French female collaborator punished by having her head shaved to publicly mark her, 1944
The photograph captures a French woman, head bowed as civilians forcibly shave her head in retribution for her alleged collaboration with German occupiers during World War II. This act of public humiliation, which occurred in Montelimar, France on August 29, 1944, was a common punishment meted out to women accused of having relationships with the enemy, whether coerced, forced, or voluntary.
The practice of shaving women’s heads as a mark of shame has a long and dark history, dating back to biblical times and the Middle Ages when it was used to punish adultery.
In the aftermath of World War II, an estimated 20,000 French women from all walks of life were subjected to this degrading treatment. Accused collaborators, many of whom were believed to be prostitutes who serviced German soldiers, were paraded through the streets, sometimes half-naked, tarred, or marked with swastikas, as crowds jeered and spat upon them.
The photograph serves as a disturbing reminder of the complexities of wartime collaboration and the gendered nature of punishment. While men who collaborated faced their own forms of retribution, the public shaming of women was particularly sexualized and designed to strip them of their femininity.
The act of head-shaving, often carried out by members of the Resistance or local vigilantes, was seen as a way to cleanse France of the stain of collaboration, but it also highlighted the deep wounds and divisions left by the war.
