Description
Traces the history of Paul Touvier's role as the chief of the French militia in Lyon during the Nazi occupation of France and the subsequent events leading to his arrest, trial and indictment in 1994. Jakubowicz, principal counsel for the prosecution, and Raffin, a local journalist, chose to relate the details of the trial shortly after the pronouncement of the verdict, in reaction to the decision by the French government to withdraw the archives of the trial from circulation for the coming thirty years. They evaluate the importance of the verdict of life imprisonment for a French collaborator, a decision seen as indicating the will of the French to confront their involvement in the Occupation. Discusses the development of the trial, while attempting to comprehend why the trial was postponed for nearly forty years. Defines the role that justice plays in the understanding of national events in retrospect. Concludes that the French judicial system must strive to rectify the errors made by the French government during the Occupation.
