After France was liberated in 1944, journalists documented scenes showing how the country confronted people accused of helping the occupiers. Some of the most striking and disturbing images show women having their heads forcibly shaved while crowds watched, sometimes yelling or mocking them. Their calm or distant expressions in these photos may seem unclear to modern viewers, but these acts were meant as deliberate public humiliation. The women were accused of “horizontal collaboration,” meaning they had romantic or intimate relationships with German soldiers during the occupation.
Collaboration in occupied France took many forms, from simply going along with authorities to actively helping German forces. However, in the tense period after liberation, women involved in these relationships became very visible symbols of betrayal. The public head-shavings were used as both punishment and a way to express national anger, revealing the strain between personal choices, public outrage, and the uneven way justice was carried out after the war.
German Occupation of France
France was invaded by German forces in May 1940 and defeated within a month, forcing an armistice between delegates from both countries. This marked France’s official surrender, and divided the nation into two zones: the German-occupied north and the French-controlled south, which was known as Vichy France.
Marshal Henri-Philippe Pétain was the authoritarian figurehead for Vichy France, where he acted in line with Germany, leading to tens of thousands of Jewish citizens being expelled from the region during this time. Some sources claim he’d hoped to act as a mediator between France and the Axis powers, to both keep German troops out of Vichy and to aid the French Resistance.
It wasn’t until November 1942 that German troops took Vichy, in retaliation for the involvement of Free French forces in North Africa. According to Germany, the acts committed by the French forces in the region had violated the armistice agreement that had been signed over two years prior.
Horizontal collaboration
During the German occupation of France, some women formed relationships with enemy soldiers as a means of survival. Many were young mothers whose husbands were interned in prisoner of war camps, and aligning with a German soldier often became a way to secure food, shelter, and safety for themselves and their children.
In urban centers such as Paris, numerous women were pressured or coerced into working in clubs, where they engaged with German soldiers for money. These establishments grew so widespread that German and French authorities sometimes coordinated efforts to regulate them and even brought women from rural regions into the cities against their will.
Not all connections were forced—some arose from genuine affection or romantic attachment. Surviving photographs, including those preserved by German POWs, depict women alongside their French partners or spouses during the Second World War.
Regardless of whether these relationships were voluntary or coerced, they were broadly labeled as “horizontal collaboration.” After the liberation of France, women associated with these liaisons faced severe public shaming and punitive measures.
Retribution for horizontal collaboration
France was liberated following the Allied landings in Normandy, which led to their advance into Caen and Paris. Although the Germans were ordered to destroy the capital, they ultimately surrendered.
Between this liberation and the end of the war, Allied forces focused on expelling the remaining German troops from France, while citizens took action against those accused of horizontal collaboration.
Some women who had romantic relationships with German soldiers managed to escape this retribution by traveling to Germany with their husbands or boyfriends during the liberation. Those who stayed behind, however, became targets due to their horizontal collaboration. In fact, the outrage against these women was so intense that some were wrongly accused of fraternizing with the enemy.
Les femmes tondues
Women accused of “horizontal collaboration” had their heads publicly shaved to mark their alleged relationships with German soldiers, earning them the name les femmes tondues. Historians estimate that roughly 20,0000 women were subjected to this punishment.
For many, the suffering went far beyond losing their hair. They were often publicly humiliated—partially stripped, mocked by crowds, covered in tar, pelted with stones, kicked, beaten, spat on, and in some tragic cases, even killed.
Those responsible for these acts included both members of the French Resistance and former collaborators. In a bitter irony, some of the people carrying out the punishments had also worked with the German occupiers. By targeting these women, they shifted attention away from their own actions during the war and tried to avoid facing consequences themselves.
Recognition as German citizens
It’s estimated that relationships between German soldiers and French women during World War II resulted in the birth of around 200,000 offspring. Many of these boys and girls grew up never knowing the identity of their fathers, while others who did often stayed quiet to avoid stigma and hostility. Those labeled as the offspring of occupying troops were frequently subjected to abuse and shunning, sometimes even within their own households.
In many cases, the truth only came to light decades later, when hidden mementos—letters, photographs, or personal belongings—were uncovered after their mothers’ deaths. These revelations prompted many of the so-called “war children” to seek answers about their heritage or to establish a connection to their German families. More recently, both Germany and France have formally recognized their plight. Germany extended dual citizenship as a gesture of accountability and reconciliation, while France, in a surprising turn, has also supported citizenship requests, acknowledging the hardships these children endured and offering symbolic justice.