Prisoners of war and life under occupation, 1940–1943
Columns of French prisoners march into captivity, men with suitcases leave a station, children stand in the cold, and coffins wait at a funeral.
Long columns of soldiers in greatcoats trudge along roads without weapons; men in shirtsleeves, some in head cloths, carry buckets, and young men in forage caps walk past with sacks under their arms. Men with suitcases stream across the forecourt of a large station beside a Métro sign; a man in a forage cap digs in a field, workers hold white-hot metal under a forging press, and men lay beams across a track. Children in balaclavas and headscarves stand close together in the cold, and flower-covered coffins stand in a hall and at a cemetery.
About 1.8 million French soldiers were taken prisoner in 1940; most spent the war in German camps and labour detachments. From 1942 the Vichy government sent workers to Germany under the Relève, in exchange for the release of a few prisoners, and from February 1943 through compulsory labour service.
