The North of France under the Occupation, 1940-1944
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From the invasion to the liberation, a little known part of history ...
	1. The violence of the invasion 2. A particular status 3. A harsh occupation 4. The problems of daily life 5. The refusal to collaborate 6. The persecution of the Jews 7. The Resistance in the Nord—Pas-de-Calais 8. Waiting for the Normandy landings 9. A lightning liberation

The refusal to collaborate

The fear of being annexed to the Reich, the particular harshness of the conditions of occupation and the memory of the 1914-1918 Occupation led to an immediate, massive refusal to collaborate with the occupying forces.

The rejection of Vichy was just as general: the population of the Nord–Pas-de-Calais felt they had been abandoned.

Recruitment poster to attract French volunteers to the Waffen SS.	Waffen SS recruitment office in Lille.
	Recruitment poster for volunteer work in Germany.

This context explains why collaboration was limited to small groups set up in the large towns which were secretly manipulated by the Nazi propaganda services.

The Flemish nationalist movement, reduced to a few dozen activists, engaged in an extremist move, as its leader, abbé Gantois, was in contact with the officers of the SS.

As for the elements affiliated to the Parisian collaborationist groups (RNP, PPF, Francistes), they were hated by the population and were guilty of numerous atrocities, which were a mixture of political motives and common law.