From 1940 to 1944, France's Vichy government collaborated with Nazi Germany. Marcel Ophüls mixes archival footage with 1969 interviews of a German officer and of collaborators and resistance fighters from Clermont-Ferrand. They comment on the nature, details and reasons for the collaboration, from anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and fear of Bolsheviks, to simple caution.
Helmut Tausend
as Self, former Wehrmacht Captain
Marcel Verdier
as Self, pharmacist
Alexis Grave
as Self, farmer
Louis Grave
as Self, farmer, Resistance fighter
Pierre Mendès France
as Self, former Prime Minister of France
