Jacques Benoist-Mechin

Jacques Gabriel Paul Michel Benoist-Méchin (born July 1, 1901 in Paris ; † February 24, 1983 ibid) was a French intellectual, journalist, historian, musicologist and politician.

For a period of 30 years he worked as a journalist, particularly in the field of international issues. During the German occupation of France in World War II , he worked with the Vichy regime . He became particularly involved in 1941 when he was trying to forge closer ties between his superior François Darlan and Hitler in order to move France towards a “ New Europe ” under National Socialist leadership. Benoist-Méchin turned away from the Vichy government in 1942, which no longer acted in accordance with the ideas of Pierre Laval regarding Franco-German relations. He was arrested in 1944 and sentenced to death in 1947 for his collaboration with Nazi Germany . His sentence was mitigated to forced labor. He remained in custody until 1954. President Vincent Auriol pardoned Benoist-Méchin afterwards. After his release from prison, he worked as a writer and historian, focusing particularly on topics related to the history of the Arab world .

biography

Childhood and youth

Benoist-Méchin was the offspring of an old noble family and received a corresponding education. His father was the Baron of Empire, whose heir he became. His father aroused his interest in the Napoleonic era. However, his childhood was not carefree due to the poor financial situation of the family. During his student days, he acquired the ability to translate the writings of ancient authors. Furthermore, his inclination for literary and musical works developed. In 1922 he interviewed Marcel Proust about Henri Sauguet , a member of the Arcueil Music School .

The First World War

Benoist-Méchin was still too young to be drafted as a soldier in 1914 during the First World War . During the war he thought of the need for peace in Europe, but above all for a reconciliation between Germany and France. In 1923, when he was doing his military service, he saw the French occupation of the Rhineland by Raymond Poincaré and decided to work towards a compromise with Germany.

journalist

From 1925 to 1927 he worked for the US information agency International News Service . He then worked for the magazine L'Europe nouvelle , which was founded by Louise Weiss . She later accused him of admiring Hitler. He saw in Hitler a renewer of Europe that would one day be ruled by him.

Second World War

Before the war, his political views openly leaned towards Hitler and National Socialism . In his book Éclaircissements sur Mein Kampf , which he published in 1939 with Albin Michel, he wrote about Hitler: "He is a visionary who has decided to realize his dream with the realism of a statesman". During this time he took the position of a pacifist who advocated rapprochement with Germany. He became a confidante of Otto Abetz , the German ambassador to France. As State Secretary in the Vichy government, on May 15, 1942, alongside Education Minister Abel Bonnard, he gave a highly acclaimed speech on the occasion of the ceremonial opening of the Arno Breker exhibition in the rooms of the Musée de l'Orangerie , a major event of cultural collaboration during the German occupation.

After the defeat of France in 1940, he worked in the service of Georges Scapini to organize aid for the French in Germany. Then he served in the Foreign Ministry of the Vichy government. He justified himself as follows:

“A defeated country has a choice of going with or without the victor; I decided to go with him. "

He was arrested in 1944 and imprisoned for working with the Germans. His trial took place in 1947, in which he was sentenced to death. Vincent Auriol's act of grace changed the death penalty to imprisonment. He spent his prison term until 1954 in Clairvaux prison .

During his trial, he defended himself against accusations of germanophilia , referring to his commitment to European issues:

“I have no preference for the Germanophile in the sense from which one might infer today that I would prefer Germany as my country. When I went to the League of Nations in Geneva with Briand , he spoke of the European Federation. And I think he is right ... But that from the moment Germany occupied three fifths of French territory, I am Germanophile, that, gentlemen, is not possible, it does not exist. "

Benoist-Méchin and de Gaulle

Despite his participation in the cooperation with the German occupation, General Charles de Gaulle advocated making a new edition of the book History of the German Army available in 1944 in several hundred copies for the training of staff officers.

Work as a historian

After his release from prison, he devoted himself to developing biographies. First he wrote about the dynasty of Saudi Arabia , then about great European figures who did great works outside of Europe. He wrote a biography about Hubert Lyautey , Lawrence of Arabia and Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud . The common theme of these biographical works is the role of the individual as a special exception trying to change the course of history and to form an empire.

His friends

• Marcel Proust , with whom he exchanged ideas and found agreement. Jacques Benoist-Méchin wrote a book about Marcel Proust and music.
• Arno Breker , whom he met through Pavel Tchelitchev and who designed a portrait bust of Benoist-Méchin in Paris in 1965.
• Otto Abetz , Ambassador of Germany in Paris.
• Ernst Jünger , Director at International News Service , where he worked as a journalist.
• Paul Claudel , who was France's cultural attaché in Japan. They exchanged about thirty letters. They shared a great passion for the theater. The correspondence lies with the Claudel Jacques Klein Foundation.

Fonts

• La Musique et l'Immortalité dans l'œuvre de Marcel Proust. Simon Kra, Paris 1926.
• Histoire de l'armée allemande. 2 volumes. Michel, Paris 1936–1938, (In German: History of the German Army since the Armistice. Reimer, Berlin 1939);
  • Volume 1: De l'armée impériale à la Reichswehr. 1936, (In German: Vom Kaiserheer zur Reichswehr. 1939);
  • Volume 2: De la Reichswehr à l'armée nationale. 1938.
• Éclaircissements sur Mein Kampf d'Adolf Hitler. Le Livre qui a changé la face du Monde. Michel, Paris 1939.
• La Moisson de quarante. Journal d'un prisonnier de guerre. Michel, Paris 1941, (In German: Harvest Forty. Diary of a prisoner of war. Hanseatische Verlags-Anstalt, Hamburg 1942).
• L'Ukraine. Des origines à Staline. Michel, Paris 1941.
• as editor: Ce qui demeure. Lettres de soldats tombés au champ d'honneur, 1914–1918. Michel, Paris 1942.
• Soixante jours qui ébranlèrent l'occident. Michel, Paris 1956, (In German: The sky collapses. France's tragedy 1940. Droste, Düsseldorf 1958).
• Le loup et le leopard. 3 volumes. Michel, Paris 1954-1960;
  • Volume 1: Mustapha Kémal ou La mort d'un empire. 1954;
  • Volume 2: Ibn-Séoud ou La naissance d'un royaume. 1955;
  • Volume 3: Le Roi Saud ou L'orient à l'heure des relèves. 1960.
• Un printemps arabe. Michel, Paris 1959.
• Rêve le plus long de l'Histoire . 1961-1980;
  • Lawrence d'Arabie ou le rêve fracassé. La Guilde du Livre, Clairefontaine et al. 1961;
  • Alexandre le Grand ou le rêve dépassé. La Guilde du Livre, Clairefontaine et al. 1964;
  • Cléopâtre ou le rêve évanoui. La Guilde du Livre, Clairefontaine et al. 1964;
  • Bonaparte en Égypte ou le rêve inassouvi. La Guilde du Livre, Clairefontaine et al. 1966;
  • Lyautey, l'Africain ou Le rêve immolé. La Guilde du Livre, Clairefontaine et al. 1966;
  • L'empereur Julien ou le rêve calciné. La Guilde du Livre, Clairefontaine et al. 1969;
  • Frédéric de Hohenstaufen ou le rêve excommunié Perrin, Paris 1980.
• Deux étés africains. May - June 1967. Juillet 1971. Michel, Paris 1972.
• À destins rompus. Michel, Paris 1975, ISBN 2-226-00058-5 .
• Fayçal, roi d'Arabie. L'homme, le souverain, sa place dans le monde. (1906-1975). Michel, Paris 1975, ISBN 2-226-00189-1 .
• L'Homme et ses jardins, ou les métamorphoses du paradis terrestre. Michel, Paris 1975, ISBN 2-226-00160-3 .
• De la défaite au désastre. 2 volumes. Michel, Paris 1984–1985, ISBN 2-226-02196-5 (vol. 1), ISBN 2-226-02245-7 (vol. 2), (posthumous).
• À l'épreuve du temps. Souvenirs. Édition établie, présentée et annotée par Éric Roussel. 3 volumes. Julliard, Paris, 1989-1993, (posthumous);
  • Volume 1: 1905-1940. 1989, ISBN 2-260-00611-6 ;
  • Volume 2: 1940-1947. 1989, ISBN 2-260-00681-7 ;
  • Volume 3: 1947-1971. 1993, ISBN 2-87686-175-5 .
• Histoire des Alaouites. 1268-1971. Perrin, Paris 1994, ISBN 2-262-01064-1 , (posthumous).

literature

• Patrick Neuhaus: The Arno Breker exhibition in the Orangery Paris 1942. Foreign cultural policy, art and collaboration in occupied France. Neuhaus Verlag, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-937294-08-7
• Klaus-Peter Sick: A way into collaborationism. Theses on the intellectual biography of Jacques Benoist-Méchins after A l'épreuve du temps. In: Francia (magazine) . Vol. 20, No. 3, 1993, pp. 151-162, ( digitized ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jacques Benoist-Méchin. In: Munzinger Online. Retrieved August 24, 2019 . 
2. ^ Patrick Neuhaus: The Arno Breker exhibition in the Paris Orangery in 1942. Foreign cultural policy, art and collaboration in occupied France. Neuhaus Verlag, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-937294-08-7 , pp. 54-75
3. ↑ Jean-Louis Aujol: Le procès Benoist Méchin (29 May - 6 juin 1947). Compte rendu sténographique avec un avant-propos et une lettre de l'inculpé à son défenseur. Michel, Paris 1948.