the Righteous, 1944

In France, women with shaved heads are paraded by a joyous self-righteous mob. Note the swastika on a forehead. (Provided by the German Federal Archive)

In Paris during the war people lived normally or as best they could. Many didn't hate the Germans. Edith Piaf was singing about love and life to club-goers that included Germans. German soldiers enjoyed sitting in street cafes. There were women who took up with German soldiers. Men were in short supply. Then in late 1944 when the Germans were pushed out, some found opportunity to display their hostility against women who had "collaborated" with German men.

In early 1945, Soviet soldiers entering Germany would employ righteousness to justify rape. It would appear in the United States two decades later with anti-hippy men in rural areas beating up young men with long hair. Smug righteousness had long bedeviled humanity.