France says no homage to Nazi collaborator Petain after outcry

PARIS, France — French President Emmanuel Macron says there would be no official homage to Nazi collaborator Philippe Petain as part of World War I ceremonies this week, a day after sparking outrage by saying his inclusion would be “legitimate.”

“It was never a question of celebrating him individually,” Macron says in Maubeuge as he tours WWI sites in northern France this week ahead of the 100th anniversary of the armistice on Sunday.

Petain was hailed as a national hero after WWI for leading French forces to victory, but during World War II he became head of the French government which collaborated with occupying German forces and helped deport tens of thousands of Jews to death camps.

Macron had indicated Wednesday that Petain would be among the eight army chiefs honored at the Invalides military museum on Saturday, saying he had earned the nation’s gratitude.

“He was a great soldier, it’s a fact,” he said, though he stressed that Petain had made “disastrous choices” during World War II.

His comments were denounced by rival politicians and Jewish leaders, and set off a flurry of criticism on Twitter.

“The only thing we will remember about Petain is that he was convicted, in the name of the French people, of national indignity during his trial in 1945,” said Francis Kalifat of the CRIF association of French Jewish groups.

— AFP