Josée de Chambrun

Josée de Chambrun was a prominent French socialite during World War II, known for her connections to the Nazi regime through her father, Pierre Laval, the Vichy government's Prime Minister. Her diaries reveal a controversial admiration for the German occupiers, describing them as 'nice, intelligent, and sympathetic.' Despite the grim context of the war, she maintained a glamorous lifestyle, attending balls and horse races, and her reflections on the cultural interactions between French and Germans during this tumultuous period add a complex layer to the narrative of collaboration in occupied France.