France, Liberation, 1944

The liberation of France in 1944 brought celebration and the restoration of political authority, but also reprisals against people accused of collaboration. Among the most visible targets were women whose heads were shaved in public. Photographs of these punishments became lasting records of a deeply unequal form of humiliation.

This short documentary considers the women known as les tondues and the communities that punished them. Accusations could concern relationships with Germans, work, denunciation or other forms of association. Public punishment did not itself establish what an individual had done, and its gendered character cannot be explained by military liberation alone.

The history sits between the breakdown of occupation authority, demands for revenge and the effort to restore legal processes. Examining that setting makes room for both the crimes of collaboration and the injustice of punishment without a fair hearing. The images preserve an event; they do not provide a complete case file for every person shown.

Music: Historium Soundtrack Library | Created by Flowmusic & Suno

Sources and further reading: Les Tondues and the Liberation of France

• iwm.org.uk/history/second-world-war/les-tondues-and-the-liberation-of-france

Femmes collaboratrices : morale et châtiments

• lejournal.cnrs.fr/articles/femmes-collaboratrices-morale-et-chatiments

Les tondues de Chatou

• museedelaresistanceenligne.org/media4074-Les-tondues-de-Chatou