EXAMINATION OF PETAIN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 12 June 1945, Page 5

EXAMINATION OF PETAIN

“ TWO FACED ” POLITICS (Rec. 10.35 a.m ) London, June 11 Marshal Petain claimed, before the examining magistrate, that he was a member ol the Resistance Movement in Metropolitan France, says the British United Press Paris correspondent. Petain denied ne tried to stifle the Resistance Movement and declared politics in the occtitpied countries had necessarily to be “two-faced.” He was forced to give satisfaction to the Germans while the Allies prepared for victory Since Laval was imposed on me by the Germans. I used him to appease them thus allowing me to hide my true orientation in my politics In this role, of which he was ignorant, Laval was not unuseful to France." Petain said the handing over of hostages to the Germans made him suffer most. The correspondent says it is now learned that Petain has no copy of the secret treaty to which it was alleged Mr Churchill had subscribed, and his defence relies on photostatic copies of the memoranda.