Jacques Benoist-MĂ©chin papers, 1909-1994

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Summary

Creators:
Benoist-MĂ©chin, 1901-1983
Abstract:
Acquired in 2007, the Jacques Benoist-MĂ©chin Papers represent a significant addition to the existing holdings in the Hoover Institution Library & Archives relating to the collaborationist Vichy government in France during World War II. Although the papers are only part of the extant Benoit-MĂ©chin materials in various depositories and private collections, the collection in the Hoover Institution Library & Archives contains important documents from all major phases of Benoist-MĂ©chin's multifaceted career as a literary figure, politician, and historian.
Extent:
26 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box (10.8 Linear Feet)
Language:
French
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Jacques Benoist-MĂ©chin Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Background

Scope and content:

Acquired in 2007, the Jacques Benoist-MĂ©chin Papers represent a significant addition to the existing holdings in the Hoover Institution Library & Archives relating to the collaborationist Vichy government in France during World War II. Although the papers are only part of the extant Benoit-MĂ©chin materials in various depositories and private collectio ns, the collection in the Hoover Institution Library & Archives contains important documents from all major phases of Benoist-MĂ©chin's diverse careers as cultural figure, politician, and historian.

The papers will be of particular interest to historians of the Vichy period. The Speeches and Writings series shows Benoist-MĂ©chin's evolution from cultivated litterateur to an ardently Germanophile historian and politician, one who enthusiastically embraced Nazi Germany's vision of a New Europe. Benoit-MĂ©chin's writings also reveal his reinvention after World War II as an analyst and historian of Middle East and North African affairs.

The Vichy government file series includes a compilation of materials (called by Benoist-Méchin "notes politiques") that relate directly to his service, including a period as minister, in the Vichy regime. These document his work for Admiral François Darlan, his collaboration with the German ambassador to France, Otto Abetz, as well memoranda and reports, including an important letter sent to Philippe Pétain by Adolf Hitler to mark the first anniversary of France's surrender to Germany in 1940.

The Trial and imprisonment file series provides an intimate look at the judicial proceedings against Vichy collaborators and their subsequent experiences in prison. In this series, there is correspondence among Benoit-MĂ©chin and his fellow prisoners, including Robert Brasilach in the period leading up to his execution. There are also art works in this file that depict prison life and the viewpoint of Vichy collaborators concerning the violence surrounding the liberation of France.

The extensive Correspondence series records Benoist-Méchin's enduring connections to collaborationist and ex-Nazi milieus in France, Germany, and elsewhere. Among these friends and acquaintances of Benoist-Méchin figure Fritz von Papen, Wolf Rüdiger Hess, Oswald and Diana Mosley, René de Chambrun, and Saint-Paulien (the pseudonym of Maurice-Ivan Sicard). There is also correspondence between Benoist-Méchin and French officials in the 1960s and 1970s, including Jacques Chirac and Georges Pompidou. Among other matters, these reveal Benoist-Méchin's behind-the-scenes role as an envoy of the French government to various Arab rulers in this period. The series also includes correspondence with some of these rulers, including Muamar Khadaffi (Muammar al-Gaddafi), who commissioned Benoist-Méchin to arrange the French publication of the Libyan leader's so-called Green Book. More materials on Benoist-Méchin's many travels and high-placed connections in the Arab world can be found in the Middle East and North Africa file series of the papers.

The extensive Photograph series contains hundreds of prints, many personally selected and arranged by Benoist-MĂ©chin, that illustrate his career and what he considered to be its highlights, including his collaboration with the Nazis. There are some additional materials revealing of Benoist-MĂ©chin's assessment of his wartime role in the Biographical file series.

Biographical / historical:
Date Event
1901
Born, Paris, France
1921
Served as interpreter, French occupation forces in the Ruhr, Germany
1925-1927
Director, Paris bureau, International News Service
1929-1930
Editor, l'Europe Nouvelle
1936
Joined pro-fascist party of Jacques Doriot, the Parti Populaire Français
Author, Histoire de l'armée allemande (5 volumes)
1939
Author, Eclaircissements sur Mein Kampf d'Adolphe Hitler, le livre qui a changé la face du monde
1939
Mobilized into French army. Taken prisoner by German forces and interned in Voves, France
1940
Released from P.O.W. camp, and enters service of Vichy government of Philippe PĂ©tain
1940-1942
Serves in various ministerial posts, under Darlan and Laval, in Vichy government
1944
Arrested as a collaborator after the Liberation of France and incarcerated
1947
Sentenced to death by French court. Death penalty is commuted to one of prison with hard labor
1947-1953
In prison, including in Fresnes, France. Released in an act of clemency by the government of Vincent Auriol
1954
Author, Mustapha Kemal
1956
Author, Soixante jours qui ébranlèrent l'occident: 10 mai--10 juillet 1940
1957-1976
Traveled widely as a journalist and author in the Middle East and North Africa, making the acquaintance of various Arab rulers. Served as an occasional private envoy of the French government in the same region
1959
Author, Un printemps arabe
1983
Died
Acquisition information:
Materials were acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 2007
Arrangement:

The collection is organized into 10 series: Biographical file, correspondence, speeches and writings, Vichy government file, Trial and imprisonment file, Middle East and North Africa file, subject file, writings by others, photographs, and oversize materials.

Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Jacques Benoist-MĂ©chin Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
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