Hostages of Empire: Colonial Prisoners of War in Vichy France by Sarah Ann Frank

Abstract

Reviewed by: Hostages of Empire: Colonial Prisoners of War in Vichy France by Sarah Ann Frank Hope Hecht Frank, Sarah Ann. Hostages of Empire: Colonial Prisoners of War in Vichy France. UP of Nebraska, 2021. ISBN 978-1-4962-0777-7. Pp. 376. During World War II, France recruited colonial soldiers, but French authorities were unaware that the continued mistreatment of colonial soldiers would play a key role in the later fall of the Empire. Sarah Ann Frank covers all aspects of World War II colonial prisoners’ lives, such as their living conditions, their work inside and outside the camp, their health, and their political significance to France. The author has three primary arguments: France relied heavily on its status as an empire, the treatment of the soldiers was deeply ingrained in colonial racism, and the mistreatment of colonial soldiers created a strained relationship between France and its colonies (3). This study begins in the summer of 1940 and ends in the fall of 1942 but continues to cover the effects of imprisonment on colonial soldiers and the soldiers’ subsequent anger at the lack of reparations (260). The prisoners were treated with varying levels of violence, racism, and benevolence in each camp but generally throughout the Vichy government the prisoners were allowed to practice their religion and eat foods that would remind them of home, such as dates and couscous (218). Frank notes, however, that any aid given to the prisoners was to promote goodwill toward the French. Although the government did send aid, local donations and the French Red Cross together provided the basic needs of the prisoners. Furthermore, some French citizens helped the prisoners escape by acting as guides to the local terrain or supplying the prisoners with food and water for their journey to the unoccupied zone (173). The different levels of treatment from the Vichy government, the citizens, and later the Germans in German-controlled camps, created varying experiences for each solider. Frank puts a larger emphasis on West and North African prisoners’ experiences as they would affect the political climate in the colonies and influence their countrymen’s opinions of the French upon their return home. Frank explains that in order to sway prisoners’ opinions there was a large propaganda campaign by Vichy France and Germany. France’s treatment of the colonial prisoners was “certainly rooted in the French history of colonialism and its associated paternalism” (163). France continued to mistreat the colonized, but then struggled to maintain the empire that played a significant role in France’s political and economic power. At the end of this book, Frank explains that both the German and French propaganda campaigns failed not due to a lack of effort, but from the former colonial prisoners’ anger at their (mis)treatment and lack of pay. In the end, this animosity would initiate a new era of decolonization and independence from France. Due to Frank’s extensive research, this work would make an excellent source for anyone interested in the Vichy Regime or in the treatment of prisoners of war. [End Page 183] Hope Hecht Northern Arizona University Copyright © 2022 American Association of Teachers of French