French Forces

Boosting morale.

Singer, entertainer and movie star Maurice Chévalier with French PoWs in Germany, for whom he gave performances in the winter of 1941/'42. He had been a prisoner of war in Germany himself, between 1914 and 1916, having been wounded by shrapnel and taken prisoner in the opening weeks of WW1. He was released in 1916 as a result of representations from King Alfonso XIII of Spain, who was an admirer of his then-mistress ... some people lead the most romantic lives ! Chévalier refused to perform on German/Vichy-controlled radio stations during the Occupation, but continued to perform on stage both in Paris and in the South of France (albeit somewhat irregularly) during the period. He was in consequence accused of collaboration after the war, but was acquitted by the French courts. While the French people do not seem to have taken the idea of Maurice as a Nazi collaborator at all seriously, he had more trouble re-establishing his career in the US (very successful movie career before the war) as a result of associating himself with (of all things) Communist-inspired campaigns against nuclear weapons proliferation in the late-1940s. In the end, all was forgiven; otherwise, the movie "Gigi", with Hermione Gingold and Louis Jourdan, would have been impossible. "Ah yes - I remember it well !" Best regards, JR.