Both Hero and Traitor, but No Longer on the Map
TREMBLOIS-LÈS-CARIGNAN, France — The municipal council here on the edge of the Ardennes Forest recently voted to change a third of the village’s street names.
Tremblois has only three streets, and they are named for three French heroes of World War I: Marshals Ferdinand Foch, Joseph Joffre and Philippe Pétain.
The problem is that Marshal Pétain had a second act as head of state during World War II, when his administration in the unoccupied part of the country that was known as Vichy France collaborated with Nazi Germany in eliminating its enemies, notably the Jews....
...[W]hen the signs here change this month, the last street in France bearing his name will have disappeared....
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Tremblois has only three streets, and they are named for three French heroes of World War I: Marshals Ferdinand Foch, Joseph Joffre and Philippe Pétain.
The problem is that Marshal Pétain had a second act as head of state during World War II, when his administration in the unoccupied part of the country that was known as Vichy France collaborated with Nazi Germany in eliminating its enemies, notably the Jews....
...[W]hen the signs here change this month, the last street in France bearing his name will have disappeared....