Papon: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (article)

When the trial for crimes against humanity of former Vichy functionary and Gaullist minister Maurice Papon ended on 2 April 1998 in Bordeaux after nearly six months of deliberations, by all accounts most of the French breathed a sigh of relief. Scheduled to last only two to three months and, in the eyes of many, to offer an exemplary and final judgment on Vichy complicity in the Final Solution, the Papon trial quickly overflowed the historical, judicial, and temporal banks intended to channel its progress to become a seemingly endless fiasco that embittered some and perplexed others. ¹ In many ways, the events in Bordeaux resembled a two-, or better yet, a three-ring circus. The convoluted and often confused legal proceedings in the courtroom were accompanied by a continuous media spectacle in the hall outside the cour d’assizes as well as in front of the court house itself. Each time the President of the Court, Jean-Louis Castagnède, announced a recess, defense and civil parties lawyers exited the courtroom to be greeted by reporters, bright lights, and television cameras.