Bidspirit auction | Booklet of anti-Nazi caricatures mocking

Booklet of anti-Nazi caricatures mocking the Vichy regime in France [1940s] - Dans l'honneur et la dignité – “In Honor and Dignity” – Memories of Vichy, by J. Sennep (pseudonym of Jean-Jacques Sempe, French caricaturist and satirist), published by Société des Éditions de Franc-Tireur. France, 1940s. A booklet of caricatures, some hand-colored. A satirical booklet featuring caricatures and sharp criticism of the Vichy regime in France during World War II – the puppet government that collaborated with Nazi Germany following France’s defeat in 1940. Sennep, one of the leading satirical voices against fascist regimes in Europe, vividly captures in his illustrations the strange and unsettling atmosphere that prevailed in Vichy France. The caricatures mock the workings of the Vichy government, the obsessive recruitment of the French press in service of Nazi ideology, Pétain as the puppet ruler, the disconnect between Nazi propaganda and the cultural and historical character of the French people, German soldiers in the streets of France, French collaborators posing as innocent while having informed on their fellow citizens to the Gestapo, and the shame Vichy represented to the French people for four years – and more. Sennep, the illustrator, thoroughly detested the Vichy atmosphere. He lived near the Allier River, and often ventured out to capture disgraceful scenes from those days France later wished to forget – scenes he portrayed with sharpness and insight. As Pierre Bénard wrote in the introduction: ”There is no escaping the illustrations of Sennep.” The title ”Dans l'honneur et la dignité” (“In Honor and Dignity”) is used with clear irony – echoing the official rhetoric employed by members of the Vichy regime to justify their collaboration with the Nazis. The foreword is written by Pierre Bénard, a well-known journalist and critic, and editor of the satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné. The publisher, Franc-Tireur, originated from one of the main newspapers of the French Resistance movement. [64] pages. 27×21 cm. Good condition.