Laval's New Bargain
Laval's broadcast on Monday marked a new stage in his collabora- tion with the Germans. He announced in effect a bargain between himself and Hitler whereby French soldiers will be released from the German prison-camps in return for French volunteer workers taking up jobs in Germany. On that basis he exhorted his fellow- countrymen to "go in large numbers" and work for the Germans, whose victory he declared emphatically that he desired. It may be hoped that this last piece of frankness will put patriotic Frenchmen on their guard. But the trap is certainly well-baited, for there is no greatet anxiety in a mass of French homes than that felt for the million and a half of French soldiers held as war-captives. Hitler has exploited it over and over again from the moment of the armistice, but has always taken care to keep the great mass of the
prisoners in his hands. Even now it is to be observed, from the words used by Laval, that the volunteers must go to Germany first and the release will only occur afterwards, and there is no assurance that for every one going one will be released. As for Laval's own part, it is clear that he is conscious of his own unpopularity. He complained that the French were "stubborn and inert." Meanwhile he is steadily accumulating in his hands the powers of the Vichy Government. Admiral Darlan has become a back number, and there were a number of points in the broadcast which, though Marshal Petain was not named, would be well understood as reflections on him.
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