German – Vichy Anti-Allied Propaganda Leaflet – Reste En France! – c. 1942-1943 – With 1965 Psywar Society Letter to Robert Hastings – Provenance – The Churchill Collection of Steve Forbes

Date: c.1942–1943
Place: Occupied France
Language: French
Format: Two-sided illustrated propaganda leaflet
Leaflet size: 20.0 × 27.8 cm
Associated material: 1965 Psywar Society letter to Robert Hastings; typed translation slips
Condition: Very good; light age toning, handling wear, and splits to the fold line. Complete and legible.

A scarce two-sided Second World War propaganda leaflet headed “RESTE EN FRANCE!”, aimed at French workers during the German occupation of France. Printed in French and illustrated with stark photographic images of bomb damage at Rouen, Lorient and Le Creusot, the leaflet discourages French labourers from leaving for Germany by warning them instead to “stay in France” and wait for the bombs of their “Anglo-American friends”.

The front uses an out-of-context quotation attributed to Winston Churchill — “La guerre est un jeu qu’on doit jouer avec le sourire” — as part of a hostile anti-Churchill and anti-Allied message. The reverse directly addresses French workers: “Ouvrier Français! Ne va pas en Allemagne”, presenting Allied bombing as the principal threat to French civilians and attempting to undermine sympathy for Britain and the United States.

An institutional example is recorded in the Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection at Kenyon College, where it is described as a two-sided Vichy propaganda flier showing American bomber destruction of French cities and advising French workers not to go to Germany but to wait for the bombs of their Anglo-American “friends”.

This copy is accompanied by a highly relevant 1965 typed letter from R. G. Auckland of The Psywar Society to Robert Hastings. The letter specifically discusses this leaflet, noting that it was dropped by the Germans over France during the Occupation and that it quoted Churchill’s words out of context. The accompanying typed slips give English translations of the principal slogans and captions. This documentation is especially valuable, linking the item directly to post-war psychological warfare collecting and scholarship.

Provenance: Robert Hastings, Churchill scholar and collector; subsequently The Churchill Collection of Steve Forbes, publisher of Forbes magazine.

Rarity: Scarce. Institutional example traced at Kenyon College; no separate institutional record for this specific copy has been traced.

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