The Shadow of Occupation: Europe Under Nazi Domination

By the height of World War II, Nazi Germany directly or indirectly controlled over 12 European nations, wielding decisive influence in at least six others. This sprawling empire of coercion relied not just on German military might but on vast networks of local collaborators—numbering in the hundreds of thousands—who enabled the occupation’s machinery of repression. From French bureaucrats enforcing Vichy policies to Norwegian policemen arresting resistance members, collaboration took countless forms.

This systemic complicity created a seething undercurrent of resentment among occupied populations. While postwar anger targeted German forces, the deepest hatred was reserved for fellow citizens who had betrayed their own people. As one Dutch resistance doctor, Peter Voute, observed: “The bitter hatred toward collaborators and the lust for revenge were so universal that excesses became inevitable.” The stage was set for a continent-wide reckoning.

The Bloody Dawn of Liberation

As Allied armies advanced in 1944-45, Europe erupted in an orgy of vigilante violence. The term “Day of the Axe” spread across liberated territories—a chilling promise of retribution against those who had aided the Nazi regime. Targets ranged from high-ranking officials to ordinary citizens:

– In France, suspected collaborators were dragged from their homes, subjected to mock trials, and executed in town squares. Women accused of relationships with German soldiers faced public shaming, including head-shaving and sexual violence.
– Italian partisans strung up Mussolini’s corpse in Milan’s Piazzale Loreto, where crowds kicked and spat on the remains. Over 12,000 Fascists were killed in northern Italy’s partisan purges.
– Belgian mobs burned collaborators’ houses while police turned a blind eye. Dutch resistance fighters conducted summary executions of NSB (Dutch Nazi Party) members.

The scale of violence shocked even Allied observers. A French newspaper in 1944 warned: “We are repeating the Gestapo’s most shameful methods… What’s the point of defeating barbarians if we become barbarians ourselves?”

The Failed Promise of Legal Justice

Recognizing the chaos, new postwar governments moved swiftly to assert control. Charles de Gaulle’s provisional French government declared: “Public order is a matter of life and death.” Across Europe, authorities pursued three strategies:

1. Police Rehabilitation
In France, 12% of police were purged. Norway and Denmark conducted thorough cleansings of their law enforcement systems.

2. Disarming Resistance Groups
Former partisans often resisted surrendering weapons. In Brussels, police wounded 45 during clashes with armed resistance members.

3. Show Trials & Amnesty
Special courts were established, but results proved disappointing:
– Italy’s Extraordinary Courts of Assize convicted fewer than 1,600 officials from 394,000 investigated cases.
– France sentenced just 30% of 311,000 investigated collaborators, with most receiving light penalties.
– Belgium executed only 242 of 2,940 death sentences.

The legal processes’ inadequacy fueled further mob violence. In Italy’s Schio massacre, partisans slaughtered 55 imprisoned Fascists after losing faith in judicial proceedings.

The Cultural Trauma of Collaboration

Postwar societies grappled with collaboration’s moral stain through potent symbolism:

– Visual Dehumanization
Collaborators were depicted as vermin in political cartoons—rats in Danish newspapers, “mad dogs” in French propaganda.

– Gender & Punishment
Women accused of “horizontal collaboration” faced unique humiliations: public hair-shaving, sexual assaults, and branding as national traitors.

– Memory Wars
Countries developed divergent narratives:
– Norway’s thorough prosecutions (punishing 1.6% of population) fostered national healing.
– Austria’s myth of being “Hitler’s first victim” enabled widespread exoneration of Nazi supporters.

The Distorted Legacy

By the 1950s, revisionist narratives emerged:

– Right-Wing Victimhood
French authors inflated resistance executions to 105,000 (actual: ~9,000). Italian Fascists claimed 300,000 postwar deaths (historians estimate 12,000-20,000).

– Judicial Failures
Many economic collaborators—factory owners who profited from Nazi contracts—escaped punishment through legal loopholes and political connections.

– Cold War Realpolitik
Western powers tolerated former collaborators to counter communism. Ex-Nazi scientists were recruited for space programs; Fascist bureaucrats retained government posts.

The uncomfortable truth remains: Europe’s postwar purification was incomplete. As historian Tony Judt observed, nations chose “the therapy of forgetting” over full accountability—a compromise that enabled reconstruction but left moral wounds unhealed. The collaborator purges stand as a dark mirror to occupation-era moral compromises, revealing how thin the veneer of civilization becomes when justice is both demanded and deferred.