate my belief in Petain. I nourish a desperate hope that one day, when a bullying Nazi official issues a decree for Petain to repeat to the French citizenry, Petain will say: ‘Sir, you see you an old man, but a soldier ot France. You will have to find another to perform your menial tasks. If somebody must betray my country, it will not be Petain. Vive la France! Liberty, equality, fraternity!’ “That will be a glorious day for France and for a disillusioned world, mon general. No longer will men keep their Croix de Guerres locked away in trunks. They will again get out their citations, and say to their children, or children’s children: ’See. It is signed by Petain himself. The Petain! You know, the magnificent soldier of France who whipped the Germans at Verdun in 1916 and who defied the bully of Europe in 1941. See, P-E-T-A-I-N.’ And I can say to my son: ‘They thought they had Petain subjugated, but they found that a steel will is more impregnable than a steel Maginot Line.’ ”