Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Chambrun, René de, 1906-2002
- Abstract:
- Depositions, correspondence, and printed matter, relating primarily to political conditions in France under the government of Marshal Philippe PĂ©tain and Premier Pierre Laval, 1940-1944. Translations of a portion of the documents are published in France during the German Occupation, 1940-1944 (Stanford, 1958).
- Extent:
- 19 manuscript boxes, 6 linear feet (14.0 Linear Feet)
- Language:
- French
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], René de Chambrun papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
I am pleased to present this inventory to the René de Chambrun Collection at the Hoover Institution. The Collection consists of 445 depositions relating to the conduct of affairs in France during the German Occupation, 1940-1944, assembled by René de Chambrun and Madame Josée de Chambrun, daughter of Pierre Laval, between 1945 and 1982, and deposited at the Hoover Institution intermittently since 1948. The depositions, mostly in the form of statements made by persons who held official positions in the government of Maréchal Pétain and Pierre Laval, pertain to the policies and institutions of that government, its organization, its relations with the German authorities, and the problems it faced in such fields as politics, commerce, labor, foreign affairs, and finance.
The first 312 of these depositions were published in 1957, in French under the title La Vie de la France sous l'Occupation, 1940-1944 (Librairie Plon) and in English under the title France during the German Occupation, 1940-1944 (Stanford University Press). The translation into English was made by Philip W. Whitcomb, an American who worked most of his life in Europe, serving as a foreign correspondent for various American newspapers and the Associated Press. Depositions 313 through 445 were acquired later and have not been published.
The entire collection, together with deposits of books and manuscripts, is located at the Hoover Institution and is catalogued under the name of Comte René de Chambrun. Count de Chambrun, a descendant of General Lafayette, was born in Paris in 1906. A prominent lawyer and specialist of international law, he has been an attorney at the Court of Appeals of New York and Paris since 1934 and 1935 respectively. In 1935, he married Josée Laval and shared her determination to rehabilitate the memory of her father after the latter's execution.
Within the collection, the depositions are arranged in numerical order by document number. A container list indicates the box number for each deposition.
The main part of this inventory lists the depositions alphabetically by names of individuals who made the depositions. If an individual contributed more than one, the depositions are given in numerical order. The inventory provides the following information for each deposition:
l) Name of individual (with military and religious titles given in French), followed when known by the position(s) held for the period 1940 to 1944 and/or by the profession at the time the deposition was made. If no specific dates are given, it may be assumed, for those depositions that were published, that the position is the one held during the period 1940 to 1944.
2) Title. Titles are those used in France during the German Occupation, 1940-1944. For unpublished depositions, the title consists of René de Chambrun's notes or the subject description supplied by the compiler. Titles are occasionally followed by explanatory notes from France during the German Occupation, 1940-1944, or for unpublished depositions from René de Chambrun.
3) Document number, number of pages of the original document, place, and date. An asterisk (*) in front of the document number signifies a document not published in France during the German Occupation, 1940-1944, and will assist the reader in quickly identifying unpublished items. Dates following the document number indicate when the document was written. Dates indicating time of deposit, transfer to another person, etc., when significant, are given in the title.
4) Page references in the French and English editions of France during the German Occupation, 1940-1944. Some depositions consist of entire books as well as accompanying statements about the books. The editions of France during the German Occupation, 1940-1944 include only the accompanying statements. The page references, therefore, refer to these statements rather than to the books. For full citations to books, the reader may consult the bibliography on page 4 of this inventory.
Milorad M. Drachkovitch, Archivist and Senior Fellow
- Acquisition information:
- Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 1948.
- Physical location:
- Hoover Institution Library & Archives
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
- Terms of access:
-
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], René de Chambrun papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
- Location of this collection:
-
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford UniversityStanford, CA 94305-6003, US
- Contact:
- (650) 723-3563