Discover the Hidden Truths of the Liberation: New Works by Historian Dominique Lormier

At the same time the Bordeaux historian Dominique Lormier published two works on the Second World War: “Hidden truths of the Liberation” by Éditions du Rocher and “Surprising new stories of the landings and the liberation”, by Éditions Alicia. He writes…

At the same time the Bordeaux historian Dominique Lormier published two works on the Second World War: “Hidden truths of the Liberation” by Éditions du Rocher and “Surprising new stories of the landings and the liberation”, by Éditions Alicia. He has been writing on this subject since 1986 and has published 180 books, on history but also on Buddhism and Christianity.

What axes did you follow to write each of his two new works?

For “Surprising new stories of landing and liberation”, I wanted to give a voice in pictures to those who have forgotten history, those from whom the “good” facts were hidden. I wanted to highlight little-known events that official speeches sometimes put aside. This gives the opportunity, I think, to get a more complete view of the situation. For “The Hidden Truths of the Liberation”, my goal was to include testimonies, experiences to show history seen from a close perspective.

How do you manage, after forty years of publishing books on this subject, to still find inspiration?

Just because my experience of forty years digging through archives and texts always opens more doors for me, I always find new stories to tell. Especially since 2015, the law has made it possible to open archives regarding the Second World War, tongues are loosening and people, often families, want answers to their questions.

Does the opening of the archives in this period affect your work?

Of course because it expands our fields of study. Historians have even more materials to better understand the content of behavior, decisions, facts or events. All of this stuff allows you to better understand what’s inside and out. For too long, history has only remembered the testimony of the victorious champions. For example, and to summarize, after the war, it was said that there had been a large number of Resistance fighters, in the late 60s, it was the opposite and one could imagine that -work has been hyperpresent. Today, we have a more balanced view: most of the French people were wait and see, hostile to the Germans, rather worried about supply problems.

What views do you bring to the area?

I wanted to focus on the forgotten in historical works, especially women or recently discovered facts. In the South West, we can emphasize that the region was liberated by the actions of the maquis. The German pockets were liberated in 1945 because the Germans had barricaded themselves in Médoc, on the islands of Ré and Oléron, in Royan and La Rochelle. In Bordeaux, we know but it was never revealed, a German saved the port of Bordeaux in August 1944, after that allowing the region to import imported goods.