Tag: German occupied France

4,403 words

Mark Mazower
Hitler’s Empire: How the Nazis Ruled Europe
New York: Penguin, 2008

The image of Nazi Germany as a well-oiled, unconquerable machine is hard to forget, but so many books in recent years have given a more honest evaluation of the Third Reich. Mark Mazower’s 2008 book Hitler’s Empire, while not really breaking any new ground, is a strong compendium of the flaws, inner turmoil, and seething disputes among the Nazi hierarchy over how to run and strengthen their empire. (more…)

3,349 words

Alexander Sokurov has been hailed by his peers as the “living Tarkovsky.” The 67 years young filmmaker has eighteen feature films to his credit and almost twice as many documentaries. A representative of the “slow and low” school of filmmakers, his work is a rebellion against the fast-paced, quick-cut, shoot em’ up action films of America’s Ritalin Generation. Time is the most influential element in a Sokurov film and shapes its atmosphere. (more…)

4,239 words

Translated by Guillaume Durocher

Translator’s Note:

The following is taken from Dominique Venner’s Histoire de la Collaboration (Paris: Gérard Watelet/Pygmalion, 2000), 207-16. The title is editorial.

The premonition of decadence was strong with [the writer Alphonse de] Châteaubriant, but never reached the apocalyptic fury of a Céline, (more…)

852 words

Otto Abetz

Translated by Guillaume Durocher

Translator’s Note:

The following is translated from Dominique Venner’s Histoire de la Collaboration (Paris: Gérard Watelet/Pygmalion, 2000), 160-62, under the heading “Weakening the defeated to better get along with him.” The title is editorial, and refers to German Ambassador to Paris Otto Abetz, who was said to rule like “King Otto” over the French capital and in particular its vibrant cultural scene.

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