Christian de La Mazière

Christian de La Mazière
Photo used on the back of his 1972 book Le Rêveur casqué
Born
Christian Clodomir Martial Lamazière

(1922-08-22)August 22, 1922
Tours, France
DiedFebruary 15, 2006(2006-02-15) (aged 83)
Paris
Notable workThe Captive Dreamer

Christian Clodomir Martial Lamazière (22 August 1922 – 15 February 2006), better known as Christian de La Mazière, was a journalist and member of the Charlemagne Division of the Waffen-SS. He enlisted in the Charlemagne Division shortly before the Liberation of Paris in August 1944, fighting Soviet troops in Pomerania from February to March 1945 before his capture. Afterwards he was put on trial and sentenced to five years in prison, of which he served two. He then worked in public relations and journalism.

He is known for discussing his role in the 1969 documentary The Sorrow and the Pity. He wrote a memoir of his war experiences in 1972, Le Rêveur casqué, translated into English as The Captive Dreamer, and a second memoir, Le Rêveur blessé (lit. 'The Wounded Dreamer'). He also advised Gnassingbé Eyadéma, the president of Togo. De La Mazière moved to working as a journalist for the conservative Beta Press, Le Figaro Magazine and eventually Révolution Européenne.

Early life

Christian Clodomir Martial Lamazière was born in Tours, France on 22 August 1922.[1][2] He was born to an aristocratic family, the son of a general and diplomat.[3][4] His family was anti-communist and antisemitic, but were anti-republican royalists rather than fascists.[5]

Military experiences

In 1939, de La Mazière enlisted in the French Army (though he had no combat experience) and remained in the military of Vichy France until 1942. After being discharged, he worked for the fascist newspaper Le Pays Libre.[6][4][7][2]

Shortly before the end of the war, with an allied victory imminent, a friend of his offered a chance to switch sides; instead, de La Mazière joined the Charlemagne Division just before the Liberation of Paris in August 1944.[6][4][7] He trained in Wildflecken.[2] He arrived in Pomerania with the division to fight the Soviets on 27 February 1945, fighting about Körlin in early March before retreating with some others.[8] He was taken prisoner there by Polish forces in the Red Army on 27 March.[3][4][9]

Post-war life

Despite pretending to have served as a forced labourer, de La Mazière was revealed as a member of the Waffen-SS.[10] During his trial, he claimed that he knew of arrests but denied knowing about a deliberate extermination plan or the existence of extermination camps,[11][12] and lied throughout his imprisonment that instead of being a combatant he had been acting as a journalist for the Waffen-SS.[4] His family planned that he would plead insanity to spare him from going to prison, but de La Mazière refused.[13] In 1946 e was sentenced to five years in prison,[2] of which he served two.[12][2][14] He initially had trouble finding work due to his criminal conviction, and worked menial jobs at Les Halles.[15] He later worked in public relations with a company he founded, International Relations Press.[16]

He is known for discussing his SS career in Marcel Ophuls' 1969 documentary The Sorrow and the Pity, where he was one of the main interviewees.[6][17][18] Explaining his reasons for agreeing to be interviewed, he said:[19]

Nobody, from then on, could keep me from answering not Harris's call but the call from an inner voice that day after day became more demanding, more pressing. That voice told me that by confessing, explaining, and questioning, I would recover my lost dignity and my identity; and also that I would do justice to all those who had fallen on the Eastern Front and who deserved, because they had remained faithful to the cause they had embraced, to join the long cohort of the men who wanted to change history.

This experience made him something of a celebrity to the French public,[7] but had the effect of damaging his employment prospects, with most of his clients leaving once his history as an SS member was publicized.[20] Afterwards he returned to working as a journalist, writing for the conservative Beta Press before moving to Le Figaro Magazine and eventually the right-wing publication of Révolution Européenne. In the 1980s he was a "personal advisor" of Gnassingbé Eyadéma, the president of Togo.[2] As a result of his portrayal in the documentary, he decided to write a book on his experiences.[4]

Books

In 1972 his book Le Rêveur casqué was published by Robert Laffont.[7][21] The book was a commercial success and it was translated into English as The Captive Dreamer by Francis Stuart.[22][3] He also wrote another memoir in 2003, Le Rêveur blessé (lit. 'The Wounded Dreamer').[23]

Death

De La Mazière died 15 February 2006 in Paris.[1][2]

Publications

  • de La Mazière, Christian (1972). Le Rêveur casqué. Vécu (in French). Éditions Robert Laffont.
  • de La Mazière, Christian (2003). Le Rêveur blessé (in French). Éditions de Fallois.

References

  1. ^ a b "LAMAZIERE Christian Clodomir Martial". Fichier des personnes décédées (in French). Retrieved 18 March 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Carrard 2010, p. 222.
  3. ^ a b c Hux, Samuel (October 1975). "The Captive Dreamer by Christian de La Maziere (Translated by Francis Stuart. Saturday Review Press/ E.P. Dutton; 271 pp.; $8.95)". Worldview. 18 (10): 52–54. doi:10.1017/S0084255900031508. ISSN 0084-2559.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Shaw, Peter (1 November 1974). "The Captive Dreamer, by Christian de la Maziere". Commentary. ISSN 0010-2601. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
  5. ^ Carrard 2010, p. 142, 222.
  6. ^ a b c Hargreaves 2005, p. 110.
  7. ^ a b c d ""Le Rêveur casqué" La milice au service de l'anticommunisme américain ?" ["Le Rêveur casqué" The militia in the service of American anti-communism?]. Le Monde (in French). Paris. 10 May 1972. ISSN 0395-2037. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
  8. ^ Carrard 2010, pp. 1, 15.
  9. ^ Carrard 2010, p. 15.
  10. ^ Christian de la Mazière Archived 2011-09-10 at the Wayback Machine at biographie.tv
  11. ^ Carrard 2010, p. 75.
  12. ^ a b McGregor, Alex (21 September 1974). "A quisling's reveries". The Ottawa Journal. No. 227. p. 40. ISSN 0841-4572. Retrieved 18 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Carrard 2010, p. 187.
  14. ^ Carrard 2010, p. 178.
  15. ^ Carrard 2010, p. 159.
  16. ^ Carrard 2010, pp. 50, 160, 222.
  17. ^ Carrard 2010, p. 28.
  18. ^ Zander 2020, p. 450.
  19. ^ Carrard 2010, p. 164.
  20. ^ Carrard 2010, p. 160.
  21. ^ Carrard 2010, p. 36.
  22. ^ Carrard 2010, p. 1.
  23. ^ Carrard 2010, pp. 65, 179.

Works cited

  • Carrard, Philippe (2010). The French Who Fought for Hitler: Memories from the Outcasts. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-49044-3.
  • Hargreaves, Alec G., ed. (2005). Memory, Empire, and Postcolonialism: Legacies of French Colonialism. After the Empire. Lanham: Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-0820-8.
  • Zander, Patrick G. (2020). Fascism through History: Culture, Ideology, and Daily Life. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-4408-6194-9.
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