A book, “France Under the Occupation,” written by a group of historians here with the specific aim of correcting the errors and omissions in a three-volume study, “French Life Under the Occupation,” of the Hoover Institute of Stanford University, was published today.
The Hoover Institute study, published in 1957, was criticized sharply by French resistance groups and Jewish organizations. They contended it presented “a completely biased picture of the situation in France” during World War II because it was based almost entirely on the reports and statements of collaborators with Nazi Germany. The critics also charged that the study was inspired by the daughter of Pierre Laval, the Contesse de Chambrun.
One section in the Hoover Institute study, dealing with the treatment of Jews, was written by Zavier Vallat, commissioner for Jewish Affairs under the Vichy regime and at present editor of “Aspect de la France,” a major anti-Semitic newspaper.
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