FRANCE 1945 :
WHEN SHAME WAS TAKEN OUT ON WOMEN
When the war ended, France’s liberation was not marked by celebration alone. In towns and cities across the country, roughly 20,000 women were subjected to public humiliation. Their heads were shaved, they were paraded through the streets, spat upon, beaten, and branded for life.
Many were accused of “horizontal collaboration” not for taking up arms against their country or committing treason, but for having relationships, holding conversations, dancing, or simply trying to survive under occupation. Some had German lovers. Some had worked as translators. Others were accused with little or no evidence at all.