The punishment of French women accused of “collaboration horizontale” with the German occupiers.
March 15, 2022
After France was liberated from German occupation, many French women suspected of having affairs and/or children with or collaborating with the German occupiers were publicly humiliated. Some of these women had actually been raped by the Nazis. Sometimes the humiliation meant having their heads shaved; other times, in addition to head shavings, it meant public beatings, rape, or even execution.
The decision to shave a woman’s head is imbued with gender power dynamics. According to historian Antony Beevor, in the dark ages, the Visigoths removed a woman’s hair to punish her for committing adultery.
The following documentaries represent testimonies of those sad times:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DKrFm6CGuE