“Les Attentistes” – “Les Garçons” An anti-Semitic pamphlet published in Vichy France during the early months of World War II by G. Mareyrie. The pamphlet features satirical scenes depicting the perceived loss of France to Jewish control and criticizes the concept of “Free France”. Paris, second half of 1940.
The pamphlet portrays the regime of “Free France” as an idle state without proactive leadership, benefiting only those in power while neglecting ordinary citizens. It describes common people waiting for hours for buses, idle state workers awaiting retirement doing nothing, soldiers waiting for victory eight months into the war, and the elderly, women, and children waiting in line for hours in the cold and rain to receive a kilo of potatoes because the state systems are dysfunctional. This endless waiting, according to the pamphlet, is leading to France’s defeat in the war and potentially to a loss in securing peace. Meanwhile, Jews are depicted as enjoying paradise under the administration of Léon Blum, who is grotesquely illustrated with a long nose and is accused of crying out “freedom.” Léon Blum, to whom the pamphlet refers, was a prominent French Jewish politician and three-time Prime Minister of France, leader of the French Socialist Party, and a vocal opponent of the Vichy regime. His leadership and policies were often targeted by anti-Semitic propaganda, which blamed Jewish influence for France’s misfortunes during the war. Blum was later arrested by the Vichy government and handed over to the Nazis, enduring imprisonment in concentration camps until the war’s end.
[16] pages. some stains. Good – very good condition.
