Should France be Ashamed of its History? Coming to Terms with the Past in France and its Eastern Borderlands 1

Abstract How to confront the past remains a critical question in twenty first century France. Over the past generation France has addressed the Vichy years head on, and the nation has begun to assess the legacy of the colonial enterprise, notably in Algeria, with mixed results. There remains one major blank spot in France's attempt to come to terms with its experience during the Second World War: the border province of Alsace and Lorraine, a region that has played a critical role in the French imaginary over the past 130 years. This article explains why amnesia, combined with an underlying discourse of victimisation, has defined the province's relationship to the Nazi annexation, and why border areas often remain immune to larger national debates about victims and perpetrators.