War, Judgment, and Memory in the Basque Borderlands, 1914-1945

by Sandra Ott

During the first half of the twentieth century, the French Basque province of Xiberoa was a place of refuge, conflict, and foreign occupation. With the liberation of France in 1944, many Xiberoans faced new conflicts arising from legal and civic judgments made during Vichy and German occupation. War, Judgment, and Memory in the Basque Borderlands traces the roots of their divided memories of the era to local and official interpretations of judgment, behavior, and justice during those troubled times.
 
In order to understand how the Great War affected the Xiberoan Basques’ perceptions of themselves, Ott contrasts the experiences of people in four different communities located within a fifteen-mile radius. The author also examines how the disruption during the interwar years affected intracommunity relations during the Occupation, the Liberation, and its aftermath. This narrative reveals the diverse ways in which Basques responded to civil war, world war, and displacement, and to one another.

280 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 2008

Reviews

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and friendly, Ott provides an insider's look at what real people experienced during the German Occupation of France during World War II. The text is rarely dry and offers an often-amusing discussion of how the Basques remember their communities' experiences and memories. Rather than a dry overview, Ott tells the reader the stories she was told in a way that enriches a collective, international history of the second war.